Use Your Imagination

Utilizing the gift of your imagination, mentally create experiences of being encouraged by the greatest people of all time. Think of the people you would find most encouraging to speak with.

What would you like them to say to you?

Imagine hearing their words of encouragement in any and every important area of your life.

Some people only need one imaginary encourager as a mentor or coach, while others would like a few. You can choose how many encouraging people to imagine, even ten or more, because they're all in your imagination!

Some people would have liked for a parent or a specific teacher to give them words of encouragement, but didn't receive that gift. Even if parents and teachers were encouraging, perhaps they weren't encouraging enough. It's never too late to imagine words of encouragement that you wished to hear. You might realize how much you would have gained if words of encouragement were delivered with more enthusiasm and with greater belief in you when you were younger. Now you can imagine hearing what you would have wished for, said in the way that you would have wished.

Realize that all truly great people view encouraging others in a positive way as a great privilege. The Torah mitzvah of love your neighbor includes all aspects of kindness. Encouraging someone else is a mitzvah that every truly great person wants to fulfill. Therefore, all great people truly would want to encourage you. But if they lived a long time ago, they can't actually speak to you. Nevertheless, they would all be happy for you to utilize their memory as a tool and technique for encouragement.

Imagine that King David encouraged you to recite his Psalms. Imagine that King Solomon encouraged you to learn from the wisdom of Mishlei (Proverbs). Imagine that Hillel and Rabbi Akiva encouraged you to study Torah. Imagine that the Baal Shem Tov encouraged you to pray with passion and fervor. Imagine that the Chofetz Chaim encouraged you to be careful with your power to speak, and to speak words of positive encouragement and never to speak negatively about others or to insult people. Imagine that Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev encouraged you to see the good in others and to find merit for them. Imagine that Rabbi Meir Shapiro encouraged you to learn Daf Yomi and to encourage others to do so. Imagine that Rabbi Noah Weinberg encouraged you to light the fire of Torah in every Jewish heart.