Have you ever read the book Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie? In the book, Katie lays out four questions that she says help people alleviate mental suffering and anguish, improve relationships and truly see reality as it is.
Many people swear by this method of inner inquiry, which Katie calls “The Work.” I find it interesting, though, that an alternate technique that Katie admits renders her method unnecessary is buried at the end of the book.
I’m temporarily leaving my job on Tuesday to serve reserve duty (“miluim” in Hebrew) in the Israeli army for a few days. It’s always an honor to serve in the Israeli army, even in my limited role, and doing so usually reminds me of an important happiness lesson…
I made Aliyah at the age of 24, so I went through abbreviated basic training with older immigrants. A small group of us were tasked with learning how to drive tractors and bulldozers for rescue purposes (lifting up big pieces of a collapsed building to free civilians trapped underneath, etc.).
As part of this training under the auspices of The Home Front Command, we were required to get a special driver’s license to operate the heavy machinery. This meant passing a driving test and then a written theory test. Because I suffer from low self-esteem, I immediately started to panic.
Will writing this blog make me happier? Or will I become sucked into the social media vortex?
My intention for starting Seeking Simcha is to chart my exploration of Jewish happiness. But obviously that’s something I can do offline. By putting the blog posts online and sharing them via social media, I am hoping to help others. Although this is still very much a brand new effort, I’m not succeeding so far. This blog has one follower, none of my six blog posts have received even a single comment and I have a whopping 23 Twitter followers.
