rabbichaplain

The Importance and Power of the Desire for Success

I think most of us make the mistake of thinking that our emotions are things that just happen to us. We presume we just feel and that we have zero control over those feelings. And once we feel something, then that will be it, we won’t have to do things to build upon the feeling.

When it comes to accomplishing the things we wish to accomplish, I often wonder if we are just waiting for the inspiration to push forward instead of taking the steps necessary to see our goals come to fruition. In reading a lot about goal setting and striving to become a better self, I have come to recognize that one of the biggest hurdles to success is fostering the will and desire to take on a new opportunity. While it is easy to say we want to succeed and we want to accomplish new things, very often it is merely us paying lip service and not taking action. Last Shabbat, I came across the following piece which speaks about the power of desiring to succeed as the first step to spiritual growth:

The Power of Desire
Someone asked the Rebbe for financial advice. The Rebbe said: The most important thing a person has to have is a strong desire, whether it is a desire to open a business, to build something, to invent something. A person has to have a powerful desire for something, that is the first step. Once a person develops a strong desire for something physical, they should then transfer that desire into something spiritual, and something pertaining to their avodas Hashem, and then they will truly feel and understand what a strong desire is. With a strong enough desire, a person will succeed b’ezras Hashem in what they try to accomplish.
(Shabbos Parshas Vayechi 5784)
Sea of wisdom for Parashas Shemos 5784 – R. Yitchak Meir Morgenstern

We see that desire is not something we just claim to have but it is something we must actively cultivate and embrace. When we fully embrace the person we wish to become or the thing we truly wish to accomplish, then we will be on the road to success. The lack of a cultivated and focused desire to achieve something is often the barrier to reach the destination we have in mind and is the death of so many of our goals and resolutions.

As we continue to evaluate the goals we have set for ourselves, we should take the time to first examine what it is we really wish to accomplish and see if the desire for success is truly there to be our guide along the way. Don’t be afraid if the desire that was is no longer present as it could be we either need to reinvest our energy into our wishes or perhaps we need to make changes to the goal we had in mind and the process of reaching that goal.

In either case, may each of us find the willpower and passion to take our first steps to our desired goals for becoming the people we wish to become.

It’s a New Year and a new opportunity to start fresh. If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster a spiritual and emotional growth and change. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

2024 – Another New Year, Another Moment of Reflection

Yes, it is January 3. Yes, we are three days into 2024. And yes, writing about goal setting “after the fact” seems out of place. Yet, besides there never being a bad time to reflect on goal setting, I would argue that January 3rd is the best time to have this discussion.

Think about it like this:

December 31, 2023 – We decide on new goals for the year, one’s that speak to our hopes for the new year. We have lists of things we wish to change and resolve to work on changing them.

January 1, 2024 – Yes, we should start Day One. And we do. And it seems so easy to get started because for most of us, January 1 is a vacation day. It is easy to work on goals when the work of achieving our goals is our only task.

January 2, 2024 – Back to work. Back to the grind. This is the day of navigating how the goals we have in mind will meld into our busy lives. And I would guess that by last night, many of the goals we had in mind are already shifting around. Many of us are asking not just how to find the time but where do fit in the changes. Some are already feeling like January 2 was not much different than December 29th, meaning a humdrum work day that came and went.

Which brings us back to January 3. Today is the real litmus test. We saw and felt the exhilaration of starting off on the right foot that was January 1 and then the realistic struggle of meshing our hopes with our realities on January 2. The question is, what did we learn from these two experienes.

When we set goals for ourselves, whenever we do this, it is important to remember a couple of key points:

The goal is the end product and our job needs to begin with not just where we wish to go but how we best think we can get there.
It is OK to try an approach and fail at it. Even in the failure there is success. The January 2 people who struggled to maintain the January 1 process can learn and adapt practices to more realistically to achieve the goals they have set for themselves. A failure is not a failure but an opportunity for growth.
Be compassionate about your choices. One of the biggest obstacles to staying the course with our goals is to celebrate the gains and forgive oneself moments of stagnation and falling backwards.
Today is a New Beginning. And so is tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, etc. Each day brings us a chance to recalibrate, refocus and reconfigure as we need.

May each of us find the goals we wish to have, the ability to accomplish them step by step and the flexibility to integrate our new hopes into the lives we find ourselves living each and every day.

Podcast Episode Recommendation: The Importance of Giving Thanks

I know this theme gets played out many times, yet it is so important to remind ourselves again and again about the importance of gratitude. Gratitude is not just merely about saying “Thank You,” but it is a mindset we would do well to cultivate. To live a life of gratitude is a daily spiritual practice, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep.

Unfortunately, there are many moments in life when it is quite challenging to maintain this gratitude mindset. We face moments and times of tragedy and trauma and we get subsumed by the all too real powerful emotions crisis presents to us. Yet, we wish to persevere, to live and to grow. And we can, with much work and support. Gratitude can be one of the various tools we can work to harness in those difficult moments.

As we think about gratitude today, I invite you to listen to one perspective on the importance of giving thanks I had the opportunity to listen to this morning. My colleague and friend Rabbi Benyamin Vineburg, BCC, recorded a conversation on Thanksgiving with his father Rabbi Dr. Sid Vineburg, Ed. D for the Be Wholly Podcast. I highly recommend listening to this episode, as it is a personal look at finding gratitude living with chronic illness. See below for the links:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2277823/14028305

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-wholly-with-rabbi-ben-vineburg/id1716208253?i=1000636720404

If you or someone you know is struggling, spiritually and/or emotionally, trying to find a sense of meaning in these times of struggle, know that you are not alone. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Why Is It So Difficult to Share My Thoughts?

I woke up this morning thinking about all the ideas I want to share. And then I came to this page, ready to go and… NOTHING. I suddenly found myself tongue-tied, or maybe it is writer’s block, but either way, I found myself staring at a blank screen. Eventually, I decided to just start writing to see what would happen, so this is my journey at the moment.

Yesterday, I came across a quote,

“Life Gets Better When You Decide You Can Reinvent Yourself as Often as You Need.”
LinkedIn

Life is funny. One moment we think we have it all figured out. We know what we want to say or do, and the next, when we try to actualize what it is we have figured out, we hit a wall. And the wall is the block we have for treating Today as a new opportunity. We know we want to. We know we perhaps even need a refresh. And yet, when we try to hit the refresh button, we just can’t seem to do it.

When we are working towards today being a New Beginning, we are in essence trying to enter the road of life from a new entrance. We have the opportunity to do so. From the moment we wake up, we have choices to make. These choices are not easy.

Should I stay in bed for five more minutes or get up?
Should I start my day doomscrolling or wait to look at my phone?
Learn or write?
Exercise or not?
Etc – choose your own morning struggles

We all know what we wish the answers to these kinds of questions are. And yet, we find ourselves tired, worn down, beaten up, just plain exhausted. So we inevitably fall back on the habits we wish we could change because they are comfortable and easy, even though they aren’t the best choices we could be making.

And this is Why It Is So Difficult. Even now, as I am sitting and sharing, thinking about how it is a daily grind to break the habits we have when we want to improve ourselves, I find my mind drifting to all the things I need to do or should be doing instead of writing. Of course, this in itself is part of the writer’s block struggle I am having. Nevertheless, the other voice in my mind is reminding me about how this action, this choice, is important because I want it to be important.

What can we do when we feel that the daily reinvention we wish we could facilitate just doesn’t seem to be in the cards?

Choose one thing to change and work on that and that alone.
Start with just a small chunk of time to focus on the change. It could be as short as a minute of focused gratitude, or a minute of doing something instead of more social media scrolling.
Make this small thing the habit to work on for a week (a week seems like an interval many use for small habitual changes).
Build week over week. If we keep at one new thing a week to help reinvent ourselves, we will eventually see bigger growth, bigger changes.
When you despair that the change is not working well, don’t fret. As I have shared many times on this site, each step forward is one to celebrate. We need to focus on the wins, not the things we inevitably will continue to struggle with.

Let me conclude. This writing exercise this morning is my attempt to show myself this process as well. I really wasn’t sure where my thoughts would take me this morning but here we are. We have journeyed together today to see how just trying to do can produce something.

May each of us in these challenging times remember that all we need to do is take that first step forward along the path we wish to forge. May today, and everyday, bring opportunity for reinvention and for renewed possibilities.

Podcast – Drafted into Coping

I had the good fortune to be interviewed as the first guest on a new podcast called Be Wholly.

And here is the link for Spotify. Drafted into Coping

I hope you find something meaningful in my thoughts about coping during this time of rising hate in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7.

If you or someone you know is struggling, spiritually or emotionally, trying to find a sense of meaning in times of struggle, know that you are not alone. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Doing and Being in Times of Crisis

It’s funny. I find myself constantly saying things like, “The world is a crazy place.” But let’s face it, it is rare to have a day go by when there is not another crisis, another tragedy. Each day we seem to wake up wondering, “What will I see this time when I turn on the news, open up my phone, etc?” Over these past almost 6 weeks, I find myself thinking and reflecting on how we are able to handle these moments. I have tried to put into words (here and here) just the tip of the iceberg of the thoughts in my head.

Yesterday we showed up. This is an overhead view of The March for Israel that took place in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. It was reported that over 290,000 people showed up to be present. We came to express through our presence and voices that we will not sit quietly during this moment in time when Antisemitism and hate are once again sweeping the nation.

The rally got me reflecting on another aspect about coping and engaging during a crisis. Is it worth it to show up to a rally? Is this the right way to respond to a crisis? As far as I am concerned, the answer is YES! And yet, as I was scouring the internet, reading others’ thoughts, I was reminded of a clause in a verse from Zechariah (4:6):

לֹ֤א בְחַ֙יִל֙ וְלֹ֣א בְכֹ֔חַ כִּ֣י אִם־בְּרוּחִ֔י אָמַ֖ר יְהֹוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃

Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit —said GOD of Hosts.

Some Rabbinic leaders have suggested that if we truly believe this prophetic verse, then our mission is not to take action but to put all of our faith in Gd and that prayer and Torah study (which would be study for the purpose of connecting to Gd, not for knowledge) suffice. For some, this is how best to deal with a crisis. We pray and we work on ourselves because the only one we can change is ourselves. Through making changes to our perspective we will see that things will change because we change. And while I can argue that there is some truth to this, I do think it is missing an important element.

To grapple with a crisis, we must confront it from all different angles. Strengthening and drawing on our faith is just part of the mission. We are also responsible to try to do things which we believe might have an effect in overcoming the crisis moment. If we take the rally from yesterday as an example, or any of the other rallies we have seen over the years, showing up was the doing. None of us can know or predict if the needle will shift as a result. Yet, if nobody showed up, then most likely there would be no chance for change.

Part of coping with a crisis is finding moments of taking control back in our lives. Control is a strange thing. Deep down, we know none of us is really ever in control and yet we are always trying to hold on to control. At the same time, we cannot live life just waiting for life to happen. We must work to live a life of doing the things we can to continue constructing the road we are travelling on, one step at a time.

As we continue to grapple and struggle with all we are feeling and experiencing in these challenging times, may we find the fortitude to continue taking steps to confront the baseless and abject hate all around us. May we find a renewed strength in our faith and trust that if we do our part, the outcomes will be for a brighter day tomorrow.

Struggles

I recall a history professor of mine in Yeshiva University sharing that he would give an A to the entire class if not a single “war” was fought during the entire two semester long course, War in Western Civilization. Of course, as he said, the odds were in his favor as there were very few years in recorded history (he claimed 11 at the time) that did not have some kind of war happening somewhere in the world.

As you can see, and please forgive my cynicism for just a moment, to suggest the world is in A crisis moment might be an unfair statement, for most of existence is one crisis moment after another, at least somewhere. Yet, I cannot help but feel that these current times truly feel like the crisis moments of my life, and I must presume of so many other people as well.

In essence, we are all struggling. We are all grieving. The world is not a safe place. Each community, each minority, has had multiple moments of this struggle, this feeling of crisis over the past couple of decades. This is not to suggest struggles just suddenly arose. Rather, it is to recognize that for so many of us, in this moment, we are overwhelmed by the consistency and waves of hatred, bigotry, anti…, and overall feelings of insecurity.

Before I go further, I would be remiss if I didn’t “blame” much of our emotional turmoil on the 24/7 information sharing that we have. And yes, we could just tune it out, as I hope many of you are trying to do. Yet, if you are like me, it is quite difficult to not always want to know and see who said what and when. Some have suggested “doomscrolling” is our way of creating a false feeling of having a bit of control back in these moments when we might feel like we are mere pawns in someone else’s game. While I think there is much validity in that suggestion, I am hard pressed to place the blame for all of the emotional ups and downs merely on the amount of time one spends online.

Let me repeat my words from the previous paragraph. We are all struggling and all grieving.

We are grieving from the imagery of terrorism at its worst.
We are grieving because we are seeing the truth that people will believe whatever they wish to believe, even if the information is patently false.
We are grieving the continued loss of trust in the stories we hear and tell each other.
We are grieving the overt signs of hatred all around us.
We are grieving the loss of presumed safety, whether we really had it or not.
We are grieving and struggling with feeling displaced.
We are grieving because everything around us feels so out of sorts.

What do we do with this? Who do we turn to in times like this? How can we find support if even those who we naturally turn to for support are struggling?

Two weeks ago, I shared a thought on Reflections on how to deal with Crisis. Please take a look if you haven’t, and if you have, it is important to remember the actionable points each and every day.
Yes it is true that each of us, coaches, mental health professionals, chaplains, psychologists, etc. are also personally affected and struggling in our own lives with the depth of numbness and pain during this time when we are grieving. And we are trained within our professional disciplines to be present even within our own struggles. It is important in times like this to not try to weather these emotions alone. If you are struggling, having trouble staying on target in your own lives and/or trying to figure out the best strategies for how to be during this traumatic moment, please seek out help!

While we are truly in a time when it feels we are pushing the big boulder uphill by ourselves, I want to remind you of another image of going uphill. Perhaps instead of seeing the boulder we are pushing, we can see the hand reaching out to help us up, like in the image below from the background of my business card.

We are finding ourselves in an uphill battle, struggling with the waves of life. When I started my coaching practice, my vision was to be able to help people navigate the waves of life through the lens of spirituality and meaning making. We are all on these waves right now. My hope is that each of us has someone who is reaching out to pull us up. We can help pull others up while also needing a hand outstretched to us as well.

Reflections on how to deal with Crisis

So often in life, we plan and Gd laughs. So often in life we are on a path only to be diverted due to outside forces. I had wished to spend time reflecting on the recently completed Jewish Holidays, considering things gained and learned during those three weeks of reflection, introspection and celebration. Yet, since Saturday, Oct. 7, which coincided with the end of the holidays, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, anything I thought about sharing has felt trite.

The sheer barbarism that occurred during the most joyful part of the fall Jewish holiday season cannot be put into words. What Hamas did to my brethren in Israel, which truthfully by extension was to all of us, was devastating to so many of us. And so, even now, I am writing words that feel so hollow, yet write I must, because this is my outlet.

The post I wanted to write would have focused on celebrating the opportunities to reflect. It would have been on how Yom Kippur gives us the time to recognize how easily it is to fall short and at the same time how easy it can be to get back on course. I would have written about how our Sukkot this year was a beautiful week of joy, celebration, community and learning. And yet, all this was shattered.

Instead, I can write the post about how the Jewish community in Israel and around the world faced crisis head on and did not fall victim to fear. I can share that people from all over have gathered to handle this latest blow through prayer and action. I can share that people are not allowing terror and hate overwhelm them but are instead facing it with resolve and strength.

When we face a crisis, each of us has many tools we can draw upon to deal with the challenges before us. I was fortunate to receive a document via email last week with a lesson on dealing with a crisis based on a story of David before he was king (Samuel 1 chapter 30 – see here). While most of us have a sense of this at the moment, I will nevertheless share with you the four pronged approach:

Crying and sadness – We must allow ourselves to take the time to be honest to our sadness and pain. Bottling up these feelings will only have negative repercussions at some further point down the road.
Emotional introspection – As a corollary to the first point, we experience a multiplicity of emotions in times of crisis. For myself, these past 9 days have been ones of worry, fear, resolve, hope, joy, sadness, and a host of other feelings, sometimes simultaneously. And that is OK as well. We can celebrate and also feel the pain and grief for those who were murdered in cold blood.
Faith – For so many, this has been a week of increased prayer and religious resolve. For others, this has been a week of questioning and anger towards Gd. Both are signs of faith. Spirituality is a lifetime struggle. It is in these times when we confront Gd however we choose and hopefully find something within that struggle to help carry us forward.
Action – What can I do to help? So often in crisis moments, people find that they can’t just watch from the sidelines. It is amazing what human resolve can do and what people can do to support one another.

As we continue to go through these terrible days, may we continue to have the strength to support each other and make sure we are also supporting ourselves.

Audacity in Prayer During the High Holidays

Imagine, or maybe just remember, what it was like to turn to a parent and say, “it’s really your fault I am the way I am.” While we all might feel this way at one point or another, it is one thing to think it and another to voice this feeling aloud. If this is the case with one’s parents, how much more so would this be the case as it relates to our relationship with Gd. And yet, we find countless examples in the Jewish tradition that suggest we can verbally express the blame for our imperfections and troubles back at Gd.

One recent thought I came across expresses this concept from a statement in the work Hayyei Moharan, which describes anecdotes about the life of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. The idea is a creative reinterpretation of how we understand the use of the plural in Viddui.

It is written in Chayei Moharan (601) in regards to viduy – the confession prayer, that Rebbe Nachman once said to Reb Yudel of Dashiv (a chossid of Rebbe Nachman, who was first, a chossid of Reb Pinchas Koritzer), “tell me something from your Rebbe, the Tzaddik, Reb Pinchos Koritzer. Reb Yudel responded, “Reb Pinchos once said that we say ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu in a plural tense, when really we should be saying it in a singular tense. However, (the reason [ed.]) we say it plurally is because we are really saying, so to speak, in a way of claim and argument towards Hashem, ashamnu, we have been guilty, that if not for you, Hashem, giving us the energy and ability to sin, we wouldn’t be able to sin.”
Sea of Wisdom Parshas Nitzavim/VaYeilech 5783 – R. Itche Meir Morgenstern

How do we have the audacity to turn around our imperfections and place some of the blame back on Gd? Well, this idea of Rebbe Nachman’s is not unique to him, but has precedent throughout the Jewish tradition. I found myself reminded of something I shared over a decade ago, which remains highly relevant as we enter Rosh Hashanah, 5784. At the time, I prepared a sermon describing multiple examples of spiritual audacity. See here for the full piece.

As part of this piece, I drafted the following prayer:

Dear G-d. We are here again standing in your shadow. We are in your presence. We are unworthy, because we are full of sin. But you know what G-d, it’s your fault we sinned. You are the master of the world. You created us with good and evil. You created the evil inclination, the yetzer hara. Therefore, we are blameless because without that stumbling block, we wouldn’t be in need of judgment each year.

Looking back, I am not sure I was correct in the usage of the phrase, “we are blameless.” If we believe we have the choice to make before each decision, then we are responsible for what we do. Yet, most of us often in life really feel so much about ourselves is not in our control. It wasn’t our fault, it’s someone or something else outside of our control that we can blame. True and… if we are to then find a path for growth and change, we need to be willing to accept responsibility as well.

For this Rosh Hashanah, when we sit down and reflect on the life we have led through 5783 and the life we wish to lead starting 5784, can we both be comfortable to verbalize our feelings that so much of who we are might not be our “faults” and also hold personal responsibility to acknowledge how much we can do to take the steps to forge a new path forward? When we confess to our shortcomings, we are taking the first step. So, speak your real thoughts, pray with abandon just like our ancestors, and simultaneously, examine the barriers holding us back from spiritual growth and plan strategies so we can see a better year in this upcoming year.

May this year be the start of a New Beginning and filled with opportunities for reaching closer to your goals and dreams.

Looking to gain further, broader insight in becoming your more authentic, spiritually focused self? Let me help you along this path! Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Don’t try to fly with your Garbage: Pre-Rosh Hashanah Story about Waking Up to Life

While most of us have flown with dirty laundry in our suitcases, I would venture to guess that most of us have never considered taking a big bag of garbage on a plane. Yet, that is what happened in the following story:

The Rambam tells us that the shofar is calling to us, ” Awaken all people who are in a slumber.” The call of the shofar – of Rosh Hashanah and Elul – tells us to inspect our deeds and improve our ways.

A talented and popular speaker from Eretz Yisrael organized a trip to kivrei tzaddikim in Poland, and several people from Eretz Yisrael signed up. The trip would begin on a Monday morning in Elul, and they would be returning home by the following Sunday night.

The speaker would speak well, and the audience would be inspired and entertained, but a lot of organizing was still needed for this trip to be a success. Hotels needed to be booked in advance, food for a week’s time needed to be prepared or arranged, buses needed to be ordered, and recreational activities and interesting places to visit in addition to kivrei tzaddikim were also part of the itinerary. For many days and nights, this popular speaker was busy with arranging all these details, and on the night before the trip, he was exhausted.

The flight from Eretz Yisrael to Europe was scheduled for 5:00 a.m. The organizer planned to be awake most of the night until someone picked him up to go to the airport at 2:00 a.m. to make last-minute arrangements. At 1:30 a.m., he was finally ready for the trip, so he took out a pen and paper and began planning his first speech.

As planned and on schedule, at 2:00 a.m., the driver arrived at his door to pick him up and take him to the airport, but he didn’t hear him knock, and he didn’t hear the subsequent phone and bell ringing. He had fallen into a deep sleep, and he didn’t wake up until 2:30. At that point, they had to rush to catch the flight. For him to miss the flight would be terrible because, as we wrote, he was in charge of every detail of this trip.

The driver was very anxious and worried that they would miss the flight, and he rebuked the speaker/organizer for falling asleep at this critical time.

The speaker didn’t respond. He accepted the humiliation in silence. Anyway, there was no time to respond because he had to quickly gather his bags and get into the car.

In his haste and confusion, he also grabbed a bag of garbage and took it with him, thinking it was part of his luggage. His wife had put it next to the door to be tossed into the garbage bin outside.

At the airport, he placed his bags on a conveyor belt, and when the garbage bag passed through the machine, the machine started beeping. The bag contained empty metal cans of tuna, corn, and so on. The TSA staff opened the suspicious bag, and needless to say, the smell was terrible. There were also screws in the garbage bag, which could be used for creating a bomb.

He was immediately called to the side for questioning. This was the last thing he needed at this hectic time. Fortunately, they quickly realized it was a mistake, and they accepted his explanation that he was rushing and tired and didn’t realize what he was taking.

This delay proved to be beneficial for him because they helped him get on the plane in time. Aboard the plane, he decided to put aside the drashah he had halfway prepared, and he told them the story of what happened to him in the few hours before the flight. He explained to the group that this is the lesson of the shofar. The shofar is calling to us to awaken. If we don’t heed its call, we will come along with the garbage.

(This is what happened to him. He didn’t hear the phone and doorbell ring, so he ended up taking along garbage.) But if you wake up in time, you can cleanse yourself from the bad and
come to Rosh Hashanah with taharah from aveiros.
R. Elimelech Biderman Torah Wellsprings Parashat Ki Savo 5783

We are mere days away from Rosh Hashanah. Are we awake yet? Are we working towards this moment of renewal? Truth is, most of us struggle to different degrees with living an unaware life. We think we are awake, judging where we are at via measuring our productivity. Hopefully we feel we are making strides towards our goals and dreams. Yet, even as we journey forward, many of us still find ourselves in a daze, perhaps even sleepwalking through life. And in this daze, perhaps we start grasping for things that end up veering us off the path we have laid out for our journeys.

During these last days before Rosh Hashanah, it isn’t too late to wake up. Most of us dream to be a better version of the person we see before us. While it is important to be compassionate to the person we are, we should also be striving to take the next steps along the path we are forging. Now is the time. Choose one thing we believe we can build on and start now. Make the New Beginning in your life now. By resolving to take this first step, we can be sure that we are carrying our luggage and not the bag of garbage to the next stop in our journeys.

May each of us find much meaning and growth in this High Holiday season, awakening to the person we wish to be.