The Alter Rebbe (the first grand rabbi of Chabad hassidus) once said [during those years that he would say short Maamarim]: "Know what is above you."

Know that everything "above" in the supernal Sefirot and Partzufim (Divine emanations and configurations), all derives "from you"; it all depends on man's service. **

• Manifestations of the Divine Emanations, whether Chessed (Kindness) or Gevura (Severity), are determined by Man. Man's actions are independent and real, and from Above, G-d reacts to Man, "reflects" Man's actions.
  
  Man may be insignificant from one perspective, but his importance is cosmic from another. "I am dust and ashes" expresses one view; "The universe was created on my account" expresses the second.