By Michal Oshman
Overcoming fear to live authentically
Subject
Themes
Fear dominates many lives, manifesting as persistent anxiety that colours every experience and decision. This pervasive dread can stem from childhood trauma, inherited patterns from previous generations, or simply the accumulated weight of modern existence. The author, despite professional accomplishment as a military commander, senior executive and mother, struggled with debilitating anxiety that made even simple daily activities fraught with imagined catastrophe. Her constant mental rehearsal of worst-case scenarios triggered physical symptoms and emotional distress, demonstrating how invisible internal struggles can coexist with outward success. Many people function at high levels whilst masking profound suffering, maintaining carefully constructed facades whilst wrestling with despair, limiting self-doubt and gnawing insecurity.
Fear dominates many lives, manifesting as persistent anxiety that colours every experience and decision. This pervasive dread can stem from childhood trauma, inherited patterns from previous generations, or simply the accumulated weight of modern existence. The author, despite professional…
Jewish wisdom traditions have experienced remarkable renaissance in secular contexts over past decades, with ancient concepts finding application in contemporary psychology, leadership development and wellness movements. This book represents part of broader trend wherein spiritual teachings once…
Modern psychotherapy often operates on the premise that childhood experiences fundamentally shape and limit adult potential. Freudian analysis particularly emphasises excavating past trauma to understand present dysfunction, treating patients as products of conditioning rather than autonomous beings…
Viktor Frankl, imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, observed that prisoners who maintained meaningful purposes survived conditions that broke others who had lost all sense of meaning. This led him to develop logotherapy, a therapeutic approach based on the premise that humans fundamentally seek…
The Hebrew word mitzrayim translates literally as Egypt but also means 'boundaries' or 'narrow straits'. This dual meaning transforms the Exodus story from mere historical account into timeless metaphor for human experience. The Israelites' liberation from physical slavery in Egypt represents every…
Rabbi Simcha Bunim taught that everyone should carry two notes in separate pockets, consulting each as needed. One note reads 'The world was created for me' whilst the other states 'I am but dust and ashes'. This teaching captures a fundamental tension in human experience: the need to simultaneously…
The question 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' exposes how thoroughly fear shapes choices, constrains possibilities and dictates life direction. Many people spend decades making decisions based primarily on avoiding negative outcomes rather than pursuing positive aspirations. They stay in…
Standing at Facebook's reception desk, a question on the wall strikes deeply: 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' Despite outward success (military commander, university degrees, senior leadership roles, loving family), anxiety has permeated every aspect of life. Intrusive thoughts constantly…
Therapy sessions followed predictable patterns. Recount childhood exposure to death (visiting father's morgue at age seven, seeing the bloated corpse with maggots). Therapist nods, takes notes, returns inevitably to 'unfinished business' with parents. Every memory became evidence for the same…
Viktor Frankl, imprisoned in Nazi death camps, observed prisoners who maintained meaningful purposes survived conditions that broke others. One fellow prisoner considered ending his life because he had 'nothing to expect from life'. Frankl responded powerfully: perhaps you have nothing to expect,…
Finding purpose requires identifying genuine strengths, those activities creating flow and rightness. Strengths aren't necessarily things you excel at objectively; rather, they're activities making you feel strong, alive, authentically yourself whilst doing them. These moments of resonance signal…
Jewish wisdom teaches that growth often emerges through difficulty rather than despite it. The concept of shvira (brokenness) suggests that hearts must break open to expand capacity for wisdom, compassion and depth. When hearts remain intact and protected, they stay small, defended, unable to hold…
Tzimtzum describes the cosmic act of contraction: God withdrew divine presence to create space for the universe to exist. If God is infinite and fills everything, how could anything else exist? The answer: God contracted, made space, stepped back. This meta-physical concept carries profound…
Tikkun means repair, restoration, making whole what has been broken. In Jewish thought, it refers both to cosmic repair (gathering divine sparks scattered at creation) and practical repair of world through righteous action. Applying tikkun to workplace culture recognizes that organizations, like…
Mensch is Yiddish word meaning person of integrity, someone honourable, decent, worthy of respect. Calling someone a mensch represents high compliment, recognizing their character transcends mere competence or achievement. Leading like a mensch means prioritizing human dignity, ethical action,…
Chinuch means education or training in Hebrew, but Jewish wisdom understands it as drawing out what already exists within child rather than pouring information into empty vessel. Each child arrives with unique neshama, specific purposes and gifts. Parenting guided by this understanding focuses on…
Teshuva, often translated as repentance, literally means 'return'. Not return to past state, but rather return to authentic self, to neshama obscured by accumulated patterns, defenses, compromises. Throughout life, people drift from their essence through countless small choices made from fear,…
By Michal Oshman
Subject
Themes
Fear dominates many lives, manifesting as persistent anxiety that colours every experience and decision. This pervasive dread can stem from childhood trauma, inherited patterns from previous generations, or simply the accumulated weight of modern existence. The author, despite professional accomplishment as a military commander, senior executive and mother, struggled with debilitating anxiety that made even simple daily activities fraught with imagined catastrophe. Her constant mental rehearsal of worst-case scenarios triggered physical symptoms and emotional distress, demonstrating how invisible internal struggles can coexist with outward success. Many people function at high levels whilst masking profound suffering, maintaining carefully constructed facades whilst wrestling with despair, limiting self-doubt and gnawing insecurity.