Untying the Knots

Every experience that a person undergoes should change him to the extent that he begins to reassess and come to new understandings of everything he has undergone in his lifetime. This does not occur because a person feels tied to ideas that come from her family background or country of origin which prevents her from changing.
Avraham had to arrive at that point where he was all by himself, where he had released all of the ropes that tied him down and prevented him from properly serving Hashem. It was only at that point that the "Master of the castle glanced down at him." It was at that point that he recognized the Creator of his own accord and not just because of his ties. Not just because of what he was taught but not really tied to. When a person achieves an understanding of truth like this and an untying of all that binds him, then he leaves prison and becomes a true believer, even though that is not how it may appear to the eye.
This is the true birth of his soul when it is revealed as an independent entity and not merely an appendage of the ideas of others. "Therefore shall a man leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife," wife referring to the Schechinah and true belief.
מכון שבתך ס"ד

Don't Worry...Be Happy

During the Omer we are working on good middos and concern for others as well as treating others with respect. One should also expend some effort towards having some kindness for himself and to stop getting on his own case for no reason. Getting on one's own case is worse than attacking someone else. Getting on your own case is a 24/7 effort whereas with someone else there are limited opportunities. In the case of another person your behavior is in response to something you saw him do or some perceived character deficiency and there is a limit to what you can see, in the case of yourself it comes from an inner knowledge of your imperfections, and dissatisfaction with who you are which causes a lack of self-mercy and not a single moment of respite.
Just as with regards to material wealth some people can never stop trying to grab and improve their standing, the same is true with spiritual wealth; there are people who feel they never have enough and cannot stop the pressure to grab more for even a moment. The person might coat his attitude and behavior in the words of Chazal that encourage grabbing every opportunity, but in reality it is rooted in a lack of inner peace (we are not discussing people who are unfortunately suffering from clinical anxiety. We are discussing serving God, which is not intended to lead to nervousness and a lack of inner peace.)
One should not chastisse himself with thoughts that perhaps he has not done enough with regards to his Mitzvah performance. This overthinking actually drives people away from serving Hashem, to overly analyze ones actions and wonder if he has sufficiently fulfilled his religious duties. No one is perfect and God does not come with unreasonable criticisms. With regards to those who add additional stringencies the Torah says that "You should live by it," and not die by it. They have no life and are constantly depressed as they think that they are failing. They don't enjoy the Mitzvos due to all the details about which they are being overly scrupulous and the depression it is causing (and in reality the stringency probably has no basis).
After all of their smart ideas of how to be careful, even if they truly are smart ideas, we must set aside those smart ideas and serve Hashem simply with no smart ideas. That is the smartest idea of all!
Returning to our original point, when a person finds a need to grab mitzvah opportunities, that is the opposite of being alive and connecting to Hashem. Take for example of person who is studying Torah and his wife asks him to help with some household chores. There is no one else to help other than he and there is no doubt that according to Torah law he is supposed to stop learning and help her. Is he learning with no intention of fulfilling what he is studying? If he helps her, but the entire time his mind is on when he will be done and can return to studying in order to grab more Torah, that is the opposite of living. If a person has a view of eternity then he is aware that as he stands in his house assisting his wife he is connected to God by performing kind deeds. He is truly in the palace of the king, and his mind needs to be in the chamber of good deeds. He will only connect if his mind is relaxed and not when he is focused on what he wants to do next.
It is impossible to enjoy what one is doing unless he is focused on it and not hurrying to the next thing. The pleasure of the World to Come is the ability to enjoy without worrying about what to do next. In this world as well one can only enjoy and relax when one is not worried about what will be next and he isn't trying to grab the next thing. It is like someone who goes on vacation and from the first moment is worried about how to make sure he isn't wasting a moment. Right away he is not relaxing and ruining everyone else's vacation as well.
This occurs often by a holiday. The moment the holiday begins people are worried about not asting time and making sure they get all they can out of every minute of the Yom Tov. Such a person is disconnected from the holiday., He should not be running to do anything. He should be enjoying every moment for itself.

The Power of Purim

In a certain respect the message of Purim is more powerful than that of Pesach in that the love of Hashem was revealed even after the people sinned. This demonstrated that the essential love of Hashem for His nation is not dependent on their actions. He does not only love them when their actions appear superficially to be perfect, but He loves their essence such that even if they fall wherever they fall, He is still with them and by them.
It is due to the fact that on Purim we see that Hashem's love for us is above and beyond all reason and understanding that we drink wine and rise to the point of not understanding. Above all limitations and constrictions.
The Chasam Sofer writes that it is for this reason that the miracle began in the middle of Achashverosh's party. Even as they were sinning against Hashem, He was already preparing the miracle that would save them. This shows His love at all times and all situations.