30 minutes until the end of Yom Kippur. This is always the toughest part of the day, since everyone else and their mother is having dinner…. and the smells… oh the smells. They are just toooooo delightful for my stomach to handle (which, as an aside, is rumbling at a similar decibel level as a jet engine… times 18).
So, why do I do this? I don’t do it purely for religious reasons. I do it to improve my own inner being. And no, allowing myself to be hungry for 24 hours does not make me a better person (ask anyone I know, being hungry generally only makes me cranky and gives me really bad breath).
There are plenty of times where I haven’t had time to eat…. but today….. today I spend thinking about self improvement. Eating just gets in the way. Each year on Yom Kippur I read through some Jewish philosophy, as well as some other spiritually based self improvement kinds of things, and then I try to focus on it for the coming year. I usually write 3-4 things down, and come back to them the following year, and see how I’ve done. In prior years, I’ve kept this to myself, but since I have a blog, I figure I’ll write em down (which is basically like keeping it to myself, cause no one really reads my blog yet! haha)
Last year:
- Be less judgmental
- Give up being “right”
- Learn more
This year:
- Reach out to more friends
- Commit to being me
- Be inspiring
My big take-away from today:
Definition of Forgiveness: When you give up the right to punish someone.
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” – Mark Twain
