“This Too Is For The Good”
If everything happens for a reason then we should train ourselves to look for the good in whatever comes our way.
We have no control over what is on our mountain, we only have control over how we see it and respond. The challenges that come our way in whatever form are opportunities to find the best within us. They may not be what we want, but they are what we need to find and fulfill our purpose.
There was a great Rabbi Nachum Ish Gamzu, who said no matter what happened to him, “This too is for the good”. Developing and having that attitude will bring a more constant joy into your life. Developing and having that attitude is one of our greatest challenges.
“I broke my neck, it didn’t break me. I believe that my handicap will only enhance my ability to help others. I know that without the suffering, the growth that I have achieved would have been impossible.”
– Jerry Long, quadriplegic after a diving accident at 17, from “Man’s Search For Meaning” by Dr. Viktor Frankl
Part of our Perspective Builder series
Smile, Especially If Your Heart is Aching
It is said that our purpose in life can be found in that which we find the most difficult to do. If everything happens for a purpose then we can find at least a spark of our purpose in everyone we come into contact with. Sometimes it can be as simple as giving a smile. Yet sometimes that is very hard to do because we have a case of “I don’t feel like it- itis”. That’s precisely the moment to smile. That person was presented to you to take you out of yourself and bring you back to others. Your smile could be the only ray of sunshine they have seen that day.
If you are having a case of” I don’t feel like it- itis” now, then sing along with me “Gray clouds are gonna clear up, put on a happy face…wipe off that mask and cheer up.. put on a happy face.. and spread sunshine all over the place…just put on a happy face..” from Bye, Bye Birdie
“If a smile doesn’t begin from your heart, let it begin at your lips and it will reach yours and others hearts. Do this enough times and the smile will eventually begin from your heart more and more.”
– Adapted from “Life is a Test” by Esther Jungreis
Precious Time
This beautiful short poem reminds us to use the Time we are given to fulfill our, dreams, goals and purpose Now!!
The Climb
A small boy heard the mountain speak,
“There are secrets on my highest peak;
but beware, my boy, the passing of time.
Wait not too long to start the climb.”
So quickly come and go the years,
and a young man stands below- with fears.
“Come on-come on,” the mountain cussed
“Time presses on-on, climb you must.”
Now he’s busied in middle-aged prime,
and maybe tomorrow he’ll take the climb.
now is too soon – it’s raining today
Gone all gone – years are eaten away.
An old man looks up – still feeling the lure.
Yet, he’ll suffer the pain – not climb for the cure.
The hair is white – the step is slow.
And it’s safer and warmer to stay here below.
So all too soon the secrets are buried,
along with him and regrets he carried.
And it’s not for loss of secrets he’d cried,
But rather because he’d never tried.
~Phyllis Trussier
The Way to Begin the Day
Begin today and each day by being thankful and grateful. First and foremost be grateful that you woke up. For that means that you have been given more of the most precious non-renewable resource of all—Time! You have been given time because you are needed, your life has purpose and meaning, and you matter. You are given this time to perform a good for one or for many. You are given this time because no one else can perform this specific good except you. It all depends on you.
“One today is worth two tomorrows.” – Ben Franklin
A Real Perspective Builder
Several years ago, I met a man who came to speak to the office I was working at. He came to tell us that he had survived an attempted suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. He told us of the darkness he felt in his life, his drug and alcohol dependencies and all that led him to the bridge. He then told us of the thought that he had at the moment that his feet left the bridge and he was airborne on his way to certain death.
“There isn’t anything broken in my life that I can’t fix, except this”
First in our Perspective Builder series
Beginning and End
“The beginning is embedded in the end, and the end is embedded in the beginning.” – Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
Here is my essay answer to the quote above
The Beginning
If you have a dream or goal, its beginning is born with fire and passion. When you reach that goal or realize your dream, its end, that same passion and fire will be found. If the “purpose of life is a life of purpose”, then you begin by seeking to discover your specific purpose. When you explore with kindness, compassion and giving to all those you meet on the way you will eventually find its end, your purpose. Along the way your trip will be filled with purposeful joy.
The End
The So Thoughtful Answer to Yesterday’s Dilemma
The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered: ‘I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.’
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 