As I write in the latest post on my Russian blog, I officially became a pensioner this May - suddenly and unexpectedly, to my pleasant surprise. This new financial stability has affected me and my life in many ways. One of the areas it has affected most is the way I pursue my life mission.
Since I left Israel and moved to this country about three years ago, I have shifted my focus from Jewish life coaching to the formal teaching of practical Jewish life wisdom. Unfortunately, I've realized that the teaching I myself studied and started practicing back in Jerusalem doesn't appeal to many people here, as it's quite different from similar courses that are common and popular here.
One fundamental difference is that their approach is based on "addition", while mine is based on "subtraction". Chabad Chassidus teaches that joy is our natural state, so we only need to dispel our mental "clouds" to restore it. I often told some of my students here that the sun is always shining, even when it's cloudy.
Since I became a pensioner, I haven't had to look for new students, so I've even stopped actively marketing my formal teaching. Unfortunately or fortunately, ;-) I haven't found any new students since this significant shift in my life.
This, in turn, has brought about a no less important shift in the way I pursue my life mission - from formal teaching to spontaneous acts. This shift itself has been spontaneous. ;-) The main difference between formal teaching and spontaneous acts is that the former is conceptual, while the latter is experiential.
So what exactly do I do as spontaneous acts? I want to share with you just one kind of verbal act that I find myself performing spontaneously almost daily. The only thing I plan in advance is spontaneity itself. ;-)
When I see my new neighbors or even strangers anywhere, I tell them my spontaneous Jewish-flavored jokes. Rather than reproduce some of them here, I just want to tell you that in this way I seem to be able to "short-circuit" the egoic minds of those who hear these jokes. We laugh together instead of my laughing at them.
Their joy is restored only momentarily, but I've noticed that some of those who have heard these jokes several times have even started laughing the moment they see me opening my mouth. I feel that I'm witnessing neuroplastic in action.
PS: There will be no update in the next two weeks due to my trip abroad.
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