A rule in life: What you have to work for has value. What comes easy rarely does.
Being a Rasha is EASY! You go to sleep and don't set the alarm. No Zman Krias Shema, no minyan. EASY!
You look at whatever you feel like looking at, you watch whatever movies you want, you say whatever you feel like saying. EASY!
You make money and hoard it all for yourself. EASY!
You read light things like the sports section and the latest gossip but not really hard things like Tosfos and the Pnei Yehoshua and the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh. EASY!
You never have to worry about having the proper kavana for Shem Hashem [see O.C. 5] or not saying mashiv haruach b/c you don't daven. EASY!
The list goes on and on. Being a Tzadik is darn HARRRRRDDDDDD. Being the opposite - a cinch.
How long does it take to become a real Tzadik? YEARSSSS of harrrrrd work. How long does it take to become a Rasha? It can be done instantaneously!!! People just say - "That's it! I am dropping everything. I don't have to answer to anyone including G-d." Takes a second or three and they MADE IT!
What requires hard work matters and is eternal. The easy stuff is like a delicious bite of food or an act of cohabitation - fleeting seconds and OVER with no trace of anything beneficial. In two words - הבל הבלים!!!
Do you want to be a MASTER at learning? Work harddddd!!! Make sure you end up losing your tail b/c you worked it off. Do you want to be a MASTER at chesed? It takes TREMENDOUS effort. A lifetime of stepping beyond the narcissicm endemic to the human race. Do you want to be a MASTER davener? Learn the siddur and learn strategies for kavvana. Then do it again and again and again.
CHOOSE "HARD"!!
