Reply To: Fear of Heaven

lilmod ulelamaid: Thanks for the encouragement and bracha. Amen and blessings to you in your growth and b’hatzlacha as well <3

Person1: Thank you for “most constructive thread of the year award”!!! It’s an honor to have people invest so heartfully in this discussion.

You said: “2. A little advice: you need to be smart in Avoidas Hashem. Often you can find ways to get around the yetzer ara without actually fighting it.

Tell me if you understand what I mean. If not I’ll try and think of some examples (The ones I could think of were too personal to share)”

If I know what you mean… I think it sounds like judo, where someone uses the opposing’s energy against him/her. So if the yetzar hara is coming at me, I can just do a little foot move and it collapses out of my way.

In real life, maybe that’s like when I finally found a skirt that covers my knees at Costco to wear under a dress that I’ve had for over a year.

Also, recently I have been purchasing business casual attire to build up my career wardrobe. The pants are way more conservative than my jeans, and the tops are long-sleeved. Plus these clothes makes me feel confident. So maybe that’s a way of not even dealing with the yetzar hara.

Still… when I go to the beach or exercise or go grocery shopping and go on walks with my dog, dressing tzniusly feels like oppression by fabric.

That’s the conundrum. Okay so maybe at some times I can step up my tznius game. Yet there is this divide where I feel like I am living a double life. Anyway, I know that this sounds like my YH has taken over my fingertips.

Please let me know if I caught the drift.