I don’t only have an incentive to work on my menuchah— I have a responsibility. Because when I do, everyone gains
This month, I paid particular attention to the people whom I view as having abundant menuchas hanefesh. I found that they seem to have a similar and related quality: patience for others.
They can be under intense external pressure — an impossible deadline, a screaming child — yet they stay on task, riding the wave.
Generally, I consider myself to be a warm and friendly person. I speak sweetly when I answer the phone at the office, “Hello, how can I help you?” But when I lose my calm, my focus on my goals, my inner anchor to truth, I also lose my ability to convey warmth and positivity to anyone around me. Or more succinctly: When I lose it, you can tell.
I admire people who have menuchas hanefesh not only because they gain all the personal benefits of this middah, but also because they get the tremendous zechus of being able to show love and patience to those around them. Menuchas hanefesh is contagious; it can be shared with others like a flame. You only need to be in the close presence of the fire to catch it, and the original spark loses none of its own energy.
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