I heard a shiur this week from the late Rabbi Shimshon Pincus. He spoke about something which many of us fall prey to, without even realizing it. Many times we perform some mitzvah, good deed, or act of kindness and we feel good about ourselves. This feeling allows us to "free" ourselves from further obligation. This applies to each and every person in their level of observance. We tend to make deals with G-d so to speak. We say that we have already sacrificed so much time/effort/money for the sake for G-d's Will so He should "give us a break".

Imagine that you have work a full day and then you go to volunteer one hour each day to help the less fortunate. You come home tired and you just want to relax and unwind. All of a sudden the phone rings. You check the caller ID and see it is a friend of yours that is going through a difficult time in life, you know the phone call won't be short or light what do you do? Some of us might think and say "Hashem, what do you want from me? I already volunteered an hour to help people, it isn't an easy task and none of my friends do this. Instead, they all go out for happy hour, I am a good person and I have done so much (more than other people around me), cut me some slack, I don't need to answer this friend. I have already gone above and beyond the duty of kindness for the day"

Obviously, a person needs to balance everything they do and if answering the phone or whatever else that comes up, becomes detrimental then it is valid (and required) that a person takes a step back. What isn't valid is using the excuse "I have already done so much so I am exempt from doing more".

This is a similar idea that the Ramchal touches on in his famous work "The Path of the Just". He explains that some people "settle" when it comes to spiritual pursuits. They say to themselves "I have enough" or "I have accomplished enough", there is no need to strive for more.           

When it comes to mundane pursuits, such as beauty, health,  and wealth most people will always strive for more, our spiritual pursuits shouldn't be treated any less.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath