"Why are you rushing so much?" asked
the rabbi. "I'm rushing after my liveli-
hood," the man answered.
"And how do you know" said the
rabbi, "that your livelihood is running
on before you, so that you have to rush
after it? Perhaps it's behind you, and all
you need to do is stand still."
- tale about Rabbi Ben Meir
of Berdichev
Most of us accept the standard ideas we were taught. "Men should be good providers." "We will get self-esteem from hard work." It is a virtue to be productive."It's better not to have too much time to think."
A major crisis can quickly change our perspective. Perhaps someone close to us dies, and we are faced with how temporary life is. Or we have a health crisis, or a relationship crisis, or and addiction crisis. The standard ideas come crashing down. We look closely at the rush of our lives and ask deeper questions. Are we hurrying to a worthwhile goal? Or are we losing out in our great rush? These doubts can teach us personal things that society can never teach us. Wisdom comes out of pain and the willingness to learn from it.
Today, I will allow some time to stand still and reflect.
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