Weekend News

How to be happy

Did you know that an observant Jew makes about 100 blessings a day?

100 times!

In secular terms — that means he says thank you a hundred times a day.

• For waking up in the morning
• Every time he puts food in his mouth
• For being able to use the bathroom
• For nature, for the weather
• For his senses
• For good news
• For the end of the day
• For the very fact of being alive

He even learns to thank for the challenges in his life.

It's pretty genius.

A continuous daily ritual designed to keep you at a certain frequency — some would say a high one.

A system built over generations to change a person's consciousness through small, repeated acts.

He's not just thanking — he's also conditioned to believe everything is for the good, and that everything has a reason.

The rational mind asks: but what do I have to be thankful for?

If I lost my money, if the country's a mess, if my parents / kids aren't treating me well, if my partner cheated on me, if I'm sick?

First — even when all the above is true, how does it serve you not to be happy? How does it serve you to lose faith and think all the bad is happening for no reason?

The highest goal in this life (according to Judaism) is to be happy, to learn, to grow, and to believe everything happens for a reason.

That keeps you at a high frequency. And in abundance consciousness.

You're making the mind look for the good even when things aren't good.

Whether it makes logical sense to you or not — doesn't matter.

It only has upsides.

Because the brain's natural tendency is to look for the next danger. In modern terms: the brain looks for what's wrong.

Now — what are the odds that someone who says thank you all day and is filled with faith that everything is for the good gets into depression?

How happy will a person be who says thank you all day?

What about "normative" people?

What do they do with their consciousness day to day?

Exposed to 100 posts and news flashes a day. Notifications about breaking news. Posts of people vacationing in Ibiza, getting married, buying a new car.

For all of it, whether you want to or not, you make comparisons.

Isn't that essentially a lack consciousness?

How can you be in gratitude if your focus is on everything that's bad or everything that's missing?

And we're surprised so many people are depressed.

I'm not writing this so you'll become religious. No.

Lately I've been noticing that my everyday thinking patterns aren't improving my frequency. And meaningful meetings have happened — with people more connected to Judaism, or books like that — that opened my mind.

And forced me to change my approach to recent challenges.

What if the mistake that cost me a lot of money wasn't just a mistake — but an opportunity to learn something? Not about money — about how hard I am on myself for mistakes I make. It's a recurring motif in my life — being hard on myself for mistakes.

So maybe it's hard so I'll change something? So I won't surrender to something hurting me?

I'm saying this to remind you that if you're not filled with gratitude for what you have — and you have a lot:

• Eyes that can read
• A roof over your head
• A smartphone
• Someone who loves you
• The freedom to be whatever you want

You can continue the list.

If you don't practice gratitude. If you don't believe everything happens for a reason — how will you face life's challenges without falling into depression and bitterness?

There's a lot of energy in our world around religion and divinity. Some call it a cult, brainwashing, a way to escape life. Some are sure there's a God who dictates everything.

What's true? Each person decides for themselves. Life sums up in the set of beliefs you choose for yourself.

So I'll ask you:

Do you believe? In a guiding hand? In a Creator? In a higher power? In God?

If not…

Do you hope, deep down, that maybe you're wrong?

Our logical mind only distances us from connection to something higher. And meanwhile, it looks like the more logical we are, the more anxious, depressed, and unhappy we become.

I understand more and more that our world — which leans more and more toward rationalism, "science," logic, and technology — mostly loses out on the beauty of the power of faith.

Shabbat shalom dear ones.

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By the way — there are 4 spots left for the Cyprus retreat.

If you want a few days of clarity, new thinking, connection to desires, gratitude, security, meeting things that were pushed aside, remembering the beauty within you and within people — and connecting to the healing nature has to offer —

→ Cyprus Retreat — Beyond the Familiar → Home → Podcast → Academy