AZAMRA! Rebbe Nachman teaches: You must also find this good point within yourself. You must always be happy!
“All right,” you’ll say. “So I’ll judge the other guy favorably. Maybe he is okay. Truth is, I don’t really know his motives or the things which make him act the way he does. But I can’t say the same for myself. I know what makes me tick. And believe me, there’s no way – no way! – that I can honestly say that I’m okay, too.”
Many people adhere to this line of reasoning. Even people who on the outside seem self-confident and generally positive about themselves, when pressed, will admit that they find it hard to judge themselves favorably. They know themselves too well, and basically , their self-evaluation may be accurate. Their good deeds may be motivated by a desire for fame and fortune. Yet the question still remains, is their conclusion – their belief that they are not okay – is that correct? The Rebbe would say, “No!”
AZAMRA! Rebbe Nachman teaches: You must also find this good point within yourself. You must always be happy. When examining yourself, you may find that you do not have any good points – Torah, mitzvot, kind acts, etc. – to be happy about. You must not allow yourself to fall into depression. Instead, search your deeds. There must be some good,. Even if you find that your deeds are “not clean,” that your actions were dictated by ulterior motives and improper thoughts, then at least find the positive aspects within the things you did. Some aspects of your deeds must have been positive. And if not, you can at least be happy that you are a Jew! This good point you cannot fault, because it was God’s doing (Likutey Moharan I, 282).
Even people who on the outside seem self-confident and generally positive about themselves, will admit that they find it hard to judge themselves favorably!
Reb Meir of Teplik was visiting Reb Noson. When asked about a certain person living in Teplik, Reb Meir replied very matter-of-factly, as if to say that the man wasn’t much to talk about. Reb Noson said to him, “If you will look at things negatively and with an unfavorable eye you’ll find fault with everyone in the whole world. Think of the people living in Teplik. Start with the person living at the edge of town. If you look at him carefully, you’ll certainly find some shortcomings. Now go from house to house until you get to your house. Are you the only good Jew in the whole town?” “Me? I’m also not very righteous,” Reb Meir quickly replied. “If you’re not, then who is?” asked Reb Noson. “But, if you’d look at the world favorably, ” he continued, ” you’d find good in even the worst person; and then certainly in everyone else” (Kokhavey Or, p. 75).
“One must always seek the good…” Rebbe Nachman
One of the main reasons people get depressed is failure. A business deal you’re working on falls through, a relationship you’re trying to develop doesn’t work out. “I’ve failed again,” you say to yourself. A family feud upsets you; it’s pointless but it leaves you anxious. Sometimes, you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and feel like you have to brace yourself for a day in which everything will go wrong. Be careful, it’s not good to allow a feeling of failure, or even a feeling of accomplishment, to set in. When you do, you become pessimistic and this invites further failures. What else can you do? You can find a good point. Recharge yourself with optimism and positive thinking. You do have valuable qualities! You can succeed! Adopting this attitude will help you recover from any setbacks. Even in those areas where things were going all wrong, you’ll encounter success.
Rebbe Nachman placed much emphasis on this concept. “One must always seek the good…” he repeated, again and again. Be forever the optimist. Never despair, never let go! Whatever good you find, preserve it. Doing this will help you discover your own, unique reservoir of vitality. Like all men, you are in possession of an incredible inner strength – an almost never-ending source of energy inside you, resembling a rechargeable battery that can propel you forward. How do you turn it on? How do you get it going? This is what Rebbe Nachman comes to tell us: Start by the good. Focus only on your good points. Don’t despair! You can succeed. You will succeed!
(taken from the book: Crossing the Narrow Bridge: A Practical Guide to Rebbe Nachman’s Teachings, chapter 3: The Good Points pp.39-41).
