I Am Not Jewish (posted a little late...oops)

I guess I should learn something about the Jewish religion being that everyone assumes I am in fact, Jewish. I work with people who are Jewish and since Rosh Hashanah was this past week and Yom Kippur is approaching, I thought I would inquire within.

My colleagues were more than happy to share with me about their religion and after hearing what they had to say, I was intrigued.

I am by no means a “religious” person. I believe in God and I believe that he can hear me and helps me through life. I believe that every obstacle I face was put there for a reason and that every person who comes and goes in my life, was meant to be there at the very moment in which they were.

I also believe that we know the best we can be…we either chose to be that person or ignore the vision. We inherently know if each decision we make is the right or wrong decision and how it might make us feel. It is the choice that we make that determines who we become.

The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a time for self-reflection. It is a time to reflect on the events and decisions of the past year and the person we are today. It is a time to reflect on how we can become better people and achieve personal satisfaction. Although I do not believe any one person is satisfied with who they are, they can at least be satisfied knowing they are on the way to becoming the person they want to be…and that is what it is all about. As said many times, “life is a journey, not a destination.” I mean, where are we going anyway? If we think destination is the end, then that would be death and who wants to travel along the road considering death to be the end?

To me, the journey is the road to molding who we are and who we will become. It is deciding what we want to accomplish and how we can leave every place a little better than it was when we got there. It is about touching lives and putting our goals in sight knowing that we need to embrace those on our way to get there. It is a journey of emotions, accomplishments and self-fulfillment.

So at this time when Jews are reflecting, I think everyone should take time to do this. Although setting New Year’s resolutions might be similar to this, we are not forced to “reflect,” just to decide how to improve. We should all, as I like to put it, take a step outside of ourselves and look from another’s point of view. We should compare our image to our identity and our reputation to our character, notice the discrepancies and determine what we need to change to continue the journey in the best way we know possible.

If we all took a minute to do this and a lifetime dedicated to the journey, the world would be a better place…how commercial.