Erez and I recently spent a wondrous week at Camp Ramah. We taught, schmoozed with campers and counselors, and breathed in the soulful air that only camp provides.
One morning, we decided to take a walk into Ojai. Erez runs marathons. I do not. Erez runs miles throughout Los Angeles. I do not. But hill after hill, curve after curve, I was committed to finishing the walk. Getting closer to the half-way mark, directly ahead was the following sign: ROAD CLOSED.
Nearly crying, I blurted out, “We are not turning around.” For a few minutes, we debated making the trek back to camp, musing that perhaps we could walk into town another day or entirely, just give up. But determined to continue, we convinced the roadside maintenance crew to let us inch through the blocked off sections of the road.
Sounds silly. It was just a walk. But the idea of “doing it next time” or “putting it off until tomorrow” was more than disappointing. It felt frivolous. We had the time. We had precious minutes to spend together. We had this very moment.
Mishlei reminds us, “Do not boast for tomorrow, for you do not know what the day will bear.”
This month, two adult community members celebrated the anniversaries of their bnai mitzvah. They read from the Torah, stood before the congregation and when asked why they decided to commemorate this moment, said with passion and shared resolve, “Don’t wait.”
Celebrate the good moments, cherish today’s blessings and take a step towards the goal you’ve always wanted to reach. No block in the road should deter us from living our lives.
So…what are you waiting for?
Shabbat Shalom
