Joy from the Four Elements - 003 Injecting New Life

Water – The Element of Vitality-Giving Nourishment

With siyata d’shmaya, we have begun to discuss how we work on improving our simchah (joy). In the previous lesson we studied the joy that we can derive from our “earth-of-earth” [of earth] element. Now we will deal with “water-of-earth” [of earth] element.

As mentioned, earth actualizes the potential of something, which is the idea of joy, because the joy is a movement of the soul which actualizes the potential in the soul. Joy is accessed whenever earth in the soul actualizes something. Water gives nourishment to something and keeps it alive. Plants are nourished by the water and are able to grow and remain alive due to water. Earth actualizes the potential of something, whereas water provides life-giving vitality and nourishment.

The element of “water”-of-earth in the soul is utilized whenever a person receives added nourishment due to the actualization of potential.

Actualization of Potential In Doing, Speaking, and Thinking

There are three “garments” to the soul: action, speech and thought. Each action, word or thought of a person is really an actualization of some potential.

When a person does an action, he is not just doing something. Rather, he is actualizing a garment of the soul, the power of the soul, that is called “action”. The soul’s power of action becomes actualized from its potential state, via action.

The same is true for speech. When a person speaks, he is not simply verbalizing words. He is actualizing the soul’s power of speech, activating it from its potential form. This is reflected by the verse, “My soul leaves when I speak with Him”. Speech causes the soul to become actualized from its potential state.

Whenever we think a thought, it is not just a thought, but an actualization of the thought from its potential state. Although thought is generally a “potential” force, in comparison to action and speech, thought is also an actualized force. A thought becomes actualized from its potential state, as soon as one thinks of the thought. Before one conjured the thought, the thought was in potential form, and when one thinks of it, the thought becomes actualized, experienced as a thought [it can be further actualized through an action].

Thus, action speech and thought are garments of the soul, and they are all different ways to actualize the potential forces in the soul.

Earth – The Force of Actualization

Earth actualizes the potential of something. The element of earth plays an important presence in our lives. Although the soul’s element of earth contains heaviness, which produces the negative traits of laziness and sadness, the soul’s element of earth is active in our souls at all times, whenever we actualize something.

For example, even now, when we are learning about how to understand joy, the mere study of this is already actualizing our potential, as we slowly gain knowledge about it through these lessons.

Thus, the element of earth is not limited to laziness and sadness (though the element of earth is usually discussed in that context). At its essence, earth is more about actualization of potential.

Earth is a dry and cold element. The dryness in earth breeds the trait of sadness, and the coldness of earth breeds the trait of laziness. Joy, the opposite of sadness and laziness, is essentially about using the power to actualize potential.

When we actualize potential - whether through the means of actions, words or thoughts - there is accompanying joy. When we don’t actualize potential, there is sadness. Whenever we don’t do enough, or if we haven’t spoken enough, or if we didn’t think something through enough, we become sad. We are not using our potential.

Sadness Can Also Come From Too Much Actualized Potential

While sadness generally is the result from a lack of actualized potential, there can also be a sadness that results from actualized potential. How?  If we actualize more than our potential, this also makes us sad.

Here are some examples of how actualizing too much potential can actually make us sad. After the sin, Adam was cursed with labor. Adam was told that he will have to eat through sadness. Thus, actualizing our potential does not always make us happy. Through laboring in the fields, mankind is able to eat and survive, and although the earth produces fruit which enables man to eat, this ultimately causes man to be sad, because it involves a lot of hard work. It is an actualization of potential that comes along with sadness.

Another example is childbirth. After the sin, Chavah was cursed with the sadness and pain that accompanies pregnancy, labor and childbirth, and post-childbirth. The greatest product that a woman can produce is the birth of a child. There can be no greater actualization of potential. Yet, in spite of this, childbirth is saddening and painful to a woman – it is the curse given to Chavah and to all women.

Water – The Element That Enables Proper Actualization

The ability of earth to actualize potential is an ability that normally produces joy. But if one is sad or lazy – both traits of earth – he will not actualize his potential in the proper way. What is the remedy for this?

This is where the element of water comes in.

Water nourishes earth. When we balance our water with our earth, we lessen our sadness and laziness. Of course, if we apply too much water, the results are detrimental. Too much water ruins the earth. But if we use a balanced amount of water, we can improve the earth and nourish it properly, with good results. We will be actualizing our potential in a way that does not bring sadness or laziness, but a kind of actualizing that gives us vitality and joy.

Applying The Element of Water: Examples of Vitality-Giving Actions

Here is an example of a good kind of actualization, which we can use to see how we can balance our elements of water and earth.

A person can choose any action that he or she loves doing, and then focus on the enjoyment he or she has, while doing it. For example, any women can choose something she enjoys doing, whether baking, cooking, tidying the house, etc. She doesn’t only enjoy the results of it – she actually enjoys doing the very act itself. This is an action that actualizes some potential, but in addition to this, it is also an action that provides her with vitality and enthusiastic movement. This is joy-giving to her, and the opposite of sadness and laziness.

Another example. After giving birth to a child, mothers find it easier to take care of the children when they are not acting difficult. A mother has much more enjoyment doing things for her children when they are at an easy stage. She will run to take care of the child, and she does it energetically and with enthusiasm. In contrast to the above, when the children become difficult to take care of, like when a child is at a difficult stage, it becomes harder to take care of them, and a mother will feel somewhat heavier, and not as energetic, when she’s taking care of them.

For example, when the child wakes up in the middle of the night crying, this is difficult for a parent, and although the parent will take care of the crying child in middle of the night, it will often be done in a sad or begrudging manner, and the parent doesn’t feel enthusiastic to do it. It will either be done with sadness, or with laziness, and without joy.

Infusing Enthusiasm Into Our Actions

Consider the following. What is the difference between the movement of a ferris wheel, with the movement of a person who is running? A ferris wheel is an inanimate object. Although it moves, it is basically dead, because there is no life in it. A person, though, is alive when he moves. He is not just moving, he is moving with enthusiasm. These are two very different kinds of movements. 

Action, speech, and thought, when done without vitality, breed laziness or sadness. Joy, which comes from vitality, water, is when one actualizes either an action, word, or thought, with enthusiasm, which in turn brings joy.

Now let’s see how to apply water to our earth in our everyday actions, and thereby attain more joy, in our everyday actions.

Introducing Joy Into Your Responsibilities

Let’s first examine our actions. We do many actions a day, but let’s try to do one thing a day, whether big or small, and to do with enthusiasm and joy. Is there a certain action we don’t enjoy doing? Much of what we do is simply out of habit, out of responsibility and because we have no choice. But we can pick one action and introduce joy into it.

Let’s first pick something we like doing and focus on the joy that we can think about and feel, when we do it. Concentrate on the joy you have in the action, while you are doing. Think about it and feel it. This brings water into your earth. It will be a movement of joy, which brings you joy.

Example 1 – When You Have To Go To A Wedding

Here is an example. We may need to go to a wedding of a relative or friend, out of duty, and not because we really want to go. It may be far away and it is tiring to get there and come back late, and we may have to buy a gift which we really don’t feel like buying, but we have to do it anyway. We have no desire to go the wedding, but we have no choice, and we have to go to the wedding. We go the wedding – we use our element of earth – but we have no desire in doing so. This is a common scenario. How can we infuse joy into this?

After we realize that we have no desire to go to the wedding, let’s try to discover some aspect of excitement in going to the wedding. Now that we are going, let’s be happy about going. Maybe we will be seeing some of our friends by the wedding – that’s something joyous to think about. Or, maybe by going to the wedding, there’s a good chance that that the people making the simchah will also come to a simchah that we make. That’s also something joyous to think about.  Or, instead of focusing on what we will be getting out of it personally, we can focus on the joy that we will be giving to the chosson and kallah, or to their families.

In summary, before going to the wedding, let’s awaken some joyous feeling in going to the wedding. This introduces “water” (vitality) into our “earth”.

Example 2 – Putting The Children To Bed

Here’s another example. When the children need to go to sleep, in most homes, this can be somewhat stressful. One child doesn’t want to go to bed, another child wants you tell him a story, and another child is scared of the dark, etc. When that is the case, we usually don’t put the children to bed with that much joy. Instead, we usually do it with no interest, somewhat begrudgingly, and only because we have to and because we have no other choice.

Here are some suggestions to infuse some more “life” into the act of putting the children to sleep, which also makes it more joyful. When we tell the story to our child, think about your love for your child. Or, think about how you are calming down your child. Or, give a kiss to your child and express your love to the child. Or, say Shema with your child and think how you are ingraining emunah in your child. A mother especially can derive great satisfaction from this, because it is greatly satisfying for a Jewish mother to know that she is taking care of her children, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Another option is that you can think of the calmness that will be in the home after all the children are sleeping, when you will have peace and quiet. You can think about that as you are putting the children to sleep.

Through any of these ways, you can infuse some vitality into the act of putting the children to sleep, by thinking about any of these things beforehand.

In Conclusion

These are just examples but there are many more examples throughout the day of how you can infuse some joy and vitality into the routine acts, and thereby avoid laziness or sadness, and instead experiencing joy in your daily responsibilities.

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Q&A

Q1: All of these examples employ the use of shelo lishmah (ulterior motives). What about a person who wants to act more lishmah?

A: Most people are at the level of shelo lishmah, that is why we gave examples that involve shelo lishmah, such as going to the wedding for your own good, etc. Also, shelo lishmah is about doing something in order to receive good for yourself. But here the focus is not on doing the act to receive good from the act, i.e. to do the act with enthusiasm because you want to receive more energy and enthusiasm for it, rather, the focus here is on how to do the act amidst enthusiasm. That is not shelo lishmah, because you are not doing it for the joy, you are rather learning how to do it amidst joy. That does not contradict lishmah. So, if one is at the level of shelo lishmah, he can do any action and derive vitality from it, for the purpose of getting vitality from it. If one is at the level of doing things lishmah, he or she can do the action amidst a state of vitality, as opposed to doing it to get vitality.

Q2: Can I also use my talents, in order to infuse more joy into what I do?

A: First clarify what your talents really are in the first place, and then think about which talents you can use in what you do. Become clearer about your talents and then think about which actions you can apply to your talents to.

Q3: Do I need to do actions that utilize my talents?

A: Seek how you can to actions that utilize your talents, so that you can attain more joy in your actions, but even before that, you can learn how to infuse joy into your everyday actions which you need to do anyhow.

Q4: How can we know what our main element is to work with?

A: The more you listen to these lessons the clearer you will become with what area you mainly need to work on, by becoming clearer about the four elements.

Q5: Practically speaking how do we apply the concept that earth is dry and cold?

A: Earth is the power of action, the power to do things out of habit, which is dry, or to do something slowly, which is cold.

Q6: When I wake up in the morning and no one is home I get up lazily because I know that no one is home so I’m not excited to get up, but when others are in the house then I get up more quickly because I am more excited when others are around. What can I do about this?

A: You still need to find anything that gives you more vitality. Take a pen and paper and write down any actions you enjoy doing and what gives you more energy.

Q7: In the previous lesson it was explained that anytime we actualize our potential, we gain joy, but in this lesson it was explained that joy is not possible unless you actualize your potential together with enthusiasm.

A: Every action that actualizes potential brings some degree of joy, but there are levels of joy. When we do it with vitality and enthusiasm, it is more joyous. When we do it without enthusiasm, it is less joyous.

Q8: Are actions, speech and thought the only aspects of the soul?

A:They are the garments of the soul, not the essence of the soul itself. For example, a person wants something, so he will think about it, speak about it, etc. The will is garmented in any of these manifestations of action, speech, or thought.

Q9: Is this about attacking sadness? Is there anything else we need to do about combatting sadness?

A: Part of it attacks sadness, but a person will also need to clarify what makes him sad, and to deal with those issues.