Life Lessins Blog

Most of us were raised on the value of self-determination, the principle that we are in control of our lives and free to shape our own destiny. This precept is deeply embedded in our collective conscience and serves as a core tenant in both Western and Jewish philosophy (see Rambam Hilchot Teshuva chapter 5). We […]

Loneliness is on the rise in our society. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, reports of loneliness have skyrocketed, with 1 in 3 Americans, and over 60% of young adults, having felt “seriously lonely” over the past year. According to one study, 3 in 5 people report feeling left out, poorly understood, or lacking companionship since […]

Let’s pull together what we’ve learned about acceptance for a fourth and final installment: learning to accept ourselves. To many of the young people I work with, the words “self-acceptance” sound short for “the way you are now is the way you are going to stay, and you need to be ok with that.” This […]

In our journey through acceptance, we find ourselves arriving at the holiday of Purim, a time where the challenge of meeting reality stands at the core of the day. We know by now that acceptance is not the same as resignation, giving up, or rolling over in the face of adversity. Nor is it an […]

We’ve defined acceptance in marriage as meeting our spouse exactly where they are, being willing to hear where they’re coming from, and working together from that point. Unfortunately, many of us have spent a lot of time, effort, and heartache doing exactly the opposite. Not only are we poor at executing the task of acceptance, […]

Acceptance is one of the most regularly discussed topics in therapy. We are told that acceptance of our spouse is the key to a happy marriage. We learn that self-acceptance is an important goal in personal development. We hear that acceptance of a challenging situation is a crucial step in effective coping.  Yet during actual […]

We’ve seen that among the ingredients necessary to hold space for our emotions, time and presence are near the top of the list. Holding a feeling requires us to pause and dedicate some of our attentional resources to “being with” our internal experience.  Yet it seems like time is harder than ever to come by. […]

We know a lot about how emotions work. The rules of emotional physics tell us that just as the physical world abides by established parameters, such as gravity, the law of inertia, and cause and effect, so too there are definite principles that govern how emotions operate. What Do We Know About Emotional Physics? The […]

Why are certain interactions so beautiful to witness? Imagine a businessman dressed for work, with a small pink backpack slung over the shoulder of his suit, hunching over slightly to hold his daughter’s hand as they walk to school.  Picture a secular Israeli soldier and a yeshiva bochur sitting down together to catch up over […]

Nearly a hundred years before the Human Potential Movement began in the late 1960s, The Alter of Slabodka (Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l) taught us about the greatness of man, gadlus ha’adam. This concept revolutionized Jewish education by introducing a new angle to motivating students, one that bred scores of Gedolei Yisrael and uplifted an […]