"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." Walt Whitman

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Alexander Jewish Family Service Friends – 

Making progress towards our goals is rarely a straight line. Most often progress is more like a winding road with several detours – there are moments when we feel we have lost our way and may be temporarily moving in the wrong direction. At times like these I find it helpful to reflect on a quote from Albert Einstein said:

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“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

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The other quality that helps keep us motivated during these inevitable detours is a forgiving mindset. The author and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, encourages us to:

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“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

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In Mishlei (Proverbs) 24:16 there is a beautiful quote that speaks to the power of resilience and persistence:

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"A righteous person falls down seven times and gets up."

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Life is all about the ability to get up from challenge. Greatness is defined as getting up one more time than the number of times you have fallen or stumbled. This beautiful quote reminds us that a righteous person is not necessarily someone who has succeeded, but rather someone who has persevered. It reminds us that righteousness lies in trying to do what's right, getting up from failure and nurturing the ability to keep moving forward in spite of the challenges.

As we begin each week there will undoubtedly be challenges and obstacles that we will need to navigate. I hope that as you navigate these situations that you will gentle with yourself when life takes you on a detour and remember that greatness lies in perseverance and a commitment to keep moving forward.

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Take care,

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Carl E. Josehart, MSW (he/him/his)

Chief Operating Officer

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