B” H
“Stay in the Lines. The Lines Are Our Friends.”
When growth knocks on your door, do you answer?
When expansiveness peeps through the window, do you shut it?
We gotta know ourselves.
Are we really living if we aren’t aware of how we roll and how that affects ourselves and others?
We all have hopes and dreams, goals and aspirations.
How can we approach their actualization in a healthy way without stomping on the opportunities for growth along the way?
What keeps our defense mechanisms at bay when life’s triggers, such as stress or conflict, and cues that lead to low-level behaviors, like procrastination or self-doubt, get ignited?
Farbreng with yourself!
The Previous Rebbe explains in Likkutei Dibburim that a farbrengen of yesteryear was a different experience. You walked in one way and out another. Whatever inyon in avoda you were working on was put on the table and strategized. Whatever Parts were terrorizing you lost their voice since a proper plan was developed for them.
Self-reflection is a farbrengen with oneself.
It’s a designated time to go inside and evaluate what’s happening within one’s heart and head space.
It is critical to reaping and harvesting those growth seeds, vying for attention from our obstacles.
But awareness and desire for growth are only half the battle.
In a farbrengen, there is awareness and action talk.
Enter boundaries and frameworks. Habits and systems.
Like lines on paper, their structure guides behavior. Just as the lines on a page guide the writing, these internal frameworks guide our actions and decisions.
Lines support. They provide clarity and direction—that’s what frameworks are about.
They are not intended to be restrictive in any way; instead, they provide resistance. Resistance is where the magic happens.
Reframing our perspective can help us see that frameworks are not restrictive but encouraging and that self-discipline is not limiting but truly liberating.
We have to know ourselves and put in the work to eventually taste the fruits of that growth.
Good Shabbos,
Chana Gorenstein
Food- Fitness, Recovery, and Wellness Coach
