The past few weeks have been kind of rough. I have spent much time worrying about what will be and how things will turn out in the end. Money is always a concern for most people. How much we have? How much we make? How much we are going to make? How much are we spending and on what? Can we buy the stuff that we want?

Then there is an array of other concerns that parade through a persons mind on a daily basis, fluctuating as things happen. The average ones are health, your own and your loved ones. Work related whether it be about co workers, boss, salary or job specific issues. Social life, this can include events, status, friends, seeking to get married or issues in the marriage. Someone told me ” if Hashem wants it to be it will be and if not then there is reason for it.” This simple sentence made me stop and realize that I am missing the boat in my own life.

In the United States we are fortunate enough to be free. Free to do what? ” Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” How many people actually achieve the happiness part? How many people are actually ‘living’? Most of us go through our days in a flurry of activity. How many people appreciate what we do have? Enough money to have a roof over our heads. Food on the table. A spouse. A person or people you can call friends and relax with. We take what we have for granted and are in constant pursuit of that unattainable ‘happiness’.

 What if instead we were to realize that we get what we are meant to have? This is not to say that we should give up. On the contrary, we should always try our hardest at whatever we may be working on. But it is just simply realizing that we will not get everything we desire including outcomes of various situations and accepting that things are for the best can reduce frustrations to some extent beyond the natural disappointment that accompanies failure.

This all seems very cliché but I found it to ring true and that is why I am bringing this up. There are couples that do everything right and they split up, people who have healthy habits and die young, and good people do bad things sometimes. It can be very upsetting when you think about it. All someone has to do is read a newspaper to hear about horror after horror and it can leave a person feeling like there is no superior being in charge of the world, or if there is he has abandoned us. These feelings while understandable can be changed with a shift in perspective. For instance if you lose $100 you can think about the money which you lost or you can be thankful that you still have money left to your name. If you lose someone near and dear to you can focus on celebrating their life and the lessons you learned from them rather then on the very painful fact you will not be able to spend any more time with them in this world.

What I have written above is in no way meant to discount or dismiss anyone’s very real pain or stress in these and other scenarios that play out on a day to day basis. Rather the goal of this post is to share with you a simple insight that we are taught and know but need that reminder occasionally that there is an almighty running the show and while we think we are in control we are nothing but dots in the large picture, yet he still cares for each and every one of us like a father cares for his son. This does not guarantee that we will like everything that happens or that it will be the outcome we desire(recovery from an illness)  but that we are in the hands of a loving supreme being.  These are thoughts that have helped me through difficult times and I am sharing it with you, dear readers in the hopes it may help you have strength and dignity when life throws you a curve-ball to square up and knock it out of the park.

Author: 008