Instead of examining himself, asking “Have I progressed? Have I attained purity?”—questions that can only aggravate his bitterness—[a person] focuses on the world, on the concerns of God.
Rather than ask who is achieving, he asks what has been achieved.
From this perspective, this expanded outlook, a person’s deeds are of momentous account, for they affect reality—and that is deserving of joy.
His personal self-assessment may show that he has not reached a significant spiritual level—a failure that may lead to sadness and a bitter spirit.
But in the larger picture, his spiritual level and feelings are not even taken into account, for in that broader context, all the worlds come ever closer to fulfilling their ultimate purpose.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz