Yom Kippur

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Strange as it may seem, Yom Kippur is my favorite holiday.

I love the intensity of it. The forced introspection.

And, despite the fact that I haven’t eaten, I usually find myself uplifted by the end of the day.

This year, though, I had a hard time.

For most of the day, I couldn’t get my mind off of a nagging business problem.

It troubled me greatly. I felt pretty shallow that I couldn’t focus on my spiritual improvement as I felt like I should.

That made me angry with myself.

Around 6pm, I knew that time was literally running out and I thought back to the numerous sporting events where I had seen one team pull out a “fantastic finish” to win the game in improbable fashion.

I realized that this was precisely what I had to do.

So, instead of berating myself, I started to ask: “well, what is the spiritual opportunity for growth within this business situation?”

And, you know what? I found it.

Well, more than one, in particular, but I think I came away with a greater appreciation for rumination and reflection (instead of reflexively fast reaction) and empathy for the other person on the side of this issue.

Still…not the typical “high” I was hoping for, but an interesting (and satisfactory) conclusion.