Alone In The World

Anyone who wants to begin serving G-d can do so only if he thinks of himself as being alone in the world so that everything is up to him. He must pay no attention whatever to anyone who tries to hold him back – not even if it is his own father and mother or in-laws, wife and children. He should pay no attention to any others who try to mock him or entice him to give up or otherwise stand in his way. Just as "Avraham was one", so too he must look on himself as if he is alone in the world and everything depends on him.

(Rebbe Nachman of Breslov)