The Power of Ten Minutes

The Hafetz Chaim once started crying, and the talmidim asked him, "Kvod HaRav, why are you crying?" He says, "I did my accounting for the last year, and I know what I did every single minute for the entire year, except 10 minutes. And I don't know what I did those 10 minutes. I wish we didn't know what we did 10 minutes in one day, or in one hour, be that as it may be." He was crying that he didn't know what he did for 10 minutes. So, the talmidim said, "But, Kvod HaRav, the whole year, 10 minutes?" He says, "You don't understand what 10 minutes are. Says, you don't understand the greatness of 10 minutes, of how much you can do in 10 minutes. If you really think about it, what could he have possibly done in 10 minutes? Surely, he didn't sin. He didn't start driving on Shabbat for 10 minutes. He didn't make any sins. What did he do for 10 minutes?" He says, "That's the problem. If I don't know what I did for 10 minutes, that means I didn't serve HaKadosh Baruchu to the maximum. I didn't serve HaShem to the maximum during those 10 minutes. When a person does cheshbon nefesh, person does personal accounting, they're not going to get to the level of the Hafetz Chaim, but they can at the very least, analyze themselves like a person from today. What did I do today? As of what happened last year, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, today. Analyze today. Okay, I spoke to the customer, I went to a meeting, I ate, I drank, I said hello, I said good morning. I Okay, let's analyze those few things that you remember from the day. When you spoke to the customer, were you honest? Were you honest? When you said hello to your coworker, did you say lashon hara, too? Say, "Oh, did you hear about what happened to Steve over there? Was that was that part of the hello, also?" Or is it was just hello? Did you look at somebody immodestly when you said hello? When you ate, did you make a blessing? Did you think about HaShem, or did you think about the food when you made the blessing? Did you think about how juicy that burger is going to be in your mouth right after you finish the blessing, so the blessing technically is getting in the way of your juicy burger, or did you think about HaShem, that thank you for giving me a burger? Did you check if the kashrut is valid, or it's one of those kashrut that no one knows where it came from, He called it the kashrut. Meaning a person can analyze, they don't have to be the Hafetz Chaim. You can simply analyze what do I do What did I do today? I woke up. I went to pray. I this. I Okay, what do you remember today? Let's analyze what you did today that you remember. You remember five things that you did today? Let's analyze the five things. Spoke to a customer, I went to the doctor, I I don't know I I ate, I drank, I said hello, whatever it is that you do every day. Okay, analyze it. That's cheshbon hanefesh. Analyzing those things.