A joyful middle-aged man was asked, "What was a major breakthrough in your
life?"
He related, "I used to be what one would consider a negative person. "Until
about ten years ago I would frequently complain and kvetch. I usually
focused on what I didn't like. Each and every day a number of things weren't
going exactly as I would have wanted them to. I would blame others for not
being the way I wanted them to be. This would make me unhappy. I considered
myself a constant victim of circumstances. I would have been much happier
if other people and my life in general would be more the way I wanted. In
addition, I never had enough money. And I was terrified that in the future
I would be short of the money I needed. I was filled with insecurity and
anxiety.
"Then a Rabbi told me that he could tell me four words that would totally
change my entire emotional life. I was skeptical. "'Four words?' I challenged
him. 'Do you really believe that after three years of therapy that helped a
bit but didn't make me a happy person, you can just tell me four words and
those four words will transform my entire way of being?
"'I'm not claiming that these four words are magic, and that just by my
saying them or your repeating them, you will become a happy person. What
I am saying to you is that these four words contain a mind-set that will
totally transform your life when you give thought to what they mean and
you frequently think about this during the day. I'll only agree to share
them with you if you give me your word that you will make a serious effort
to apply them for just one day.
"'One day is a long time,' I argued. 'What about for just one hour?'
"'Nothing doing!' the Rabbi said firmly but kindly. 'If you aren't
committed to think about this for an entire day, I don't think that you
are serious when you say that you would like to know how to improve your
emotional way of being. If you don't care about your own emotional
well-being, my just wishing you well won't really help you. For this to
work you need a real commitment. After a day of applying what I'm
suggesting, if you feel that you prefer to be grumpy, negative and
depressed, that's your choice. But I want to know that you really mean what
you say when you say that you truly want to become a happier person.'
"'I saw that the Rabbi was going to be stubborn, or as he would say,
'steadfast' about not telling me his formula unless I committed to giving
it a try for an entire day, so I reluctantly said I would go for an entire
day.
"He then told me the verse that has been my motto and blueprint for life
ever since that moment. The four Hebrew words "Chesed El kol hayom -- the
Kindness of God is all day long." Since I said it in Hebrew it was just
four words.
"He told me that I should start the next day from the moment I woke up
until the end of the day. It was amazing! That day was one of the best
days of my life. I kept projecting how wonderful my life would be if I
kept this up each and every day. At times I would feel bad that I had
wasted so much time in the past feeling needlessly miserable, but that
too would be a lack of focusing on the kindnesses of God. I realized
that it would be much wiser to view my past unhappiness as a way to
gain greater appreciation for the present happiness in my life."
