Bamidbar: Liberate Yourself, Get Rid of False Notions
Since Bamidbar discusses the different tribes and how they were organized, I offer a range of different notions that people have that, when dispelled, can increase communal harmony.
A great deal of work I do with people is helping them to accept themselves for who they are. People feel relieved when they stop trying to be someone else and start realizing skills and limitations.
Here is a short list of some of the most popular restrictive beliefs that people have, followed by a reorienting statement that is an antidote.
I grouped certain feelings with particular personalities/qualities, because those personalities often have these notions, but you may relate to any number of them.
A Cheat Sheet With 7Ways Personalities is Here
Chesed: “I don’t want to do anything/something, how do I know it’s the right path/ for me? Maybe it’s a bad path?”
Truth: “Though doing something can be scary it’s better to do something (reasonable) than to be inactive.” And “I may end up traveling the wrong path, but I can always stop and do something else when I have a better perspective.“
Gevurah: “I don’t want to do [something], because I feel like it has to be perfect (also first born/only child)” “When I do something, I tend to dive into it too intensely or for too long.”
Truth: “I just have to try to do it well, not perfect.” “I will make regular self-checks in order to gauge my intensity and time management.”
Tiferes: “Life is just to full of drama and…melodrama! I’m sick of it” “Just when things are going well, something bad always happens to ruin my good mood.”
Truth: “I will accept life as it comes to me-good or bad.” “I will stay calm, breath and relax, and turn to my talents/creativity soon to stay happy that I am producing.”
Netzach: “I can’t decide what to do-both options seem to make sense.” “I just think you’re wrong….too emotional.”
Truth: “I simply must decide-if I don’t, the waste of inactivity and the way it hurts myself and others it awful.” “I will validate others’ opinions, even if I don’t yet understand them. I will validate that, though I am less emotional than most, I respect other who have a different temperament.”
Hod: “I need to help people.” “I just don’t feel like it; I just don’t feel good-so I won’t do anything.”
Truth: “I need to take time to take care of myself.” “Even if it doesn’t feel good I still need to do it.”
Yesod: “I just have some amazing ideas, I want to share them.” “They’re running this place all wrong, I gotta tell them.”
Truth: “People don’t easily accept criticism or new ideas. I must take time to show them these important new ideas, but I must do it in the right way-if I do it at all.”
Or “Just a little more work and I’ll be set.”
Truth: “I must set limits. I need to stop now and practice holding myself back.”
Malchus: “I know because I’m right.”
Truth: “I need to take time to listen to others, even if I make the final decision. Taking counsel and appreciating other peoples’ opinions is crucial.”
Learn More with the 7Ways Book & eBook Here
–Ian