“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” —Max Planck
Discussing gratitude in November is really a “batting practice fastball” as they say in baseball. After all, it is the month of our most cherished national holiday, Thanksgiving. For Jews, gratitude isn’t something for just once a year; it’s a daily practice. The Hebrew term for gratitude means “recognizing the good.” The good is already there, and so it means recognizing the gifts we already have. It means focusing on the part of the glass which is full, rather than on the part which is empty (something hard for me to do without constant reminding). It is often easier to focus on what we lack, rather than on what we have. Since there is no limit to what we don’t have, we can end up very dissatisfied with life. By reminding ourselves to be grateful, we change our perception of our lives, and with that we actually change our lives too. Even when we are aware of the gifts that surround us, we can grow immune to them and take them for granted. So gratitude requires practice.
Gratitude can make us happier and healthier. Recent studies have concluded that the expression of gratitude can have profound and positive effects on our health, our moods, and even on the survival of our marriages. Mussar practice cultivates gratitude by first having the individual identify the good and then acknowledge that it is a gift and not something that is deserved. Next gratitude involves saying “thank you” for the gift and to its source. We need to do that as individuals and as communities. So, I want to thank each and every one of the TE community for their willingness to participate, give back, pay forward, lead, follow and belong to an extraordinary group of people. This High Holy Day season I started to list some of our members who have gone over and above in their contributions to the congregation, but I know I only scratched the surface and unwittingly left many people off the list. Thank you to the 73 member units who have signed up to participate in Tikkun Olam projects. That is more than half our congregation!! Expect to hear from those project leaders in the next month. Thank you to all the members who made High Holy Day pledges above their Fair Share pledges. We have commitments for $8,972 to repair TE, $4,220 to our four special projects, and $2872 toward Israeli bonds. I am so grateful for your generosity (a trait for a later column).
Spend this month practicing gratitude and say “thank you” to every person who does something that is beneficial to you. Check out what I am describing in Everyday Holiness by Alan Morinis or on the website at www.mussarinstitute.org.