Secret to good results in your life

Who doesn't yearn for good experiences and happy endings?

Imagine that there was something you could do to actually influence what happens to you?

A basic principle of our faith is that G-d allows us to call the shots in our relationship with him. How we initiate the relationship is how He reciprocates: If we are magnanimous to others, G-d gives us the benefit of the doubt. When we are tightfisted and exacting from others, G-d is strict with us too.

When we are sad or melancholy, we are inexpressive. Our true emotions are buried beneath our facade and covered as if by a shell. G-d's blessings to us therefore are concealed and not readily apparent.

But an amazing thing happens when we are joyous: Joy allows a person to overcome his inhibitions and step out of his comfort zone. The Kaballah actually tells us that you can get to know a person's essence when they are joyous, because then they don't shield their feelings, but express themselves unrestrained.

When we are joyful, G-d reflects joy back to us too. And like our joy, G-d's joy expresses itself in the clarity of His blessings, where there is absolutely no need to uncover, interpret or decode the blessing. Like joy, which is uninhibited and boisterous, the goodness we are sent from G-d is obvious and explicit!

So whether you're holding your breath for the IRS to stop badgering you, or for Mr. Perfect to ask you out on a date, the Torah reveals to us that being joyful is the key catalyst to experiencing the blessings we so desperately seek!

Today is the first day of the month of Adar II, a month in which we are instructed to increase in happiness and joy. Curiously, it is also considered the most fortuitous month in which to schedule critical events such as surgeries, closings and court cases. Is there a connection? You connect the dots!

Wishing you the open mindedness to be able to be joyous despite all that surrounds you.