We are exactly halfway into our Jewish year… 6 months past Rosh Hashanah and we have just completed Pesach. It’s the perfect time to assess how we are doing with our goals and intentions for the year and what we need to tweak to be better.
Passover can be about examining our lives and determining what the “hametz” is; what we want to remove from our life to make ourselves and those around us better. A couple weeks ago, I set an intention to slow down my mornings a little bit. After getting SG to school and doing my exercise and showering, it is the perfect time of day to sit for awhile with a book or journal and be still with myself. I can read, write, draw, or simply listen to the sounds of the freshly-born oasis in my own backyard.
So far, so good. I am slowly wrapping up most large responsibilities I have taken on, opening up more time for just being.
In addition to deciding to not be the Sisterhood President this coming year, I also turned down a nomination to be a VP on the Hillel board. It is also very tempting to take on more responsibility at SG’s school. However, I have the sense that there will be many, many opportunities in the future for me to assist with meaningful events and activities. Perhaps the time is not quite right to take it all on this minute!
When I began the year, I wanted generally to use my life for good. I know I am doing that in many ways, and that knowing is enough for me for now. I feel no need to add more to my plate. In fact, by taking off some activities, I am going to be able to take better care of myself and those around me. That’s got to be a good thing!
I am taking it one day at a time, following my heart and my intention to slow down. 6 months from now, at the Jewish New Year, things will once again look different than they do now. It will be a new school year (with a new book fair to plan!), a fresh year of programming for my committees at the temple, and I will be facilitating a mussar group for the first time. I am excited for the future just as much as for the present.
How about you? Are you on a path of growth and positive change?
I’m very proud of the person you are!
I’m impressed that you are setting intentions and slowing down. I seem to be just barreling down the highway at breakneck speed (making me wonder if our age difference is a factor?) I feel my mortality so keenly, and it’s like I have SO MUCH yet to accomplish, I just can’t slow down until nature MAKES me.