Be Open To Change

After maariv tonight I picked up a sefer in shul that was next to the place I davened called "Hachsharas Ha-avreichim" by the Piasetzna ztz"l. It is a magical sefer.

One gem: The gemara in ksubos [יז] rhetorically asks "When someone buys something from the store do you compliment the purchase or are you critical of it?" Of course you compliment it because nobody wants to feel that money was wasted.

Says the Holy Piasetzna: If a person doesn't want to feel that his new pair of pants or bicycle is faulty then CERTAINLY he doesn't want to feel that his own character is faulty. We love ourselves far more than we love our possessions.

That is one reason why people are so resistant to change: It means admitting that they are at fault and that something is wrong with them. I know people, nebach, who ruin themselves and those around them because they desperately hold on to the notion that they are wonderful and only those around them need to change.

SWEETEST FRIENDS!  I have no doubt that you are wonderful but that doesn't preclude the need to take a stock of yourself and mend what needs mending. The more I walk around this planet the more I see the difficulty people have with change. Well, that is not precise. People DO actively want to change.

Other people....

I think the process is first realizing that owning up to your imperfections will greatly improve your quality of life. Then develop strategies to grow.

לא פשוט.