Indeed, Chazal describe how Rabbi Akiva davened, with a tremendous amount of: כְרִ יעֹות וְהִ ׁשְ תַ חַ וָּאֹות kneeling and bowing, and he had a friend who always told his Rebbi that Rabbi Akiva was doing this wrong and that wrong, and Rabbi Akiva loved it. You go that extra mile in Avodas Hashem and Tefila, and you come out ahead.
Extra Mussar Pays Off
R' Pinchos Menachem Malach and R' Chaim Halperin Zatzal, both Novardokers, told me that in Novardok the Nisayon of Kedusha simply didn’t exist, because the: ויּבּי ִר huge doses of Mussar put them in another world. And Novardok Tefila was also extreme (long and fiery). It pays to spend extra time with Mussar. You become a new person if you keep it up without: ק ֵּס ְפ ֶׁה a break, and life gets much more Geshmak. Of course you need patience and a Rebbi. If you develop a taste, or hang around Novardokers who love going against their Ratzon, then you have an easy life, and you can even conquer the worst addictions. You are simply in a different mentality.
