Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Letting no is not surrendering.

“A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams.”
Yiddish Proverb
In a normal year on the morning before the first seder, I would be up by 5:30 in the morning to get a heads start on what would be a very busy day.By 6, I would be on my way to set up the siyum,aSpiegel tradition for over 5 decades.
This as we all know is anything but a normal year.
When I did get up at 5,I was kind of relieved that I didn't have to jump out of bed and get things started.The siyum and all other services have been cancelled until further notice.
Dolly had decided that her comfort was much more important than mine,causing me to sleep in a very awkward position. This resulted in a very stiff neck and shoulder. When I did begin my day an hour later,I couldn't help but notice that my entire body was stiffer than usual. These old achy bones get that way some days.
In a normal year, with a full day of cooking ahead of me preparing for the seder,this would have been a problem.
Again,this is anything but a normal year. Yesterday after a number of people expressed their concerns about gathering together this year, we cancelled our seder. Given how achy I was when my day started, again, probably a blessing in disguise.
In a normal year, I would traditionally have the entire day to complete all that I needed to get done. As I have stated more than once here, this was not gong to be aa normal year, even before the current quarantine. I was scheduled to work today, which would have had me out of the house until around 4 o'clock.Once we shut things down, my day was shortened by 3 hours. Another blessing. Combined with the fact that I was now making dinner for 4 instead of a seder for 20, I found myself once again giving thanks to The Universe for the change in the norm.
Nothing was normal about my day.
Nothing is normal about anything these days.
And sometimes that's a good thing.
Giving in is not giving up.
And letting go is not surrendering
Chag sameyach!

No comments:

Post a Comment