Traveling through life reacting to needs, wants and situations as they arise is like following your GPS without entering a destination first.
If you don’t know where you want to be, you’ll never get there, no matter how fast you run. Or as someone once lamented “I spent my entire life climbing the ladder of success, only to realize, when I got to the top, that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall”
The other day my kids went to one of these Escape rooms. (Groups of people pay money to be trapped in a room, slapped with a time limit, and challenged to find their way out by solving a series of puzzles as a team.) They were given one hour to complete their mission. When they finally made it out they shared how nothing could be taken for granted in the room. Even the most insignificant details contained a clue. Every item, everything they saw or heard, had the potential to bring them closer to fulfilling their mission.
What a great lesson in life. Each of us is sent into this world with a mission, and when our lives are imbued with a clear sense of this mission, even the most insignificant details become valuable opportunities.
But what is the destination? How does one determine his or her mission? For this we have Torah. Science tells you how things are. Religion tells you why they are.
Now, as we begin the Torah cycle again and come away from a month of inspiring holidays, is the perfect opportunity to take the time to discover and internalize our mission.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Benjy Silverman
P.S. Need help discovering your mission? Consider coming to the first lesson of the new JLI course - How Success Thinks. The first lesson is titled DEFINING YOUR SUCCESS (AND NOT ANYBODY ELSE’S). For more information visit www.chabadrt.org/3409071