Your score came in at 93, you won second place!”
“WOW! I can’t believe it!!..YAY…”
“Your score is 96, you won first place!!”
“Are you sure only 96?! It’s got be a mistake! I should’ve gotten a 100!!” the disappointed contestant retorted…
Contrary to common belief, achieving is not the ingredient to happiness.
Recognizing a talent as a gift, and cultivating an attitude of “work hard but with no expectations”, is the key to happiness!
Two contestants. Both worked hard. The one without expectations is the happy one.
The one who cultivated a mind set of “WOW I’m so lucky that I’m able to create this” is able to tap in to the “Happy Energy” of success, which in turn breeds further success!
How we experience our success is the key to how we will experience a challenge.
You see, feeling ‘lucky’, appreciating the blessing, is an amazing feeling best described as, “Wow I can’t believe this happened to me.” Such a feeling empowers us, enabling us to overcome challenges and strive ahead.
Wait a second. Challenges? You mean the bumps on the road? When we don’t have expectations, that’s normal. Why call it a challenge?
Once we recognize that our talents are gifts we cease to get caught up with ourselves. We don’t expect an easy road, and we have a higher dose of energy. We are happy. Can anything stand in the way of a happy person!
As we are transitioning from the sadness of Tisha B’av to the second half of the month , our rabbis say that there were no Festive and happy days in the Jewish Calendar like the 15 day of the month of Av, let’s cultivate the mindset of Be HAPPY!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mendy
