There is a variety of topics discussed in the Parsha this week, but we'll speak about just one.
The
Jews are still traveling in the desert- it can take us about 40 years
to finish that topic... but while they were there, we see in the p'sukim
that they complained again and again about the difficulties of being
there. At this point, they had problems with the menu. Needless to say,
G-d was rightfully upset at them. I mean, think about it, here was a
group of people who had been
enslaved, and were just released to freedom. They had been through
endless open miracles. They were literally being carried in Hashem's hands. And all they do is complain? What a chutzpah!
But, the truth is, we learn an incredible life lesson from these people.
G-d
created us in a fascinating way. Our minds naturally focus on what
we're lacking. Without any effort, they just flip to the negative side
and notice the things we don't have. The only way to focus on the good
things we have and on the positive, it to make a conscious effort for
our minds to go there.
Even
though the Jews were given every single thing they needed, plus tax,
they were still not able to notice that. They didnt feel the love. They
didnt respond with happiness. Instead of filling up their minds with
focus on the goodness,
they left them empty to roam the negative pastures.
When Hashem
noticed that nothing He can do will make them happy, that's when He got
upset. No matter how much goodness was bestowed upon them; no matter
how much blessing they got, they still never maintained a level of
happiness and gratitude for more than a day.
I
know a woman who has a really blessed life. She and her husband are
each healthy, nice looking, well liked, and have stable, high income
jobs. They have 3 beautiful, healthy, successful children, all happily
married to wonderful people. We would expect this woman to be ecstatic
with what life had offered her. She should be jumping for joy while
counting her blessings. But, no. This lucky woman is easily upset, sad,
short tempered and just miserable more often than not. Once, a mutual friend questioned her
about why she was so distraught on a particular day. Her answer was
(there should really be a powerful adjective here but it's not coming to
mind... so we'll settle for) astonishing. You know what was making her
life so unbearably miserable? She was in the process of redoing her
home, and she had shlepped around all over the neighborhood to
find bathroom faucets that matched perfectly with the toilet and
counters, and she just couldn't find any. Poor poor lady.
Try
to imagine spending hours, and even days, cooking a delicious meal for
very special company. You spend a lot of time researching their favorite
dishes, and then you make all 12 favorites. You put your heart and soul
into it. They arrive and eat eat their hearts out. Ahhh, what nachas.
You sit back watching them enjoy your luscious work. Imagine, if the
next day, one of them calls you
up and tells you that "the food was very good, thanx, but you forgot to
serve mousse. You know how much I looooove mousse".
SLAP.
How
unappreciative could someone be? Is it possible to ever make a person
like this happy? I dunno about you, but I wouldn't be running to invite
these people again too quickly.
In order to fully appreciate the good things that G-d has given us, we need to take out the time to focus on them.
That's the first step toward happiness and inner peace. And, obviously,
the opposite is true, too. Failing to notice the blessings, and
allowing our minds to navigate toward our lackings will result in
tension and unhappiness.
"Some people are so poor, that all they have is money".
Have a great shabbos
