To Be Alive

Jill was 43 years old. “My life has been a fake”, she announced. Jill described herself as an imposter, filled with self-loathing.

She had no friends.

“Give me some meds, Doc, please.”

But, in my mind, psych meds simply were not warranted for Jill. Instead, I took out my script pad and wrote:

“Share three personal things with a peer that you trust.”

“Oh, no!”, she responded as she walked out of the office, “I could never do that.”

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We all crave connection. That is how we are wired. The problem is that to truly connect with others, we have to allow ourselves to be seen. And that can be scary as anything.

When we have the courage to be imperfect, when we allow ourselves to be authentic, then relationships reach new heights. To be vulnerable means you are alive.

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Jill never returned to my office. Perhaps I made the wrong approach, pushed her too hard, scared her…?

…One year later, I saw Jill sitting with a group of friends at a park, her demeanor quite different, laughing and totally enjoying herself.

As a psychiatrist, I customarily do not initiate conversations with patients that I run into in public. But imagine my delight as I turned away and Jill suddenly ran over to me and whispered, “thank you”.

To my friends and patients...

I wish to take a moment and give thanks and gratitude to each of you who have sent heartfelt prayers and blessings my way during these horrific times. Your thoughts and words are so appreciated. Ultimately, we are all together here on planet Earth, all yearning to fill this world with goodness.

These days we are in a battle, a war. It is both a physical war and a spiritual war.

Physically, we need to look the enemy in the eye and root out evil.

Spiritually, we need to know, now more than ever, that each of us is blessed with a soul, a soul that is literally a piece of Divinity, a soul that is inherently good.

Unfortunately, we live in times of tremendous darkness and moral confusion.

What to do?

Try waking up every day with gratitude for the soul you have been blessed with. Take at least a little time to pray in a way to strengthen yourself and others. And then go and reach out to the world, channeling your soul toward concrete acts of kindness.

There is an amazing power in all this, as you probably already know, on both a global level and a personal level.

When all is said and done, light will prevail.

Eradicate Evil

Last week I spoke about eliminating evil and shining light. As a result, I received some comments pondering if destroying evil is not itself simply another act of evil. In life, when true evil happens - such as murder, rape, child abuse - we have two choices - and only two: we are either part of the solution or part of the problem. To do nothing, to be a bystander, to be silent when atrocities occur, is tantamount to complicity.

I share with you the following quote: "In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations." Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn As I stated last week, the Israeli soldiers are fierce in this battle against evil. They are the true heroes. For the rest of us, we need to shine as much light as we can, through prayer and through whatever resources we can offer.

At our essence, we are spiritual beings on a physical journey. We have the power to cultivate an energy of goodness that can transform the world in these hours of darkness.

Light will prevail. G-d be with us.