This week, we are celebrating Sukkot, a beautiful cosmic window of time when the energy of protection, mercy, kindness, and joy is available to us in abundance. It is an opening of what kabbalists call Or Makif, meaning “surrounding Light.” It represents our potential for greatness, all of the amazing things we have to achieve and give but still need to manifest in our reality. The Torah describes Sukkot as “the holiday of ingathering” or harvest. While it literally refers to the harvest of crops, in modern times, it is interchangeable with the harvesting of abundant blessings and gifts.
We can’t fully connect to this abundance and power of Sukkot without being open to thinking in a different way. It requires a shift. One way that the observance of Sukkot helps us change our thoughts is by changing our environment. For example, in preparation for Sukkot, a Sukkah is constructed— a temporary structure, like a hut, with a roof typically made of branches. Eating, socializing, prayers, and connections are all held in the Sukkah. Men and boys often sleep there at night.
What I find so interesting about many of the kabbalistic traditions is just how smart they are. Rav Ashlag put it like this, “Once one has chosen an environment, one is subjected to it like the clay in the hands of the potter.” We become influenced by the environment instead of being the influence.
The emerging field of environmental psychology focuses on how our environment changes thought patterns and, thereby, behavior. Unquestionably, the bed we wake up in, whether we drive to work or not, what kind of work we do, and who we interact with daily all influence our thoughts. Science tells us that we have between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day and that 95% are the same repetitive thoughts as the day before. Thoughts become our actions, and together, they create our reality. You can see how changing our thoughts would clearly lead to a change in our reality, right?
In one study by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a large cohort of German college students were given a personality inventory to measure the “big five” personality traits. Assessed traits were Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability. Half the students stayed in Germany, and half studied abroad for at least one semester. The study-abroad students showed a marked increase in the areas of Openness, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability when they were reassessed after returning to Germany.
When we change our surroundings, we change not only our thoughts and behaviors but also our core personality traits, not just temporarily. These shifts are lasting and make for equally enduring changes in our lives.
So, during Sukkot, we sit in a tent for a week. So smart!
We all want joy and abundance. Most of us desire to live up to our potential for greatness and achieve all the goals we have set for ourselves. But we’re not going to get there if we are thinking 95% of the same thoughts every single day. While not all of us can immediately book a vacation or retreat, we can go for a walk, take some phone calls outside in nature, or take a different route the next time we get in a car. The most minor changes to our surroundings can lead to a change in our thoughts.
Sukkot offers us a powerful opportunity to tap into the surrounding Light and harvest blessings, but it requires us to open ourselves to change—both internally and externally. As we step into this sacred time, let’s embrace the wisdom of shifting our surroundings, no matter how subtly, creating space for new thoughts and experiences and manifesting our true potential.
No comments:
Post a Comment