Heading East
I would like to thank my brother-in-law Chaim Nieman for inspiring this e-mail
It was imperative that Chaim catches the 6:12 train heading home towards Passaic. It was a long day at work and the last thing he wanted was to have to wait another 40 minutes for the next Passaic bound train. He was focused, and knew he had to leave his office by 5:55 to make the train. Just then, as luck would have it, the clock read 6:03.
The race was on! He had nine minutes to make a 17 minute walk to the train. Putting his game face on, Chaim understood the challenge before him. He would have to break his personal record for speed walking, while wearing a suit, tie and dress shoes. He swiftly walked through the street splitting defenders (defenders are people walking in the opposite direction that always manage to stand directly in front of you and tend to move in the same direction as you when attempting to walk around them until you ask them politely to pick a side) and brilliantly spun around the blockers (blockers are the people that walk really slow and usually walk in packs, which means they tend to block the entire side walk).
Chaim, panting and sweating, finally made it to the train station, but to his horror his train was already there and passengers were just about done boarding his train. Chaim then heard the sound of the bell signaling his defeat and indicating the train doors about to close. The race was over and he would have to wait another 40 minutes for the next train. He would have to fess up to his wife that he missed the train because he lost track of time (scary), or admit he was not fast enough to make it (unthinkable). He opted not to admit defeat just yet, and he made a last minute effort to sprint before the doors of the train closed. As the doors of the train were about to close he placed his hands in the door to prevent them from closing (for the Mid-West readers this is standard procedure when riding public transportation on the East coast, you do whatever it takes to get on the train). To his delight the doors re-opened, and in triumph Chaim entered the train. However, his glory did not last long, as he heard the conductor announce, “Next stop Patterson.” Chaim successfully made it onto the wrong train!
How many times in life are we motivated to accomplish something and we are willing to do what ever it takes to succeed without paying attention if it is a goal that we should be aspiring towards?
I would like to thank my brother-in-law Chaim Nieman for inspiring this e-mail
It was imperative that Chaim catches the 6:12 train heading home towards Passaic. It was a long day at work and the last thing he wanted was to have to wait another 40 minutes for the next Passaic bound train. He was focused, and knew he had to leave his office by 5:55 to make the train. Just then, as luck would have it, the clock read 6:03.
The race was on! He had nine minutes to make a 17 minute walk to the train. Putting his game face on, Chaim understood the challenge before him. He would have to break his personal record for speed walking, while wearing a suit, tie and dress shoes. He swiftly walked through the street splitting defenders (defenders are people walking in the opposite direction that always manage to stand directly in front of you and tend to move in the same direction as you when attempting to walk around them until you ask them politely to pick a side) and brilliantly spun around the blockers (blockers are the people that walk really slow and usually walk in packs, which means they tend to block the entire side walk).
Chaim, panting and sweating, finally made it to the train station, but to his horror his train was already there and passengers were just about done boarding his train. Chaim then heard the sound of the bell signaling his defeat and indicating the train doors about to close. The race was over and he would have to wait another 40 minutes for the next train. He would have to fess up to his wife that he missed the train because he lost track of time (scary), or admit he was not fast enough to make it (unthinkable). He opted not to admit defeat just yet, and he made a last minute effort to sprint before the doors of the train closed. As the doors of the train were about to close he placed his hands in the door to prevent them from closing (for the Mid-West readers this is standard procedure when riding public transportation on the East coast, you do whatever it takes to get on the train). To his delight the doors re-opened, and in triumph Chaim entered the train. However, his glory did not last long, as he heard the conductor announce, “Next stop Patterson.” Chaim successfully made it onto the wrong train!
How many times in life are we motivated to accomplish something and we are willing to do what ever it takes to succeed without paying attention if it is a goal that we should be aspiring towards?
Question for the Shabbos Table:
Are we traveling on the train going in the right direction? After 120 years are we going to be able to look back at our journey and view our accomplishments with pride? How do we develop a system to encourage ourselves to stop and reflect on our actions and our lives?
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
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