Be All that You Can Be

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life.-Baruch Spinoza

This saying makes the same point as the story about Rabbi Zusya, who taught that he would not be asked in the World to Come why he was not Moses, but rather, why he was not Zusya.

I'm trying to prepare for the High Holy Days with introspection and service preparation and a to-do list. The topic of my meditation last night was change, what I need to change about myself, what is scary about that change, how I can deal with the fear, including the fear that I'll never be able to make changes that I've tried and failed to make in the past.

If it were easy to make and keep New Year's resolutions, there would be no need for people to keep on making them, or for the thousands of self-help books that keep on being published. I do know a lot about what doesn't work for me, but less about what does work. My yetzer hara, or destructive impulse, is strong. But I do not despair. I have done new things, and have improved myself in some ways, even if only for a time. And each day, in fact, each moment, presents the opportunity for a fresh start.

May we all be written in the Book of Life for a sweet and healthy New Year.