Waking UP
I often say you can change your life in an instant. This is true. It is especially true when we follow our dreams. And dreaming happens ALL the time – awake or asleep.
As I wrote in my blog post on Monday (Dec 10th The Power of a Dream Paid Attention To), this Hanukkah my synagogue is focusing on the power of one person, one shift. Today I’m re-posting a second story my Rabbi posted. This story is particularly powerful to me because it speaks to WAKING UP to daytime dreaming, and the enormous shifts that doing so can produce.
From Rabbi Sharon Brous of Ikar:
“Several years ago a friend of mine – a big, important advertising guy – was waiting for a plane to a big, important advertising conference. Anxious, distracted and hungry, he walked to the closest food stand and, true to his New York Jewish roots, ordered a bagel and cream cheese. The woman behind the counter handed him a bagel and explained that they were out of cream cheese. “Out of cream cheese? How do you sell a bagel with no cream cheese!” he shouted, with the kind of righteous indignation usually reserved for confrontations with ticket agents when one’s flight is delayed. The woman looked up at my friend and calmly said, “Sir, I saw my parents and my children killed in El Salvador. Everything happens in this life. And you’re going to worry about cream cheese?”
Within days, my friend left his business and started a non-profit consulting firm. He has now worked with hundreds of NGOs to help their leaders amplify their voices as social change agents. He never found the woman in the airport again, but to this day he credits her for helping him rediscover the clarity and sense of purpose he needed.
He could have walked away annoyed, but instead he allowed himself to be transformed. And now he’s working to transform the world.”
What are you ready to wake up to?
