Question of the Week:

Rabbi, I am uninspired. I used to pray to G-d and study Torah, but I've lost the spark. I feel flat and empty and I haven't done anything spiritual in ages. What should I do to find my soul again?

Answer:

You remind me of myself. I haven't exercised in months. But I have a good excuse for my sluggishness. I am unfit. I just don't have the energy to exercise right now, but I keep promising myself that as soon as I am in shape I will exercise.

Of course, it doesn't work that way. Fitness doesn't just happen to you. It takes work. The more you exercise the more energetic you feel. But the more you neglect your body, the less motivated you feel to move it. You can't wait for your energy level to rise before exercising. It's the another way around, you need to force yourself to exercise in order to raise your energy level. Break your cycle of inertia, and new energy will pump through your veins and you feel alive again.

What is true for the body is true for the soul. You are presently uninspired. The only way out of spiritual inertia is to just get moving. Walk away from your uninspired self and do a soulful act. Pray, study, care for others. It may seem forced at first. But as you smash through the barrier of lethargy you will feel the flow of inspiration returning to your soul, and your spirit will be revived.

The secret is to reach out of yourself. The moment you do something not because you feel like it but because it is right, not for yourself but for G-d, you have stepped out of your uninspired reality, you have transcended yourself, and you become open to your real self, your soul.

Being unfit is no excuse not to exercise, it's the best reason to exercise. And being uninspired is no obstacle to a soul journey, it's the fuel that propels the journey. Inspiration is all around you. Your search for it is getting in the way. Stop looking for inspiration, and look beyond yourself and your moods. When your self is empty, it is a call to find a higher you. I can think of nothing more inspiring than that.

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