So, it’s 2021, and you’re thinking: some area of my life isn't working, and I need to do better.
That positive realization feels good.
Then you Google “percentage of New Year’s resolutions that fail” (80%) and you wonder why change is so difficult.
Why? Maybe it's because we're ingenious at outsmarting ourselves.
When you feel dissatisfaction with your personal status quo, and can even sense an inclination toward self-betterment, it's easy to feel good about your introspective honesty, and then get back to being exactly who you’ve been. Because, so often, we don't REALLY want to change.
Ancient Jewish texts describe this problem as a ‘Pharaoh syndrome'.
The Exodus saga – with the Jews seeking liberty from the enslaving Egyptians - is also a personal narrative. It depicts our continuous struggle for freedom from our personal 'Egypts' -- impediments to self-actualization. It may be fears, inertia, inaccurate self-perception -- they’re all individual Egypts that block our personal freedom.
Of course, the primary blockage to liberation is what restrained Pharaoh, he of the [Scripturally-described] 'hardened heart'.
What does it mean to have a 'hardened heart'?
Pharaoh understood that his actions were self-destructive and bringing ruin upon his country. But he couldn't finalize change. Why? Because his heart wouldn't allow him to translate recognition into behavior modification. He couldn't 'close the deal'. He stubbornly clung to self-destructive behavior in the face of clear realization.
So, from whence the salvation?
Moshe (Moses), of course.
Brilliant as Moshe was, he didn't guide his life by intellect alone. He had a profound, super-rational relationship with the Divine, and that was an important ingredient in his choices.
The most elemental relationships are super-rational. After all, is a parent's commitment to a child purely rational? Should a child's commitment to parents be purely logic-based?
No.
Mobilizing our inner 'Moshe' means selflessly committing to our 'Highest Image', the vision of who G-d created us to be. The 'Moshe method' is a matter of selfless commitment, not logical calculation. This can't be challenged by the 'Pharaoh Syndrome', which prevents the fulfillment of our logical resolutions.
Simply put: The Moshe method is a much deeper expression of self, and it works on a different wavelength.
So the next time you resolve to change your behavior, see it as a part of your commitment to G-d, see it as an exercise of your relationship with your Destiny and see it as an expression of your very reason for existence.
Then see if Pharaoh - excuses - can block your way.
ב"ה