Gratitude

Gratitude. Sounds simple. Sounds reasonable. Sounds Easy....But it's not.

We thank the stranger for holding the door open for us.

We thank our child for bringing us a diaper.

We thank our mother for having had us over for Shabbat.

The list is endless but are our thank you's meaningless?

We wake up every morning and say "מודה אני," but do we even pay attention to what we are saying? Do we realize how thankful we really should be that Hashem gave us back our neshama, gave us another day to do better and grow a little closer to Him.

"מודה אני לפנך"      I thank you
"מלך חי וקים"         Living and eternal king
"שהחזרת בי נשמתי"  Who returned my neshama to me
"בחמלה"              With pity
"רבה אמונתך"         Great is Your faithfulness 


Sometimes in life we are faced with challenges and we don't know why or how to get through them. We may find a temporary solution to them, but never long lasting.  If we could get to the root of the problem, many challenges and hard struggles would disappear. What is the root of many of these struggles we face?

It comes from our lack of gratitude towards Hashem, our lack of Hakarat Hatov.

We wake up and say Modeh Ani and daven during the day, whether once or three times. But do we ever stop and say thank you to Hashem for all the good He's given us. Not a general thank you, a detailed and heart-filed thank you for all the wonderful things we  have in life. Even someone who is struggling and really having a hard time with what ever his situation, he can say thank you.  

When we show Hashem that we appreciate what he has given us, we open up the gates to receive more goodness from Hashem.  We need to say to Hashem, "Thank you for my husband/wife, thank you for my family, thank you for being able to breathe properly and walk/talk/see." There are many many things we can be thankful for, no matter what we are going through in life.  If we can begin to say thank you for all the good things we have in life, our struggles and challenges will get easier.  We won't only see and focus on the negative, but rather on the positive. And in turn, Hashem will see how we appreciate what he gives us and will want to give us more.  Our struggles with disappear because through our gratitude we will have a better clarity and understanding that Hashem only gives us good and what looks seemingly bad, is in reality for our best. 

Hashem gives us challenges to call us closer to him. He sends up these wake-up calls because he loves us, and wants us to come back to him. 

We have to thank Hashem for these calls, it's done purely out of love. When we begin to be grateful to Hashem we will see his love with clarity. And begin to serve Hashem out of pure love. We will be able to thank Hashem even more and the circle will continue. B'ezrat Hashem we will be zoche to this.

Our Purpose

Please excuse our leave of absence.  With Hashem's help we will get back on track.

What is our purpose in this world? 

David Hamelech in Tehillim stated, "Closeness to Hashem is my good."  What does that mean? That the best thing David had was being close to Hashem, Devaikus, clinging to Hashem.

David lived his whole life clinging to Hashem and that for him was the best thing in the entire world.  He had every single reason to complain to Hashem. David never had a moments rest, he was always running for his life, someone was always trying to kill him.  He had every reason in the world to complain, yet  in Tehillim many perakim begin with "Hodu LaShem Kitov," praise to Hashem for He is good, praising Hashem.  David Hamelech was on such a level of closeness to Hashem that even while running for his life, running to stay alive because he was literally being hunted down, he was able to praise Hashem.

How was David Hamelech able to do this?

Because David always was Daveik to Hashem, he always held onto Hashem.  By clinging to Hashem, David was able to see the good in his extremely difficult life.

So what is our purpose in this world? 

Our purpose in life is to cling to Hashem. To gain that purpose takes time and effort, it is a relationship that just like any other that can't be built in a day.  It is a bond worth investing time into. Being close with Hashem is like being best friends with the king, he has connections into everything you need and even more since Hashem is the king of all kings. Wouldn't you want that connection?

Here is our Quote of the week, it's not just any quote, it's something that is very deep and amazing, enjoy!

 "Our goal in life is to strive for perfection, but the striving for perfection, is perfection itself."   ~Rav Kook

What is perfection?   ...being close to Hashem!

The Package

There was once a peddler traveling along the road carrying a heavy package on his back.  A wagon-driver passing by sees the peddler and offers him a ride.  The man get into the wagon and they begin traveling together.  After some time the wagon driver notices that the peddler is still carrying his heavy package on his back.  So he turns to him and asks why doesn't he place his package on the wagon, there's no need to hold it.  The peddler explains that the wagon driver was already doing him a great favor by carrying him to his destination, he didn't want the wagon to have to carry his heavy package too!

(השלך על ה יהבך והוא יכלכלך" (תהלים נב:כג"
"Cast your burden onto Hashem, and He will sustain you."

It's so easy to lose sight of the fact that we are already on Hashem's wagon- So why do we keep carrying our burdens on our back? This parable brings into perspective on pressure and worry is not necessary. Hashem is taking care of us, He's the one running the show and is the only one that knows what will be,...

G-d's Boxes

I have in my hands two boxes,
Which G-d gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all you sorrows in the black box,
And all your joys in the gold."


I heeded His words, and in the two boxes,
Both my joys and sorrows I stored;
But though the gold became heavier each day,
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity, I opened the black,

I wanted to find out why,

And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole 

Which my sorrows had fallen out by.


I showed the hole to G-d, and mused,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be!"
He smiled a gentle smile and said,
"My  child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."

Embroidery

a piece of cloth
with stitches
stitches and stitches
colorful stitches
stitches on a cloth
look look under
under the cloth
snags
snags and knots
jumbled threads
no order
no pattern ugh!!
now look
look at the top
the top of the cloth
beautiful stitches
colorful stitches
patterns of stitches
now nice!!
a cloth is spread 
spread over the world...

One Step Forward

So many times in life we try to take a step forward but it hurts, it physically hurts to change.  We feel something pulling us back, giving us all the excuses in the book even though we know it's the right thing and yet we still can't manage to bring ourselves to do it.  Or better yet, we do over come that obstacle and only too soon do we find ourselves back in the same predicament, back to square one.  Why does Hashem send us these challenges? Why can't it be that we spot a sore area and fix it right away?  Smooth, simple and easy. 

Rabbi Lazer Brody helps us understand this concept.

"So many people crave comfort-zone lifestyles. Yet, you can't be a champion unless you break out of the comfort zone. In spirituality as well as in athletics, pain makes gain.

The difficulties in each of our lives are all from Hashem's lovingkindness, to help us grow and realize our potential. Without the challenges that force us to develop and mobilize our capabilities to the hilt, we'd all probably wallow in the muck and mire of mediocrity. Hashem wants us to be our best, so He sends a cloud here and there to block the sunlight and clear skies.

Sunsets would be boring without a few clouds. The clouds make the suns rays look spectacular.

The periodic difficulties in our lives only make Hashem's salvations look more spectacular. When you think about it, rising to a major challenge really does make life more beautiful."

Hashem gives us these difficulties as a gift.  We are so lucky to have them, for those who live a "perfect" life are  the ones who should worry.  Hashem loves us and cares for us that's why he sends these challenges.

It takes a lot of strength to overcome our Yetzer Hara but as soon as we do, it's the greatest feeling in the world. That pain allows us to feel true simcha and we get to move up a rung on the ladder; and what better feeling is there than being a step closer to Hashem!

The Daffodil Principle

I came across this article a few years back.  It's message is simple and clear. Seize the moment, for even the smallest amount will turn into something beautiful, that is, because the smallest amount is beautiful.

 

The Daffodil Principle

Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, " Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead.

"I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch.

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!"  I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."

"How far will we have to drive?"

"Just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise.  You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road