Never Stop Reaching

Did you ever wonder why babies reach for things constantly? Is it their curiosity? Not really. A baby's reaching is indicative of our inborn aspirations to go higher, to achieve. The Creator instills strong hopes and aspirations within us, for they serve as the prime tool in helping us realize our potential, perform our mission on earth and accomplish great things.

 
Frequently, negative influences stifle our will to continue reaching. Negative comments from parents, teachers and peers gnaw away at a  person's self-image and belief in himself. Unsuccessful efforts and a modern-day inclination toward laziness and instant gratification lead too many people to throw up their hands in despair, when in truth, they have every right to continue striving and to reach upward in hope.

Anything that stifles your aspirations in any way, or anything that discourages you from reaching as high as you possibly can is none other than an agent of the evil inclination, the source of all negativity. Aspirations and

depression are mutually exclusive. As long as you have aspirations, no one or nothing can discourage you. A discouraged and depressed individual is far from The Creator, just where the evil inclination wants him or her to be.

 
Because of their difficulties in life, people think that The Creator has forsaken them. Nothing could be further from the truth. More than anyone, The Creator wants you to succeed. I'll prove it simply, as follows:

Our sages explain that The Creator created the world in order to reveal His majesty and monarchy. Such natural wonders as Niagara Falls, the Matterhorn, or a peacock's feathers certainly attest to Divine majesty. The greater the kingdom, the greater the king. With this in mind, would a world full of ugliness, losers and incompetents add to The Creator's dignity? Certainly not! Not only is it in His best interests that every one of us be happy and successful, but He created the world so that we could have every blessing and success. The more the world and its inhabitants are healthy, wealthy, wise and fulfilled, the greater The Creator's prestige! He wants us all to be successful.
 
So why aren't we?

The answer is simple – either we don't reach high enough or we've stopped reaching altogether.
 
Many people have attained milestone achievements in life, yet fade back into unhappiness, depression and obscurity. Why? They've stopped reaching.
 

Even if we've reached the peak of Mount Everest, we mustn't stop reaching. As long as we are still here on earth, there's more to be done.

 
So, if The Creator wants us to have every single blessing of success, then why do we still have deficiencies in life? Again, all of His blessings are hovering over our heads this very moment. We simply must reach for them.
 
How do we reach?
 

We pray. In our own words, we ask The Creator for whatever we desire. Each word of prayer creates a suitable receptacle for Divine abundance. If a moment of prayer creates an 8-ounce receptacle, then an hour of prayer creates a one-hundred gallon vat.

 
We wouldn't pour fine wine on the floor. In like manner, The Creator won't bestow blessings of abundance, both material and spiritual, unless a person prepares a suitable receptacle – prayer!
 
Aspirations without prayer are like trying to climb a mountain without taking the first step. But, aspirations with prayer will get us to our personal peak every time, as long as we never give up. And, in time, we'll conquer progressively higher peaks. Looking back, we'll find that today's reality is the product of yesterday's prayers and dreams.
 
Maybe you know people who have "succeeded" without prayer. That's not true success. Anything we obtain without prayer is ultimately detrimental, like all the people who went crazy from becoming millionaires overnight after winning the lottery. Success without prayer breeds arrogance, and arrogance leads to anger, dissatisfaction and a host of additional negative emotions that negate happiness. That's not success.

Success that results from prayer enables a person to feel the Creator's love. This leads to genuine happiness and inner peace. Just as no one can prevent us from praying, no one can prevent us from pursuing true happiness.
 
Since our souls are tiny sparks of Divine light and the very essence of The Creator, we share His attributes. Just as He is unlimited, so is our potential. And, in order to enhance and maximize our potential, we must reach for the stars. Even if we don't land up there between The Big Dipper and Orion, we'll still land pretty high, provided that we never stop reaching.
 
People that reach fly out of bed in the morning. They look forward to a new day and they're not afraid of challenges. They don't expect things to come easy, so they don't fall apart when they encounter obstacles. They are so accustomed to reaching that they jump over the hurdles that stand in their way.
 

Above image courtesy of Maxisport/Shutterstock.

 
As long as you continue reaching, rest assured that you'll reach your own personal peak. Once you get there, you'll see additional peaks that you never dreamed of. Keep reaching, and you'll reach them too. may you be blessed with all your heart's wishes for the very best, and may your dreams materialize in the nearest future, amen.