Time to start is now

SORIYA DANIELS

This article is dedicated to anyone who has ever had a good idea that was never actualized because the task seemed too great. This article is dedicated to us all.

Young children frequently dream about what they want to be when they grow up. As they grow up, they dream of all they can become one day in the far-off future. Some years later, when they graduate university or wherever life has taken them through their early twenties, the realities and pressures of day-to-day living and, namely, of making a living, start to set in and the dreams begin to narrow.

Along comes the beloved spouse one day – hopefully – and, in many cases, the elation of falling in love gives way to the added responsibilities of juggling family, children, household chores and work. The dreams are pushed to the back burner and life moves on. In rare spurts of creativity, we think of good ideas, some small, some that would benefit humankind, but, usually, upon further contemplation, those ideas seem too daunting, too elusive and too far off from our current realities and responsibilities, so we let the vision slip away. If we can’t finish what we set out to do, then what’s the point, right? Why even start, right?

Wrong, says one of the most accessible books that comprise the Torah’s Oral Law: Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). The quotes found in Pirkei Avot, which, according to Jewish tradition, should be studied in the spring and summer months, are generally spiritual but practical, and impart great wisdom from our sages of yesteryear. In these teachings, a leading talmudic sage, Rabbi Tarfon, taught: “It is not your responsibility to finish the work [of perfecting the world], but you are not free to desist from it either.”

In taking a moment to digest these words, I can’t help but wonder what that means for me and, in a larger scope, for all of us. It might seem counter-intuitive to start a project expecting to never see its end results, but what if no one ever planted a tree for the coming generations? What if no one ever started a charitable foundation because they feared they would not live to see all that it would accomplish, all the good it would bring into the world? Alternatively, imagine with me for a moment what the world would look like if we followed the wisdom of Rabbi Tarfon and started worthwhile projects, even ones that we can only hope that others will carry on after we can no longer do so. The world would start looking better, right?

So what is it that holds us back? Maybe we don’t trust that our successors will carry on our vision as we see it. Or maybe we just want an excuse to leave it to someone else, or maybe it is easier to let our visions slip away than face the fear of failure. Life is more comfortable perhaps when we don’t strive, when we take the easy way out. But, in the words of my rabbi, Aryeh Citron, life is really about striving to grow out of our comfort zone. We can achieve far more than we think we can, he told me recently, in response to my asking him about taking on a project of monumental proportions, one I can’t do by myself, one that there is the chance that I will not be able to finish. So, naturally, I am scared. I fret about what will happen if I begin the project past the point of no return, but then feel overwhelmed and need to delegate significant portions of it to others. But I reflected on this wisdom from Pirkei Avot and decided to move forward, even though those uncertainties exist and the risks remain. I don’t want to let good opportunities pass me by. I want to contribute to the world in meaningful ways. I realize it’s not necessary to do it all. I just need to do my part, and get started.

Soriya Daniels is a Florida freelance writer.

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