For the first time in months I had "coffee" with my "coffee buddies" from a couple years ago. I met these women when I used to go to Curves and afterwards we would go out for breakfast to replace the calories we worked off at Curves. These three women are some of the most fun-loving hilarious people I have met in MInnesota. They genuinely care about other people, they know how to have a great time, and they are just fun to be around.
However, with the busy-ness of my jobs, I have not taken time to be with them. They are very active in our community -- always helping out other people, serving at funerals, volunteering at the school, etc. In comparison I do absolutely nothing.
I wish that I could find a way to do both -- live locally, and think globally. But focusing on finding homes for as many kids as possible nationally leaves me doing virtually nothing for my local church (only volunteer about 4-5 hours a week), nothing for the school anymore, don't do wedding showers or funerals...
If I don't maintain focus, I won't get as many kids home. But every once and a while, I feel guilty for not doing everything I "should" do in my community.
Part of the problem is that I know how to do too many things -- I can make web pages, I can make videos, I can edit photography, I can write grant proposals.
And there is so much that needs to be done....
Too bad there aren't more hours in the day or that I couldn't figure out a way to clone myself...
1 comment:
Speaking from a Jewish context, every person has a responsibility to actively participate in tikkun olam, the repair of the world. Every person has an obligation to do something to make the world a better place.
Judaism teaches us that to save a single human life (which clearly you are doing with your adoptive placements) is the same as if you had saved the entire world. For the child you have saved, it is as though you have saved their entire world.
In a perfect universe, we'd have infinite time and resources to add additional mitzvot (good deeds) to our already busy lives. However, there are limits, so we have to pick a cause that is personally meaningful.
G-d doesn't expect a single person to do everything. All that is expected is for you to take on what you can manage and do your best. If you are trying, each day, to do a little better than you did the day before, that's enough. One is supposed to enjoy their lives and to have time for pleasure, work, study and mitzvot. Life isn't supposed to be a continual sacrifice.
A very good Rabbi friend of mine told me that "guilt is the toxic waste of the human spirit." This rabbi is absolutely right, because you should focus your energies on what you can accomplish, not where your perceived failures might lie.
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