Did you have a successful week?
The secret to success is actually pretty simple. All you need to do is change your definition of success :)
What’s your definition of success? What makes a week a successful week for you?
The book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) asks: “As one came naked from his mother’s womb he will return as he came and will take nothing of his toil with him…so what is the good of his toiling…? (Ecclesiastes 5:14-15)
The Midrash shares Rabbi Meir’s response to Kohelet’s question “When one comes into the world his hands are clenched as if to say: the whole world is mine and I will inherit it. And when one takes leave of the world his hands are open”
The whole point of life, according to Rabbi Meir, is to go from clenching our fists, grabbing and holding onto whatever we can, to opening our hands and sharing with others. The purpose of life is not to get but to give, to think about what we are needed for, rather than what we need.
A successful life is one of caring and sharing rather than accumulating and keeping.
If you contributed to the world in some way, if the world is a little bit better off thanks to your life, then you have lived a successful life.
This is the true definition of success.
The beauty of this definition is that success is now fully in your control. If you define success by how much money you have made or how much pleasure you have had then success is not fully in your control. However, with Judaism’s definition you can always be successful because there are always opportunities to help others, even if just with a smile and embrace. You are in the driver’s seat.
So please indulge me and share your response - Did you have a successful week? And how so? Post your replies here.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Benjy Silverman