My daughter loves gymnastics. She has taught herself how to do hand stands, cart wheels, front tucks, back flips etc....her determination is astounding. I was watching Jordyn Weiber on the balance beam and was awestruck over her focus and determination. The one performance I watched she did not miss a beat, she was steady as a rock and landed perfectly every time. I watched other girls who landed but were shaky, yet they did not fall, and of course there will always be someone who tumbles right over to the floor-ouch!
I realized our lives are like the athlete on the balance beam. We strive to stay on the beam, we don't want to fall. If we fall we pick ourselves back up and get on again. Gymnastics uses different techniques to get each move down right. In life we also need a technique or a tool to help us stay steady.
The tool we have is the Torah. Torah is all about balance. It is not about perfection. Sometimes we land right on, sometimes we waver, sometimes we fall. The Torah is a tool, and as any tool is used to help make something, in this case us, better. A chisel, hammer, screw driver, or shovel are all used to make things tighter or looser, bigger or smaller. The point of the tool is to make the object better, to be used for its purpose it was created for.
The point of the Torah is to make us better, it carves at our soul, it chisels away at our intellect. As we use this valuable tool Hashem gave us, we change, we improve, slowly over time. We learn how to treat people, how to make good decisions, how to connect to G-d.
When we make a mistake, go down the wrong path, does this spell disaster? Can it be fixed? It is expected that we will go down wrong paths, that we will explore areas unknown and then have to wander back if it was not the right choice. This is life. When I was in school I had a teacher say not to worry about the mistakes we make, it is the mistakes we learn from. In the end we will be stronger than someone who never made that error. Its true. So, how can we downplay our mistakes if they help build us up? Something to ponder.
How do we achieve balance in our lives? These Olympic athletes are considered to be the best of the best yet they are fallible. They are good in their own right. How did they get so good? By staying focused and practicing and not worrying about each fall and fumble.
As we study Torah and apply it to our lives, we can do as the athletes do-stay focused, practice what we learn, share what we learn.
My favorite verse in the TaNaK comes from Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Just making it to the Olympics is quite an honor, having the opportunity to do justice, be kind and humbly walk with G-d is quite the honor as well.
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