JSSUMMERS™ Entertainment®: Motivation To Change

October 18 — 24

Whether our addictions are hard or soft, we've all got them. I happened to have a conversation not long ago with two friends who are recovering drug addicts, and they shared that in their experience, what is key is what causes a person to work on their addictive behavior, or in other words, why they are willing to change.

And even if it's not drugs or alcohol, we all have things we need to change.

Unfortunately, chocolate cake is always going to taste better than broccoli. That is, unless, one day you go to the doctor's office and they tell you: one more piece of chocolate and you're going to die. Suddenly that chocolate looks like cyanide. Now there's a change that happens that transforms behavior.

You could be a 300 pound, 7 foot tall professional basketball player, and your sheer mass alone causes your knees to deteriorate every time you run back and forth on that court. What allows you to pay that price? The scoreboard. The possibility of a championship. The fame. The money. Even the love of the game.

You don't have to be an NBA star to understand what I'm talking about. Everyone has in their mind certain things they would like to do and/or certain things they are doing because of a perceived point system. There is some kind of reward system, where we perceive that certain realities are better than other realities. Or at least they will be one day.

There's a famous quote: laziness pays off today, work pays off tomorrow.

I'm not saying it's bad or good; it's simply the way we believe life works. If I sit on my behind and don't do anything, I'll be alone and penniless in a year, 2 years, or perhaps even 2 months. Sometimes there's an actual reward — money, benefits, acknowledgement, power. And sometimes there's just fantasy of reward.

However, when money or power isn't involved, when it's our ego that's got to change, there's really no reason to change. We hear how much ego is bad for us, we learn of certain things that are spiritually bringing us down, but do we really have an incentive to change that? Check in the mail? Promotion? Name in lights?

I'm sure some of you are thinking that we do have incentives to transform from within — our loved ones, to eliminate the chaos around us, to be better people. When you decide to change, are you guaranteed a payout? Do you know how much change is necessary to get 'promoted' in life?

There's at least one thing inside each one of us that really won't make a difference if we change it or not. The real question is what then is our real motivation to change?

90% of people are in a hell of some sort. Or at least, most people at some point in their life have been in this place. And quite often, it's being in that space that brings us closer to the Light. Being ambushed by chaos is usually the first motivation to turn on the Light. But after a while on the path, the motivation to change gets lost.

Whether you've been studying Kabbalah for one month, one year, 10 years or haven't even begun, this is the week to ask the question: what's my motivation to change? You can be facing addiction, fears, judgment, guilt, anger or any other demon for that matter, but if you're not successful in changing, it may be because you forgot why you're on this path in the first place.

Find (or relocate) your motivation. Use this 72 Name below as your homing device. As my friends pointed out so poignantly, it's all about what causes you to want to change.

All the best,

Yehuda

72 Name of the Week

With this Name as my compass, the path toward my spiritual home is illuminated. I regain my bearings. With every step I take and with each moment that passes, I feel comfort, confidence and a stronger sense of direction.