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. There is 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 growing trajectory.
The Rebbe Reb Bunim of Peshischa said that his Rebbe, the Yehudi HaKadosh, was known by this name 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 burned 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 do—we invest in teshuvah—then the Ribbono shel Olam will help us advance and grow.
