Day 28 – The Magical Mysterious trip of POWER

28 Elul 5775
by Elizabeth J.Cohen

The days of Awe, the time G-d has put aside for we Jews to rejoice in our faith  and to use our time to wisely repent any sins, large or small that we may have inflicted upon others. There is a certain power in this action, whether we choose to repent, or to opt out of it. We can decide to to do as Jewish law prescribes or not;  it’s all in our hands. It’s an awesome amazingly powerful thing..

Power is such a tricky thing. Most of the time we blithely go about, not even realizing how much power we actually have; how much we wield over our spouse, our children, our own selves. Many of us, at one time or another have used “Jewish guilt” on our family & friends…naturally to get them to do what WE want. Should we have done that? Well …”power” is a sneaky thing. Most of the time we are not even aware of having used it. Nevertheless, it’s a mighty tool and should be used with care. That being said…

I am personally, slowly finding my own special brand of power. It’s the power to do as I like without worry. You may wonder,” what took her so long?”  To answer I say, my spouse’s feelings, my children’s needs and wants etc. seem always to come before my own. However,  NOW I feel that magical power surging through me. I finally understand that my days here on earth are limited, so there’s no time like the present to start flexing those magical muscles. If I want pink tips in my hair or to wear blue contacts- I go for it. I exert my newfound gift over all the objections of my embarrassed children and spouse. I am sure they believe I have some sort of weird streak in me that they somehow they missed.  And of course, my husband never imagined his spouse would wake up one day and say-” carpe diem. And yes… I AM wearing these P.J.s to dinner “.

The children were so busy growing up-so self involved that their mother’s personal Strength And Power bypassed them. Now they just seem dumbfounded by it. Oh well.

So this Rosh Hashanah I will rejoice in my power of choice. I do not have to do as anyone else demands. I can rise above it all and concentrate on what is truly important to me, the “3 F’s”:

Family, Friends and Faith