You don’t need to do extreme things to feel alive, all you got to do is be real about the consequences of your daily, mundane life.
Be real, don’t run away from your circumstances. Instead, stand up firm and confront them. The sages teach “repent one day before you die.”(Pirkei Avot 2:15). What this means is that we should live every day as if it is our last.
People take life as if they will live forever, this approach is not healthy because it makes us procrastinate and loose the moment and the opportunities for growth and rectification that we have right in front of us. It can make us live in denial and look for outlets that will numb our reality. At the end, the problems grow and don’t get solved.
Some Jews have the custom of visiting their future burial plots once a year, usually before Rosh Hashana. Although this practice may seem morbid, in reality the intention behind it is to help the person put his life in perspective which encourages the person to live with the reality that you are mortal and your time is limited.
Are you using your time efficiently? Are you using your G-d given gifts to make this world a better place? Are you living or just occupying space?
The ostrich syndrome can be very numbing, but it doesn’t solve anything.
Unfortunate occurrences can happen to us, nobody is except from them, but instead of sticking your head into the sand hole and ignore the issues in our lives, stand up,be afraid, be real, and learn the right lessons that come with it taking responsibility for your actions and the consequences that come with them.
Wisdom from Rabbi Noah Weinberg Z”L
www.livealittlehigher.com
