WEARING WHITE CLOTHING ALWAYS

Wearing all white clothing, it is a Commandment in Ecclesiastes. "Always wear white." White as a lily flower, white as the foam of the sea, white like clean teeth. Whiteness is cleanness, whiteness is purity, innocence, white as a baby's skin, and just as soft as Downy White Fabric Softener.

Wearing all white likens us to the angels, to the garb of the Prophets white tunics. White. White is the color that you would wear if you were to meet G-d face-to-face. White shirt, white pants, white. White is wispy, white is wonderful. White is a color fabric that cleans in bleach, hot water, and could be cotton, wool or linen. White clothing inspires one to be as pure in one's actions as the clothing is pure in its color. You wear it; you are it.

Why do we need purple, blue, and crimson garments? We have white, we have it all. All colors make up white light. White is the culmination of all colors. White is therefore colorful. It is the color of righteousness, justice, and truth. We do not need other colors, we only need white. Follow all 613 Commandments and do it wearing white, "always."

CARRYING SHABBAT REST THROUGHOUT THE WEEKDAYS

How can you tell if Shabbat worked? If what you got was enough rest and spiritual connection with the Divine to begin a new week? How can you tell if your Shabbat was really Shabbat--if it functioned as the greatest means, the best way, to renew your soul and good energy, generally, as the main means of "feeling good." Today, on the day of Sukkot Erev we especially need extra energy to build our Sukkahs. Hopefully yesterday, we obtained Shabbat rest by following all the Shabbat rules to avoid work, spending, etc.

On a Sunday, the beginning of a new week after Shabbat, (if Shabbat rules of rest were followed), a meditation should be in your heart that is carried over from Saturday, with a renewed commitment to do mitzvoth and to engage in righteous activities. An overall calmness from prayer on Saturday that makes you want to pray again and continue praying all throughout the week, davening the Weekday Minyan Prayers becomes a necessity, a heartfelt desire, a real dire need to use as an aid to achieve more meditative states like the state you received on Shabbat to carry a sense of peace throughout the weekdays.

It would be nice if you can light a candle flame and recall the Havdalah candle flame's warmth and reflection of the light of truth that you saw on your thumbnail on Saturday night. Remembering the candle's warmth and truth is a sure way to put you back into this peaceful state caused by a day of rest on Shabbat with the thankful closure of the Havdalah. Also smell the Havdalah spices again and again throughout the week. Surround yourself with beautiful scents, so it is easier to recall the peace you felt on Shabbat.

Listen to www.sidduraudio.com if you cannot physically get to a Shul Minyan on Sunday. Chant and move your body to the rhythm of the Hebrew and pray to HASHEM to protect you in the coming week. So you can go about your weekday business carrying Shabbat peace with you. Read www.chabad.org and learn each new Torah lesson for each week. Keep track of it daily and study Torah daily.

This is how to productively benefit from a Shabbat, a day when you celebrated and rested, thanking and praising HASHEM for creating the world on the other 6 days of the week. Be thankful for everything you have and directly thank HASHEM for what you have, in this way you will not be tempted to covet what others have and desire something you cannot attain, or what will not benefit you anyway if you attained it.

Peace be with you, Shalom be yours: good health, prosperity, and peace, good will in all things.

HOW TO WIN THE BATTLES OF LIFE

Errors. Mistakes. Waiting in lines for computers to correct them. Someone bungles. You lose money, they have to correct their mistakes and refund you. Things go wrong. Failures happen. What kind of day are you having: a good day or a bad day? Some days will be good and some days will be bad. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone sins. No one is exempt. No one is perfect. Not even G-d. G-d destroyed all of Sodom and Gomorrah even though there could have been one innocent person living there, but G-d destroyed the innocent right along with the guilty--an error made by G-d. Perfection is just a condition of fiction, and it does not have a base in reality. Wherever you gaze there will be a speck of dust no matter how hard you clean, total purity is just another fictitious condition, the state of being totally pure does not exist.

We can strive to get closer and closer to the perfect, to the pure, and it is good to try to improve. But know that there always will be a bad day, there always will be a mistake, an error, or worse yet, an advertent attempt to upset your day. There will always be someone who upsets the apple cart, if you are not prepared for an upset, then an apple you will not eat. And an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so being prepared for an emergency is extremely important. It is good to "let it ride" so to speak, to understand perfection does not exist, and that there will inevitably be a bump in the road.

So now we realize that there will be bumps, and we will be mentally prepared for these bumps in the road and expect them. What to do when there is a bump? Make sure your shock absorbers can take it. Exercise, take care of your health, sleep at night, eat right: so your body and mind can take the extra stress caused by the bump in the road.

Then pray to G-d, say: "Hashkinenu Adonai!" which means "Help us, G-d!" Ask G-d for protection and strength to deal with the extra negative stress, and then meditate, rest and relax, let time heal the effect of the stress by dulling it with distractions.

Forgive the offender. Feel sorry for him, and this will take away the anger. Have compassion. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Do not blame him, tell yourself that he is unfortunate and he did not mean to hurt you, (even if this is not the total truth, convince yourself that goodness abounds everywhere.) And when you are in a world of goodness, you will feel blessed and secure. Study Torah everyday and this will definitely help!

Make sure that you do something you love to do and do it everyday. If you are a writer, write everyday, an artist, paint everyday. Do not depend on the opinions of others for inspiration to write or do whatever it is you do. Writing or cooking or acting, whatever it is that makes you happy is something you do for yourself and you do not need a friend's or parent's approval to do it. People will inevitably say things to hurt you, people trash on others sometimes. Mortals make mistakes and cannot be trusted. Do not internalize it. Get back up and back into the fight of life--again and again.

Do something that brings you happiness and success even if it breaks the rules. Don't do anything illegal, but if someone says that it is not within the "status quo" to do something, do it anyway if it is a good thing to do. Believe in yourself, even if no one else does. Do it and do it well. Keep doing it and become an expert.

This is the sure way to win all battles and come out on top, and be able to enter another battle and keep winning.