Help for the One Who Wants to Be Pure
Heaven helps a person who sets out to become pure.
Reish Lakish explains the verse in Mishlei: To the scornful He scorns, but to the humble He gives grace. If a person sets out to make himself impure, Heaven opens the way for him and lets him choose. But if a person sets out to purify himself, Heaven helps him. The school of Rebbi Yishmael compared this to a shop that sells both foul-smelling naphtha and fragrant balsam. To the customer who wants naphtha, the shopkeeper says, measure it out yourself. To the customer who wants balsam, he says, wait, let me measure it with you, so that we can both enjoy its fragrance. A person who chooses good is never left to walk alone. The first step is his, and the help that follows comes from Above, as Reish Lakish learned on the day he leaped into the Jordan.
Source: Gemara Yoma 38b (on Mishlei 3:34)
Pick one small spiritual goal you have been putting off, such as davening Minchah with a minyan, learning two halachos a day or calling a parent more often. Do not wait until you feel ready. Take the first concrete step today, even a very small one, and ask Hashem in your own words to help you with the rest. Then notice, over the coming week, how the next steps become easier than you expected.