Subtract First And Then Add
Hello everybody! Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I’ve been invited to a friend’s home for a family gathering, and I’m really looking forward to it. But as I read a little about Rosh Hashanah, something caught my attention. Unlike January 1st, which tends to be about celebration, resolutions and looking ahead, Rosh Hashanah has another layer to it. It asks you to look back, to reflect, acknowledge where you may have gone wrong, repair relationships, ask for forgiveness. And then, importantly, to begin again. That got me thinking, maybe every new beginning has two parts. Something we start. And something we stop carrying. Nature seems to understand this better than we do. Look at a tree. When the time comes, it lets go of its leaves. It doesn't panic, doesn't hold on to every old leaf because, well, it has been there for a long time. It simply lets them fall. And by doing so, it makes room for what comes next. There is something rather beautiful about that. We often think of change as adding something to our lives, a new habit, a new ambition, a new relation, or a new plan. Yet sometimes the most important beginning starts with subtraction. Letting go of an old resentment. An argument we keep replaying. A version of ourselves that no longer fits. The need to always be right. A friendship that has quietly become one-sided. It could even simply be the silence between us and someone we still care about. Rosh Hashanah reminded me that reflection isn't necessarily about judging the person we were. Perhaps it is about understanding that person well enough to decide who we want to become. That might also be one of the most generous things we can do for the people we love. Because sometimes a relationship doesn't need a grand gesture. It needs one small change, a conversation we have been postponing, an apology, a thank you, a little more patience. Or simply saying, "I was thinking about you." So, as this year begins, I’m planning about something much more personal than a resolution for myself. What are you ready to stop carrying, so you can finally make room for what, and who, you want in the year ahead? Sometimes a new beginning in our own life quietly becomes a new beginning in a relationship, too. Until tomorrow, Bob
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