Four Life Lessons

I am always inspired by other people, I feel we can keep learning from each other, it never stops. Social Media makes more of it possible, I love to keep connecting with inspirational and positive people. Four things really popped out at me, and I would love to share with all of you in the hopes of it clicking for you in areas of your life.  For me all of these pearls of wisdom just reinforce my positive and happy view of how life should be.  Even the hard stuff is important, it keeps us striving, thriving, and growing.

1. Daily Quote

There are two things that are no cause for worry: that which can be fixed, and that which cannot be fixed. What can be fixed should be fixed -- so what's there to worry? What cannot be fixed cannot be fixed -- so what's there to worry?

- Chassidic master Rabbi Michel of Zelotchov

2. Gratitude makes so many obstacles easier to jump over. Thanks always to Rabbi Jawary.

"And Korach took" (Numbers 16:1). One of the mitzvot in the Torah is not to be like Korach and his cohorts. Korach was an astute, wealthy,
and charismatic person. He had so many blessings, yet he lost it all
and became the paradigm of human tragedy. Rashi teaches us that what
led him to make such a major mistake in life and challenge Moses was
his jealousy. Jealousy has the ability to not only stop us from appreciating and enjoying what we have, but to lead us to make such ridiculous choices in life that we can lose all the blessings we have. The Torah gives us the antidote to this by juxtaposing the tragedy of Korach with our responsibility to be generous with the blessings the Divine gives us. A person who shares generously will learn to appreciate all that he has been given and to see that the Divine really has been generous with him. That is why the Torah never tells us what Korach took: it didn't matter what he took; the Torah wants us to focus on his attitude and not to be like him. He was a jealous person, never satisfied with what he had, wanting to take everything he could. King Solomon says it all when he tells us that "a person with a good eye is blessed." If we look at others benevolently, rejoice in their successes, and share of our blessings, we will see that we have more than we really need, and we will be able to enjoy all that we have. That is one of the greatest blessings life has to offer.

--
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Jawary

3,“I’m single, unemployed, and late middle-aged. But I don’t really get sad. I just don’t think sadness is in my brain chemistry. When I go home to my apartment, I’ve got a faucet that releases both hot and cold water. You know how many billions of people don’t even have clean drinking water? And I’ve got two types of clean water: hot and cold.”

4.

Rabbi Hirshy Minkowicz

1 hr · 

This weekend last year I was on a community trip to Israel. Together with two hundred others from Atlanta we went on a Federation trip to support, tour and be inspired. The trip was a success and we all came back more invigorated then when we left.

A late night episode in the lobby of our hotel left the longest lasting impact on me. In fact it only had its fullest effect a few weeks ago.

One night in Jerusalem I went down to the hotel lobby in search for a drink. I met some old friends from Atlanta that ‘happened’ to be staying at the hotel at the same time. They introduced me to their friends who were also in town to celebrate their son’s Bar Mitzvah which had taken place that morning.

It should have been their happiest day but instead I detected some sadness. I inquired and found out that the Bar Mitzvah boy’s grandfather had joined them for the trip despite some serious medical complications. He really shouldn’t have made the trip but he wasn’t going to allow medical handicaps to hold him back from enjoying this special day.

The Bar Mitzvah was overwhelming but might have been too much for him. He immediately suffered a setback and his condition turned for the worse. There they were on the evening after their son’s Bar Mitzvah not knowing if the grandfather was going to make it through the night. They prepared for the worse.

My search for a drink turned into an opportunity to support. I prayed with them and tried to bring them some comfort but in my heart I felt so much pity for the sad ending to what should have been such a happy trip.

The grandfather ended up spending a few days in an Israeli hospital and then with a medical assistant flew back to the United States.

I stayed in touch with the family and we have since become friends. Every once in a while I would get an update on their fathers progress as he deals with his medical issues.

It dawned on me a few weeks ago that a year has almost passed since the night we thought it was over. Despite challenging medical conditions he is alive and well and has already experienced another full year of life with his spouse, children and grandchildren. More memories have been created for the next generations to cherish, and with G-d’s help there is more yet come.

Nature said that things were bleak and that’s what we bought into. We did what we knew best; we worried, cried, prayed and made plans. Yet the master of nature knows better and obviously had other ideas. He got him back on a plane and sent him home to enjoy some more time.

Hashem set up the natural order to run the day to day affairs. We know nature because it’s the world we inhabit. Yet we can connect with its author and reach beyond it. Faith and trust in Hashem is the key to surpassing its limits. For Hashem is the one that makes the plans.

Shabbat Shalom

Here is my take:

1. Why worry in advance? Why let it live rent free in your brain? It's your choice, I choose not to worry.

2. The grass is not greener on the other side, they say if everyone put all their problems in a pile, everybody would take their own back, be conscious and grateful for all the blessings in your life, and more will come. Choose to say three things you are grateful for on a daily basis, you will see a difference.

3.  Positive thinking, glass half full thinking, that is the only way I know how to operate, and there are therapies, classes, and beautiful people in our lives that can bring us to that way of thinking, choice.

4. Life keeps moving, don't let anything stop you from living it to the fullest.  Create memories, enjoy relationships, delve deep, dive in, and live full out, it's a choice.

Shabbat Shalom,

Coach Yulia