10 Days, 10 Ways To Return To Your Best Self: A T'shuvah Guide For The High Holidays

As Jews around the world attend services on Erev Rosh Hashanah

, the evening before the first full day of the Jewish New Year, the period most commonly known as the High Holy Days or High Holidays begins. These 10 days lead right up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance. During this time, also known as the Days of Awe, we are told to turn inward and reflect upon our words and deeds over the last year. We also are supposed to make right our wrongs. Although we are told that our fate for the coming year has been "inscribed" in the proverbial Book of Life, we have 10 day to alter the decree. For on Yom Kippur, as the sun begins to set and the holiday ends, our fate for the year is "sealed" in the Book of Life.

Thus, these 10 days hold some import for Jews. However, even non-Jews can take advantage of the energy of this period and look at themselves and heal and correct their ways and the hurt they might have caused to others. Each fall, Jews and non-Jews alike have the opportunity to take the energy of this holiday to create something new. These 10 days provide a lovely yearly practical spirituality and self-improvement or personal growth practice.

In Judaism, we say the 10 Days of Awe are a time for t'shuvah. T'shuvah is a Hebrew word that means "to turn." Often we talk about t'shuvah as turning or returning to God and to ourselves to our best selves, to our true selves, to who we really are. Who is this person? I think of this person as someone connected to Source or our Creator, someone in touch with his or her soul's purpose, someone acting each day out of good and pure intentions and from a desire to fulfill that soul's purpose, someone acting in a righteous manner and for the good of others. I'm not talking about a saint; I'm talking about someone living up to their human potential someone being all that they can be, the best that they can be.

However, most of us "miss the mark" a lot of the time. In Judaism, that's called a sin. We don't live up to our full human potential. We set targets for ourselves and our arrows don't quite hit the bull's eye. (Click here for more information on using the New Year to hit your bull's eye.) During the Days of Awe, we examine where we missed the mark and we try to reset our targets. We turn inward and we examine our lives.

We also examine our actions and our words. Plus, we apologize for those arrows that went off in the wrong direction and may have done damage, for "misguided" arrows we might have fired, or for times when we didn't shoot our arrows at our targets at all. All of this helps us do t'shuvah and return to our best selves.

Knowing how to do all this t'shuvah can feel overwhelming. So, I have created a structure to help make it feel more manageable. I don't say the structure makes it easier, because the process is not easy and t'shuvah isn't meant to be easy. It is meant to be fulfilling.

To "do t'shuvah," I suggest doing an exercise on each of the 10 Days of Awe that helps you return to your best self in some way. I suggest focusing on the following areas: 1.Sins against other people 2.Sins against yourself 3.Sins against God 4.Turning towards your best self 5.Fulfilling youl's purpose 6.Achieving your human potential 7. Honesty 8.Communication 9.Payoffs for not being your best self 10.Faith

At the beginning of the Days of Awe, on Rosh Hashanah, Jews hear the shofar, or ram's horn blown. It serves as a reminder: Return home. Return to who you are. Return to your Best Self. Return to Source. At the end of the High Holy Days, on Yom Kippur, the final sound Jews hear is once again the shofar's blast. "Don't forget," it says again. "Don't forget who you are..."

Each week on Shabbat, the Sabbath, Jews can do a little bit of t'shuvah and return to their best selves again. Anyone from any religion can observe the Sabbath and do the same. The secular New Year provides another chance to do t'shuvah, to return to your best self. Yet, the energy on the Days of Awe is...well...awesome. Take advantage of it. Do the work. Turn. Return.

by: Nina Amir

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