The Trust Factor
A daily lesson that focuses on achieving unparalleled success in life using ancient wisdom in modern times.
We will be discussing critical concepts as they are laid out in the book Sha'ar Habitachon - The Gate of Trust. Written 1000 years ago, the author reminds us of the values and wisdom that have allowed humanity to thrive throughout history.
The concept of trusting in a higher power that exists purely for our benefit, puts us in the drivers seat with absolute confidence to achieve greatness.
Eliminate: Fear, Hatred, Anxiety, Depression, Jealousy, Greed...forever!
* Note that some terminology will be in the original Hebrew or Aramaic which I will always follow with the English translation.
The Trust Factor
Episode 49 - The Oreo Cookie Paradox: Choosing What Truly Matters
Have you ever wondered why good people suffer while the selfish seem to thrive? Today's Trust Factor podcast tackles this age-old philosophical conundrum with profound wisdom and a fresh perspective that might forever change how you view life's challenges.
We begin by examining the importance of living fully in the present moment. When we blink, a week passes; when we blink again, it's a lifetime gone. This reality check serves as the foundation for understanding the deeper spiritual mechanics at work in our lives. The apparent injustice of righteous suffering versus unrighteous prosperity isn't what it seems - we're simply judging from the outside looking in.
Through a fascinating example of a child choosing Oreo cookies over $10,000 cash, we illuminate how our limited perspective blinds us to greater values. Like spiritual children, many adults make decisions based on immediate gratification, failing to recognize the eternal rewards that come from wiser choices. Our society constantly reinforces this mindset through media, advertising, and cultural messages that elevate material wealth above spiritual richness.
The most revolutionary insight comes in understanding that suffering in this temporary world may actually be an act of divine kindness - allowing us to settle accounts now rather than in eternity. The righteous person facing challenges is often paying a small, temporary price rather than an eternal one. Meanwhile, those who seem to prosper through selfish means are merely accumulating a debt that will eventually come due.
Whether you're facing your own struggles or questioning the apparent injustice in the world around you, tomorrow's episode promises to reveal a secret for avoiding these spiritual traps altogether. Don't miss this opportunity to gain clarity on one of life's most perplexing questions and discover how to make truly wise choices in your spiritual journey.
Good morning everybody. Welcome to the Trust Factor, the only podcast that promises to improve your life using divine age-old wisdom. It's Sunday, the beginning of a brand new, fresh week. Remember you're going to blink and it's going to be over. So maximize it, guys, because if that's the theme, if every week you blink and it's over, that becomes the story of life, you blink and it passes you by. You need to maximize every day, my friends. So the way to do that is to be present. Be in the moment. Don't think about the past. It doesn't help you to think about the past. Don't plan too much ahead, because you have no idea what awaits you. You have no idea what you're promised. We may not even be here tomorrow. So live like today is your last day and you will maximize every single day.
Speaker 1:Last week we talked about this age-old concept, this philosophical conundrum, which is why is it that we have righteous people in the world and things don't work out for them, seemingly? We want to shake our fists at the heavens. We want to get upset with God and say what are you doing? What kind of a world did you build over here, where you have these people who are so good and so kind and so caring, and yet things don't work out for them. They're always struggling, they're always just have to be content with minimum, while at the same time, we've got these people who are takers and all they do is take and all they do is think about themselves and growing their bellies and growing their bank accounts. And yet, seemingly, they have everything they have money, they have wealth, they have children, they have relationships, they have everything going for them. Why, I don't understand. It just doesn't make sense, and we talked about this and I want to wrap it up today with a little bit more insight. Bottom line when it comes to these things is that the reason we're upset is because we're judging the situation from the outside, looking in. In reality, when you speak to the individual who is consumed all day long with taking care of other people, they aren't upset. On the contrary, they're very happy. They're doing that which they love and which gives them pleasure. Now, how does that work? The same way that we said before in the way that a man wants to go, god has an obligation to take him. So this individual is driven by those things, this individual who loves to give and do things and wants to emulate God, it's in their neshama, it's in their soul. That's what gives them true peace. So I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1:I saw a video the other day, not long ago, last week, of a little child. I think she was probably, maybe, I don't know eight, eight or nine, and an adult was asking her a question. It was an experiment, a social experiment, to prove a point on a different subject. But the adult came to this young, eight or nine or ten-year-old girl and said I've got an offer for you. Would you like $10,000 in cash? And he puts $10,000 in cash right in front of this little girl or would you like two fresh out of the box Oreo cookies? And he takes two Oreo cookies and he puts them opposite the $10,000. And the girl, without hesitation, went for the two Oreo cookies and he said are you sure, are you positive, you got $10,000 over here in cash? Are you sure you want the two Oreos? And with a smile on her face, as if she just won the jackpot, she reconfirmed for him that that's indeed what she wants the Oreo cookies.
Speaker 1:My friends, that is us. That's an analogy for life the person who spends their day filling their belly and their bank account and worrying only about their status and their power and not about anybody else, and certainly not about God's commandments. That individual is choosing the Oreos. The Oreo cookie for them is what's important, it's what matters in this world. Again, we've said we're children In the eyes of God. We know nothing. We're like a small toddler versus our parent who knows everything. My friends, it's the exact same thing. God says you want Oreo cookies? I can't force you to take $10,000. I can't because I gave you free choice. I didn't want a robot. If I wanted a robot, I would have created robots. I wanted a human being with a heart and a mind and a soul to be able to make decisions and to be able to improve on your decision-making abilities.
Speaker 1:Some people get to a point in their life where they outgrow their childish outlook, where they recognize that there is more to life than a couple of Oreos and they recognize that if they make the right investments and the right choices, then they will come out ahead. When we're children, we are limited by our surroundings and our understanding and our knowledge at the time. As we grow, we gain knowledge and it's incumbent upon us, once we have that new knowledge, to make course corrections. As adults, we now have new information we didn't have when we were children. It's time to course correct, my friends.
Speaker 1:The problem is there are so many people who don't. They're brought up in an environment, in a secular environment, where they're brainwashed. Turn on the television, turn on the radio, turn on open up a newspaper, a magazine, look at the billboards on the street. It's all designed for your failure to tell you where to spend your hard-earned money, and it's always on material goods. We are a material-driven society and we are a disposable society. We don't appreciate the things that we have because they come to us easily. Today we've said there's so much wealth. But these people, they continue along the path that they've had when they were children and they were brainwashed to think that if you want real happiness, acquire wealth. If you want real lasting happiness, buy a big home. Don't get married until you have a million dollars in the bank or until you're well established or whatever it is. They fill your head with all of the junk that serves them and not you, and those people continue along that path and in their life they continue to make bad decisions.
Speaker 1:The people who grow and have clarity, moral clarity and intellectual clarity, come to realize that those things that we acquire in the physical world are temporary in nature and the joy that they give us, the satisfaction that we get from acquiring them, is also temporary. We said the new car smell fades. That's the way life goes. We said the new car smell fades. That's the way life goes. You buy something new, you get temporary joy out of it until something better comes along, and then suddenly, what you have just ain't good enough anymore.
Speaker 1:My friends, that should be the answer, that you understand that while we feel upset for that woman who dedicates her life to helping everybody else, but seemingly, in our eyes, she doesn't have what we have. She doesn't have millions of dollars, she doesn't live in a big house, she doesn't. On the contrary, she's struggling, she's going through challenges. Why is she struggling? By the way, guys, you have to understand it's a kindness. We've said this before. It's a kindness. It's what God is doing for her in return. In other words, why is the suffering a kindness? Because when we suffer in this world, we don't suffer in the next.
Speaker 1:Now you tell me this world is temporary. Some people are here for 20 years, 40 years, 80 years, 120 years, and it's done. The next world is in a world of eternity, of infinity. If you're going to suffer, where do you want to suffer? In a temporary world, where you last 40, 80, 100 years, or in a permanent world? In a world of eternity? You want temporary suffering and it says in the Torah that what you suffer for in this world and what you're judged and pay for in this world, you do not pay in the next world. So you have a choice.
Speaker 1:And that woman who's running in and out of hospital for herself or for her children, or is having a hard time paying the rent or whatever it is the challenges that she deals with and she deals with it with love. It's because God loves her and he wants her to pay in this world so that the next world she has only bliss and does not have to come back for another round like the other person will have to do. He'll have to have an accounting and at the end of the day, he'll have to come back and fix all the things, all the things that were wasted, all the wasted opportunities to improve their lives and the lives of other people by doing his work. They're going to have to come back and do it all over again. Guys, there's no such thing as a free lunch. There is always accountability, unlike what we said.
Speaker 1:Remember I want to remind you guys, just by the way, because I was looking at it this morning Remember, it was last week. We were talking about the news, right? World leaders, basically the figureheads of Europe, right? Macron and Steimer and the German chancellor, you know, sitting around coke buddies doing illicit opioids, right the same stuff they throw people in jail for. They're the criminals who are actually doing it.
Speaker 1:And I told you there's going to be no accountability. It's going to get washed away, swept under the rug, because that's what the media, that's what their puppets in the media do, guess what. It's no longer the subject of discussion, my friends. It's gone. A little blip on the radar and now it's gone, long gone. You'll never hear about it again.
Speaker 1:And these criminals don't mistake it, guys, that's exactly what they are. They are the very same criminals that they put away for doing the very same things. It's just that they believe that those laws don't apply to them. In fact, they're correct, and you've seen that that is not the way that God runs this world. This is a world of justice, it's a world of accountability, and we have to recognize that if we're not going to be held to account in this world, in this existence, we will be in the next, and that, my friends, you do not want. Maximize your day-to-day. Remember, there is a secret, and I'm going to share it with you tomorrow, on how to avoid the pitfalls of everything we've been discussing, to make sure that you don't have to get stuck in this trap of secularism versus religiosity, trying to make the right decision. Which way I go? Left do I go right? We are going to talk about that tomorrow, my friends, you don't want to miss it. Have a spectacular sunday and an amazing week.
