One of the biggest mistakes
that people make is that we all tend to take life for granted. Very often the
joy of life, the wonder of life, the awe inspiring nature of life, is
forgotten, unseen. All of us tend to be so busy, so distracted in life that
very often we can miss the wonder and the miracle of life. Not just in the grandeur
of nature but in the splendor of the people we love, and all we have in life,
the sustenance we have. For example the ability to live in a free country, to
have close friends, the ability to live in a situation surrounded by people who
love us and give us the opportunity to be enriched by them. We also live in a
land of plenty but unfortunately not only is the plenty over looked, but it
never seems to be enough. We take for granted what we have. By going out of our
way to notice everything of beauty that we see and hear, what we eat and drink,
who we talk to and connect with, it helps us to be grateful for what we have instead of focusing on what we don’t.
I think the difference
between a happy person and a sad one is that a happy person is grateful for
what they have and focuses on that on a daily basis. An unhappy person is
consumed by what they don’t have, overwhelmed by what they do have, and living
is a source of pain for them and for the people who get involved with them. Whatever
you focus on only gets larger, so if you constantly worry that things are not
going to work out, they probably won’t. If you constantly worry about whether
people are going to disappoint you, they probably will. If you are constantly
on the lookout for someone to cheat you or get over on you, no doubt, someone
will. If you consistently look for inconsistencies in other people’s behaviors,
you will find them because we’re all human and we’re all different. If you
dismiss people because you find them incompatible before you’ve even given them
a chance to really show whether they are or not, you will end up alone, sad and
disappointed because everyone is incompatible with everyone else on some level.
A happy person wakes up
every day grateful to be alive another day, grateful that the sun is shining or
the rain is falling, happy they have a job, happy they have a family, happy
they have friends and connections with people who enrich their lives on a daily
basis. Instead of looking for inconsistencies and incompatibilities, a happy person looks for the things they have in common with others and celebrates and tries to understand the differences. A happy person wonders every day what can they do to make the world a
better place, whether it is simply having a nice conversation with the lady who
cleans the bathrooms in the office at the end of the day, asking her how she
is, how her family is, cracking a joke and making her smile, or calling someone
you haven’t talked to in a while and letting them know that you’re thinking
about them. Even something as simple as sending someone you like a text message
with a smiley face could brighten their day when it hasn’t been going so good. There
are so many small things that can be done for others that in the end make you a
happy person because you’ve done something for someone else.
Every one of us has a
special purpose, a special mitzvah if you will, that we are supposed to
accomplish in our time here. In case there is someone out there that doesn’t
know, there are really two meanings to the word Mitzvah. One is of course the
commandments or Mitzvoh which is the plural of Mitzvah, and the other meaning is
"acts of loving kindness". Everyone has specific "acts of loving kindness" that are
their very own purpose. For most of us, we have no idea what that is. If I were to think
about what mine is, I’m sure it would have something to do with animals. I have
taken in strays in for most of my life, mostly cats, but I had a dog as well for
15 years. I feed the birds and squirrels that come into my yard year round
and always make sure, no matter what the season that they have fresh water to
drink. I volunteer at a horse rescue farm which rescues and rehabilitates horses
that have been neglected and abused. At work I buy peanuts from the hot dog man and feed them to the city squirrels. I’m not sure if this is my purpose but it
seems like it might be. I’m not sure how acts of loving kindness towards
animals helps the human race but I like to think that it does somehow. It sure makes me feel good and makes me happy.
Shabbat Shalom everyone!
Squirrel sitting on my leg at work eating a peanut!
