Core For The Course
The Ship That Never Got There
Many years ago an adventurer had heard of an island inhabited by beautiful and inviting people. The land was also filled with gold and precious gems. He dreamed of sailing to this island. He knew it was a treacherous journey across often storm tossed seas. So he commissioned the best ship builders to build a ship specifically designed for this voyage. He sought and hired several experienced sailors for his crew. They trained and prepared for the voyage while the ship was being built. Finally the day arrived and with great fanfare they set sail. They had all the maps and other tools to set the course. All started fairly well, although the ship was difficult to keep on course. This became a real problem when the first strong winds came along and threw them completely off course. The crew struggled to adjust the sails in order to get back on course. This problem worsened when a storm came along. Sometimes they found themselves going in circles. One day a severe storm hit them and they found themselves shipwrecked on the beach of an uninhabited island. After they checked to see if they were all okay, they checked the condition of the boat. The boat was marooned on the beach on its side. It was then that they discovered that the boat was built without a rudder.
Our Rudder
In physical conditioning and training the current emphasis is on strengthening the core. A strong core promotes overall strength, stability and balance. If an athlete has trained hard in all areas, but has neglected his core then his overall performance is compromised. This is true for all of us when we embark on our journey, voyage, or mountain climb towards the fulfillment of our dreams and goals. If we begin without a strong grounding in our values and principles, our core, we will be thrown off course. There will assuredly be many tests of our commitment to our core values and principles. Without the stability provided by our core, we will at best delay realizing our dreams, goals, and purpose.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” – unattributed
“It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them”. – Alfred Adler
“Be the master of your will and the slave of your conscience”. — Chassidic saying
High Anxiety
It is said that the true cause of anxiety, anger, depression, etc. (chemical and hormonal imbalances aside) is that the life one leads is not in sync with their soul/sole purpose. These maladies are caused by our struggle between two opposing forces within us. One that wants its wants and the one that needs what it is needed for.
We can have our wants, not just because we want them, but so they enable us to better attend to our needed for’s. When we are true to our true purpose, then the life we lead is in harmony with why we are here and what we are needed for.
“Once you have found that which you are needed for you will have all that you need.”
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” – Unknown
“The difference between need and want is the difference between soul and ego.” – Rabbi Laibl Wolf
A Soul Elevating Quote
Continuing with the “Your Mountain” and “Climb Your Mountain” theme (read here)
“You can’t help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself”. — Gen. H. Norman Schwartzkopf
Happy Day of Giving Thanks
We so quickly and casually say “Happy Thanksgiving” that we often miss and forget that it’s a day for giving thanks. Of course, so is every day and we begin everyday with Thanks.
Thank You for being a friend of The Spinning Rabbi (and Fred Fox)
Happy Thanksgiving!
“The Camel Test”
In the Biblical story of Rebecca, the reader is introduced to a role model for us all. Abraham sent Eliezer off with a task, “Find a suitable wife for my son, Isaac.” Eliezer wonders how he will be able to identify a woman for a man as good as Isaac. He decides that on this journey whenever he comes upon a young woman he will ask her for a sip of water. The young woman he would choose would be the one who not only gave him a sip, but offered water for his camels as well. One day he arrived at a well where he met Rebecca. He asked her for a sip of water from her jug. She didn’t question that even though he was traveling with several able-bodied men who could have gotten water from the well for him, instead she immediately said yes. When he finished drinking from her jug, she asked if she could then give water to his camels. She emptied the remainder of her jug into the trough for the camels and proceeded to the well to re-fill the jug and pour more water into the trough. She was born of nobility and wasn’t used to fetching water from the well, yet that didn’t hold her back. Eliezer then knew that she was the one. She not only performed an act of kindness by giving water to Eliezer, she voluntarily did more than asked by giving to the camels. From her, we can all learn to do more than give a hand but rather to extend our hand. We can do more than what we think is required of us. We can do more than just enough. Life presents these tests (opportunities) all the time. They might not look like a camel, so we must keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to know when we meet someone who is thirsty.
“The greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.” – Dr. Jonas Salk
“If good is good, is better not better”? – Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch
A Soul Elevating Quote
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves”. – Sir Edmund Hillary
read more on “your mountain”
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 