Alright, time to be happy!
It's the Hebrew month of Adar - and Purim is right around the corner. Now, I
get it. When faced with Hamantashen, smiling children in costumes (what will the Rabbi dress up as this year at Purim in the Big Apple??), and dancing the hora, it's hard not to catch the happy bug. But how can we turn the entire month into a joyous one?
get it. When faced with Hamantashen, smiling children in costumes (what will the Rabbi dress up as this year at Purim in the Big Apple??), and dancing the hora, it's hard not to catch the happy bug. But how can we turn the entire month into a joyous one?Unfortunately, there is plenty that can dampen our spirit. Loss (this week, I lost my dear grandmother); hardship, bills, health issues. The world isn't exactly utopia. So how can I muster the stamina to break out my favorite Jewish melody on a dreary morning (figuratively speaking).
The answer is that there are two kinds of emotions. Usually, when we talk of being emotional, we refer to an involuntary reaction to a situation. It can be anger, jealousy, sadness, or gratitude, happiness, and contentment.
But there's another kind of emotion, a deeper kind. The kind that we generate by exercising in the "Emotion Gym". Training ourselves to view the world through a perspective that builds that emotion. This is where emotion becomes a proactive tool in our arsenal, driving us forward and upward toward the things that we are passionate about.
So let's choose to view the world through a lens of positivity, love, and beauty, and fill ourselves with the joy of Life. Smile through the rain and create a rainbow, sing through the silence and let the birds be your choir, do a random act of kindness and watch a hostile world melts away into an oasis of love.
Let's be joyful!
In addition to the Purim celebrations, on March 19th, Eva Schloss will share her story of how she was able to smile after the darkness of the Holocaust.