 Each Jewish Festival has a unique spiritual energy. If we can tap into that energy, we have a year long opportunity to build a deeper connection to ourselves, The Almighty and other people in our lives. It enables us
to see life from a different perspective which can empower and energize us to a life of meaning and purpose.
Let`s take Pesach as an example. It is known as the Time of our Freedom .Not only do we celebrate a historical physical freedom from Egyptian slavery but we also have the opportunity to work on acquiring our own personal freedom from whatever is holding us back from achieving our full potential in life.
So we are now in the month of Elul, which is the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah- The Jewish New Year.
In this period of time of time, The Almighty gives us the spiritual gift of transformation to tap into.
How many times have you looked at your life, looked at the mistakes you’ve made and wished you could do a “do-over.” I certainly have in many areas of my life. This time of year gives you just that opportunity. It’s a time of renewal and transformation. The Almighty is aware of all the mistakes and unproductive actions we have done during the course of the past year because we are human and that is what humans tend to do – We mess up often!!
At this time of the year, The Almighty gives us this incredible gift and says I know you messed up but I (The Almighty) am going to wipe the slate clean. I (The Almighty) am going to give you the opportunity to fix up and restore things in your life that need to be repaired. I am not looking at your mistakes but rather the incredible potential you have for greatness. I am looking at what you can become not what you have done till now because you can choose to recreate yourself! We can choose to make different choices and steer our lives in a completely different direction anytime we want.
There was a famous psychiatrist who lived through the Holocaust by the name of Viktor Frankel who wrote an amazing book called “Man’s Search for Meaning.” He says that “everything can be taken from man but his ability to choose his own way no matter what the circumstances.”
We as Jews have come from a long line of people who make different choices from the rest of the world. Jews retain a level of morality and ethics that very few other nations do. We reach out and help others in need and spread kindness to others in a “me – oriented world.” We dress in a dignified manner because we know it’s the soul we contain inside that’s precious while the world puts great emphasis on the body and physicality.
Each of us contains the Spiritual DNA which allows us to make choices which will guide us to fulfilling our own unique potential. In many ways that is what life is about. It’s about going through different experiences, learning from them, making different choices and moving towards constantly reinventing yourself to be the best you can be and giving the world the best you have to offer.
Each of us has unique gifts given to us as part of our package deal here on earth. Our job is to discover what they are and then use them in the most constructive way
Life is very ironic and it’s usually when we are in tough situations that “our gifts” including both our strengths and weaknesses are revealed to us, ones we didn’t know we had or had been sitting in us dormant waiting for the opportunity to be seen.
There is a clip in the movie “Facing the Giants”, that powerfully illustrates how much we underestimate our potential. In the clip, the coach takes one of his strongest players and gives him an assignment to do a “death-crawl” This is when a footballer carries a fellow football player on his back while he moves across the field without allowing his knees to touch the ground. His coach blindfolded him while he carried out his task because he knew that the player could go further if he didn’t see where he was .At a particular point he was exhausted and ready to give up but the coach, who was on the ground with him, kept encouraging him to go further. At the end, the coach told him to take off the blind-fold and see what he had achieved. He found himself in the in-zone, a feat he never thought possible carrying another person on his back that weight more than 100 pounds.
So often in our own lives, The Almighty gives us our own “death-crawl. In the same way that the football player underestimated what he could achieve, we too underestimate our own abilities. The coach knew that his player had everything it took to succeed with his task and pushed him beyond his perceived limits. The Almighty does the same with us. He gives each individual their own “death-crawl” experience because He knows what we are capable and pushes us to achieve all we can be!
The “death-crawl” that The Almighty gave to me is a physical difference that I was born with. I had a choice to be depressed, angry, frustrated and become a victim of my circumstances which I did for a long time until I realized in a self growth group that this victim mentality was not serving me well. I could make a different decision. I could see my circumstances as an opportunity to influence, empower and inspire others in their own “death-crawl.” This choice has enabled me to transform myself into a new and improved human-being. Recognize the pattern of behavior that is not working for you, make a decision to change it and then reinvent yourself to become a new and improved human being. The make-over experience is not easy or comfortable -that is why its called an extreme make-over, because it involves stretching and pushing ourselves beyond our limits to be something else. I survived going through an extreme makeover and with all the pain and challenge involved it was worth it for the person that emerged from it. A make-over is not a one time thing but we should constantly be in extreme make-over mode as we strive to change and better ourselves all the time!
So as you can now see this is the most incredible time because you have the opportunity to completely transform yourself any way you choice and move your life into a whole different direction .In the words of Dr Seuss:
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose
You’re on your own And you know what you know
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
(Oh the Places You’ll Go)
My blessing is that each person should emerge from their own individual makeover in a way that makes The Almighty, you and others proud of the new and improved person that comes into Rosh Hashanah!
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Subscribe
