The Holy Victory

These days, victory gets a bad rap.
 
A common victory is understood to be when the New York Mets defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks five to four. It's when the Union Army defeats the Confederates and reunites a divided nation. It's when China's manufacturing capacity advances so far ahead of all other nations, its stock market surges while markets all over the world stagnate.
 
A Holy victory is when we pledge to Hashem to fulfill a new mitzvah, and overcome the temptations of our evil inclination to keep our promise. It is when we try as hard as we can to internalize a new ethical concept into our lives, and as a result, become new people. It is when we pray to Hashem for something very important to us – and He answers our prayers.
 
There is a significant difference between a common victory and a holy victory. In the case of a holy victory – there are no losers.
 
The primary consequence of Emunah is joy. The chief result of talking to Hashem every day is a lifetime of happiness. An existence of knowing what you are supposed to do with your life, and the feeling that you are really accomplishing something every day.
 
Living in the 21^st century, for some reason, we are taught that we should feel a bit guilty for winning. Success is something that we can be proud of, but at the same time, should feel a little shame over. Joy, being happy, is something that we don't really deserve. As if it is our fault that other people don't feel as well as we do, or that this joy cannot last forever and we shouldn't become complacent.
 
What if joy can become a constant in our lives? Granted, our life will not be filled with joyful events at every moment. The Talmud teaches us that if we don't encounter a tribulation every forty days, we need to worry that Hashem is angry at us. Good things don't have to happen to make us happy. It is our reaction to the events in our lives that determine our feelings. These reactions can become the common denominator in our lives that have the ability to make us happy every day.
 
Knowing this is one of the great victories of life. It is a spiritual victory. It is a human accomplishment. Emunah, its constant exertion not only makes us better people, it is never at the cost of another's downfall.
 
We live in a world of limits. There is a limit to how much wealth we can acquire in our lifetime. There is a limit to how much we can consume in a given day. There is a limit to how long we will exist in this form.
 
The most common error we make as earthly beings is to extend these physical limitations to our spiritual undertakings.
 
There is no limit to how much light we can bring down to the world. There is no limit to how many mitzvoth we perform. There is no limit to how much joy we can inspire in others. There is no limit to how grateful we can feel by merely being alive, a part of Hashem's world, in possession of infinite opportunities to connect to Him in the most intimate manner by performing His Commandments.
 
There is no limit to victory. There is no limit to success. There is no limit to accomplishment.  There is no limit to holiness. And, when we connect to those holy limitless entities, we connect to Hashem. That’s the holy victory.