What Matters Most...

I posted this once before but was asked to post it again for those of you who did not read it yet. I'm not sure how many people, when finding this blog, go back to the posts and read all of them from the beginning. Either way, rereading this can still have a powerful effect. Enjoy!

The first time the Torah mentions money is in Parshas Chaya Sara. The Torah writes about Avraham Avinu purchasing Me’oras Hamachpeila so he can bury his wife, Sarah. I think there is a very powerful lesson to take from here. This is a reminder for us – the Torah is telling us where money goes and that it does not accompany a person when they die!

Whenever we look around and we see different people going about their daily lives, it is very easy to become jealous. This person is pretty, this one dresses so well, she has a nice car, she is always buying new things and she is always happy. It may look like the people you see have a perfect life – problem free! But no! Nobody’s life is perfect! What you see is just on the outside and you have no clue what is really going on behind the makeup and behind the smile, behind the well-dressed person walking down the street. Everyone has their hardships. And although it is easy to become jealous because of what you see on the outside, remember what the Torah says about jealousy – kinas sofrim tarbeh chochmah, it is okay to be jealous of the deeds of a righteous person because then it will push you forward to become better too. So when you see someone who looks like she has the perfect life on the outside, remind yourself where all the money, clothes, jewelry and cars go – they are not here forever!

Instead, look around at the people you see and the way they act and try to see what you can learn from them! That will definitely take you further in life and then you will be happier because you will be using your eyes and heart to search for ways to become better, instead of looking at other people wishing you had the same!
And then, when you look back at how you spent your time, you will see that you have grown as a person, you have used all the chances you had to learn from others, grow and change for the better instead of eyeing what they have and wanting it too!!

Here is a beautiful video that illustrates this point:



What matters most is how you spend your dash, that teeny little line in between the from and to of a person’s life! It does not matter how much money you have, it does not matter how many things you have, what matters is the way you spend your time in this world!
So don't spend your time thinking about the things the people around you have, instead, notice the good things you see people do so you can learn from them and become better!