Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily, a project of SIMHA the Sephardic Initiative for Mental Health Awareness. Yesterday we told two stories about appreciating your mission and impact in the world. We spoke about how even one missing violinist makes a difference, and we're that missing violinist. Today, I'd like to take it a step further. Rav Yerucham Levovitz quotes a saying from the Gaon, possibly of Vilna, on the secret for success in life.
Every day when you wake up in the morning, you should think,
“There's only one person in the world, and that's me.
There's only one day in the world, and that's today.
There's only one thing to do, and that's my job for today.”
With that in mind, a person will be successful.
He explains that people often think, “If I don't do it, somebody else will do it.
There is no somebody else. As it says Bishvili Nivra HaOlam/ the world was created for me, and therefore, in my world, I'm the only one that exists.
And to the though that, If I don't do it today, I'll do tomorrow, there is no tomorrow. It says about Avraham Avinu, Avraham Zaken, U Bo B’Yamim/Avraham was old, and He came with his days. What does ‘came with his days,’ mean? It means every day stands on its own. Every day is like a basket, and you have to put something in that basket. Yesterday's basket is not today's. Every day is a different day.
Lastly, if you think, “There's so much to do. I'll never finish it.” The answer is, Yes there is a lot to do, but all that you have to do today is the work of today. Just focus on that.
That's the key to success.
This point of view, that you are the only person in the world, puts a new twist on yesterday's mashal. Someone might think, If I don't play my violin, that’s okay, there are another 19 violinists playing, but according to this mashal, it's not so.
When I was a young boy, we had a television in the house like most people did, and there were very few channels. There was Channel 2, channel 11, channel 7, and maybe channel 9, and that was it. There was no cable television. Just those few channels. If you turned the channel on the television to a non-existent channel, you’d get a fuzzy blur of gray static and and a buzzing noise.
In this mashal -and I hope no one gets offended by it- Hashem, Kal v’yachol, has many channels up there, millions of channels- every person has their own channel. Like in today's world of podcasts, everyone has their own podcast, and everyone has their own WhatsApp group. But if you don't broadcast on your channel, there will be nothing there.. it's not that there are 19 other violinists playing. Your channel will have nothing playing. You really make a difference. I should be telling myself this, because there are days that I get busy and don't have a chance to record for whatever reason. I could say to myself, “It’s okay, there are many other rabbis out there making recordings.” That's true. But on my channel, I'm the only one who’s recording. If I don't record, nobody will record, and that really makes a difference to all the people who receive this. Only I can do it, because it's my channel.
This is a deeper way to look at your responsibility in life. It's not that there are so many other people doing what I'm doing… or I'm just one of 20, or one of a 1000…or that God somehow can hear the additional nuance of my violin. Bishvili Nivrah HaOlam means I have my own world and I'm the only one doing in my world
If I don't say Keriat Shema, no one is saying it. If I don't say a beracha, no, one's saying a beracha. It’s like Adam and Chava in Gan Eden…there was no one else but them.
That is our job in life. God is nice. He filled the world up with a lot of other people, for a little bit of distraction and a little bit of companionship. But ultimately, life is about you. You have a responsibility, in your world to fill it with your music. And if you don't play your violin, nobody is going to play it.
Have a wonderful day.