Question
I tend to be involved with many different subjects that interest me. I am good at all of them. In the musical industry, I am good at singing. I can also advise people on their health. I can learn well as an avreich Kolel. I can help families sort out their feuds and ‘put out the fire’. How can I know if I should continue to be involved with all these different interests? What should I be focusing on? Which of these should I leave on the side? I enjoy all of these things, but I feel scattered between all my many different interests. I am the same when it comes to my learning. I’d rather take many different sefarim and learn a little bit of each of them, rather than focus on one sefer at a time. And when it comes to my musical interests, I love to sing in many different styles and in different languages. I don’t know how I can feel my main shelichus (unique task) that I was meant to fulfill on this world. What can I do to give a nachas ruach to Hashem? Please help me and guide me. Thanks.
Answer
There are two different parts of our soul, a power of individuality and a power of collectiveness. Our individuality is called the tribe of “Yehudah” within the soul, for Yehudah’s name comes from the four-letter name of Hashem [which, on an individual level, is the root of the essence of one’s unique soul]. The other power in our soul, “collectiveness”, is called the tribe of “Don” in the soul – the tribe Don was called the one who “collects all the camps”, representing a power to integrate everything into one unit.
Therefore, each person needs to clarify these two powers in his soul. Concerning your “individuality” aspect, you should write down a paper all your different possible talents, such as music, giving health advice, etc. After that, make a list of these talents in order of primacy: Your best talent, your second-to-best talent, etc. Also, write down your interests in order of primacy: The thing that interests you the most, the thing that interests you second-to-most, etc. This gives you a “map” of your abilities. That all refers to the “individuality” of your soul.
The result of this will be that you will be able to connect mainly to your primary talent, both in how much you are using it as well as in the quality of how you are using it. You should do all of this with the awareness that you are involving yourself in the “individuality” aspect of your soul.
Concerning your “collective” aspect, you should clarify what your collective task is, just as you did regarding your “individuality” aspect, and you should set aside a considerable amount of time, as necessary, to get in touch with your “collective” aspect. You should do this with the awareness that you are involving yourself with your “collective” aspect. Understandably, even when it comes to your “collective” aspect, you should also make a list of your collective tasks in order of priority, based on your personal interests.
