I love the phrase “rest in the promise.” It describes what it feels like when faith is present. And there are so many places in our lives that we have that. We just aren’t aware of them.
We know that the sun rises every day and sets every night. We can rest in that promise.
We know that if we jump in the ocean, we’re going to get wet.
We know that if we pay our credit card bill late, we’ll be charged a late fee.
We know what it feels like to have complete faith with the easy and pretty obvious stuff. It’s the more difficult situations where our faith can be challenged.
So let’s make it simple (I guess it depends on your definition of simple) for today. Every morning we wake up to a new day. When we go to sleep we may think of the ways in which we disappointed ourselves or others. At night we may recount a conversation we had and wish we could have done it differently. We may feel guilt or anger or annoyance. And for those of us with healthy egos, we may go over all the things in the day that we did right. And then we sleep and with it sleeps the anxiety, the guilt, the disappointment. And when we awake in the morning, the one question we have to ask ourselves is “how do I want to do things today?”
If we can have faith in anything, it’s that this cycle continues every single day. Every morning you have a new opportunity to steer your life in the direction that you’d like it to go. And if you steered wrong, you get to try again! It IS that simple. But 1)you have to want it and 2)you have to let go of all expectations, especially of yourself. Allow it to be a “one day at a time” kind of journey.
As soon as you read this, tell yourself “it’s a new day! I get to do things differently today (whatever that means for you).” Feel the air of renewal around you and get energized because it’s time to try something new!
Love you all! May today be as unique as each sunset.
Rabbi Gabi