The World Is Not About You
A person must be willing to let go of perceptions he has about himself. Very often, these perceptions are rooted in falsehood. They may be based upon past successes that he has had, or certain talents that he perceives that he has... and this “picture” that he has of himself causes great problems.
Let us take, for example, a nineteen or twenty-one-year-old youth. In his adolescence, he became accustomed to receiving everything he needs, and he has been given recognition and adulation from those around him. This cemented in him a feeling of self-entitlement, a feeling that everything is coming to him. Everyone who doesn’t get on board with this attitude will be on the receiving end of his full wrath. This young man is living under the illusion that he deserves everything, and everything is coming to him.
The person’s entire inner system is not functioning properly. His ability to recite Birchas HaMazon...to properly perform kibbud av v’eim... to give proper praise and thanks to Hashem during Shemoneh Esrei is completely impeded. The system isn’t working... for even when he enunciates the words of הודאה—because this is what the Chachamim have instituted—his heart isn’t in it; he doesn’t experience feelings of gratitude.
His mind is steeped in the klipah that that he deserves everything—for he is such a great gift to the world, and he deserves so much more. No one should dare tell him what to do... “Whatever they will give me is not enough.”
