When thinking is counterproductive

The Ben Ish Chai teaches: "I will reveal something that most of the world suffers from, and I, the servant,

am among them. It happens to Torah scholars and businessmen.  It is that people are happy about

something that might happen. Their joy prevents it from happening."

He bases his lesson on the Gemara (Sanhedrin 26) which teaches, מועלת מחשבה , "Thoughts can ruin."

Thinking about something causes it not to happen.

Rashi explains, "When one thinks, 'I will do such-and-such, and thereby I will earn such-and-such

amount of money,’ such thoughts cause that it will not occur. This is also true for Torah. For example,

when one says that by this specific date, I will complete this or that masechta [this type of thinking causes

it not to happen]."

(Torah Wellsprings, Bamidbar, 5782)

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