Todays Omer theme is Discipline of Discipline. From Chabad:

“Examine the discipline factor of discipline. Is my discipline disciplined or is it excessive. Do I have enough discipline in my life and in my interactions? Am I organized? Is my time used efficiently? Why do I have problems with discipline and what can I do to enhance it? Do I take time each day for personal accounting of my schedule and accomplishments? Does my discipline include the other six aspects (see here for more on these traits), without which discipline cannot be effective and healthy?

Exercise for the day: Make a detailed plan for spending your day and at the end of the day see if you’ve lived up to it.”

Ok. Let’s dig into the final portion of Shemini.

As I read through my notes from a year ago, I’m connecting with the idea of external and internal things. What happens to us vs what we take within us?

Circumstances are all around us. Some of the things happening we are aware of. Some we are not. Most we are not (I’d argue).

But what we have the opportunity to be aware of? What we bring within us. What we eat. What thoughts we choose to dwell on. What we turn our consciousness to. We can decide THAT.

As an example, I’m learning that I have a choice. When something happens around me; I can connect this moment with something conscious from my past. Or a conscious thought I have of the future. I can ask myself, “how does this circumstance connect to the future I desire?” Or I can ask myself, “how does this circumstance block the future I want?” Or I can ask “how does this circumstance get me closer to the future I want?”

All three questions are legitimate questions. But they bring energy to them. What we choose to be conscious of (vs what we allow our subconscious to control) is something we do have the ability to dig into.

What do we do with this ability? What patterns emerge for us? What default questions are we asking in our head? What energy are we attaching to circumstances? These are the things to be curious about.

As we are earthen vessels, what we allow to come inside can impact us in significant ways.

What do you think?