Today
is Day One of Week Seven of the Omer. That is Forty-three Days of the
Omer. The Theme is: Seven
Principles
So here we are,
starting the seventh and final week of the annual countdown from Pesach to
Shavu’ot, known as Sefirat Ha-omer: The
Counting of the Omer. It is customary
during this time of the year, to become a little more serious and
contemplative. Shavu’ot represents the
anniversary of the Sinai event. We
should experience each special Jewish day that commemorates a past event, as if
we were experiencing the actual event present tense. We therefore endeavour to prepare our hearts
to receive the Torah, just as if Moses was even now ascending the mountain.
I’ve devoted five full weeks of these
daily thoughts, to the subject of Happiness, because I think there is no more
important subject. Being Happy is not
just a desirable state, it is nothing short of an obligation. And in truth, it is not always an easy
obligation to fulfil. First and
foremost, because most of us go through life not even understanding what
Happiness truly is. And then, assuming
we’ve crossed that hurdle, there are so many distractions along the
way. Sometimes it seems like happiness
is, well, just hard work! So many of us anaesthetise
ourselves, seeking comfort and solace in things which are definitely not Happiness.
Today, I’m going to start the final
week of thoughts by digging up the seven most profound lessons of life that I’ve
encountered. These lessons are not
original to me; they come from the late Dr. Stephen Covey, from his book The
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
In presenting these ‘habits’ as life principles, I don’t mean to
pre-empt Dr. Covey’s book. If you haven’t
yet read it, please find yourself a copy – or download it for your Kindle – and
read. For many people, myself included, Seven
Habits has been life-changing. Although
it somehow gets classified as a ‘business book’ on some lists, it really has
little to do with business – except that the insights one gains from it cannot
but help you in business, or any other life path. So, enjoy my daily thoughts based on the Seven
Habits – but also order the book!
The First of the Seven Habits is: Be Proactive. Most of us are familiar with the word, ‘proactive,’
which was actually coined by Dr. Covey.
It’s commonly thought of as the opposite of ‘reactive’ and that is Covey’s
intent. But in many people’s minds, it
refers to the temporal realm meaning ‘act before something happens,
rather than after.’ Now this is
pretty good advice: anticipate needs
and prepare for them, rather than flailing around to account for
circumstances as they occur. It’s hard
to argue that point. But in truth, this
is not what Covey had in mind when he coined ‘proactive.’
Be Proactive means to act on Principle
rather than circumstance. It’s
really much more profound than just getting a leg up on what might occur. It means to be firm in our support of the principles
that support your core values. It means
to work to brush asides emotions that can become overheated, and act in a way
that supports what you believe to be right.
This is not easy to do. First of
all, because most of us are not truly aware of what our underlying core values
are. We know what we want. But to know what values motivate you
comes only after a process of self-searching and discernment. The second big impediment to acting on
principle is our prizing pragmatism.
Being pragmatic – acting according to circumstance – is usually more
efficient and, at least in an immediate sense, effective – than being
dogmatic. And some pragmatism is
probably a good thing. We can’t always
choose our world, or choose our battles.
Sometimes we do have to go along to get along. We can’t fight every day of our lives. But excessive pragmatism leads to moral
complacency. We would be well-advised,
then, to stop to think about every sticky situation – obviously, when we
have the luxury of time to think! – and decide to violate our principles only
in situations where we can see a clear, long-term benefit in doing so and
are willing to stick to our long-term plans.
Every time I am put in the position of
acting on circumstance, I ask myself: If
I’m going to Be Proactive, what am I going to do here? Often, I have stuck to my principles at a
great cost, and that’s okay. Sometimes,
I’ve decided not to take up the battle.
I have, from time to time, regretted either course – usually, because
the results were not what I’d hoped for.
But the important thing is to be able to sleep well at night or, to put
it differently, to be able to look yourself in the eye – in the bathroom
mirror, every morning. At the end of the
day, that’s what matters in life. A good
week, all!
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