Stop Dreaming
Sometimes, a person has the idea to make a certain investment. He thinks and thinks about it... but what happens? He is still thinking about it! He is still dreaming about it. Some people dream for twenty or thirty years... and nothing happens. He always talks about it... every time he talks, he talks about this idea. But a wise person takes action—“Do I want this or not? Dreaming is futile.”
When it comes to teshuvah... everyone has תשובה, הרהורי thoughts of teshuvah. It never happens that a few days will pass without a Yid thinking about teshuvah. But as long as he is only dreaming, it will be difficult for these thoughts to elevate the person and cause him to change—and the Ribbono shel Olam wants us always to be on a trajectory of growth.
The Rebbe Reb Bunim of Peshischa said that his Rebbe, the Yehudi HaKadosh, was known by this name (Yehudi means a Yid) because he always felt about himself that yesterday he was a goy (compared to his avodah of today)... that’s how much he grew every day. Some tzaddikim destroyed the chiddushei Torah they had written in their youth because they were ashamed of their past avodah, compared to how they had grown. They always lived with regret about the past—and this is how they constantly grew. This mindset doesn’t apply only to tzaddikim; it is relevant to all of us: If we do what we’re supposed to do—we invest in teshuvah—then the Ribbono shel Olam will help us advance and grow.
Feelings of Despair
Another approach of the yetzer hara is to instill in a person a sense of despair that will prevent him from doing teshuvah. He wants to do teshuvah, of course he wants to—but he doesn’t see the possibility of success. Given that this is a plot from the yetzer hara, from the side of darkness, we must fight it with light. It is true that if HaKadosh Baruch...
