Cloud Waves

Here is another post showing the incredible beauty of nature. 

Sometimes all we need to do be inspired is to look outside...

Nature

                                   
I am endlessly amazed by the breathtaking nature in and of this world.
                               

Self Realization and introspection

I believe that we are not just the sum of our actions. Rather, we are the summation of our actions and our perspectives, our thoughts and our intentions, our direction and purpose. We are judged by what we do and how we treat people, and with this in mind, we should consider how we treat people. I was always taught before one says something, one should think if it is helpful, true, and kind. These, I think, are principles that we should all try to live by. More than that, because we are not just the sum of our actions, but rather the combination of our actions and thoughts, then our actions should reflect our thoughts. Our actions should be intended for the betterment of self as well as the benefit of those around that person's said self. May we all continue in the pursuit of bettering ourselves and the respect of other people through our actions and thoughts.

How We Play the Hand

In a peculiar exchange of Parshas Toldos, Esav returns from the field to ask Yaakov "Let me swallow, please, that red, red [stuff]". Because of this request, the pasuk tells us, "they called him Edom", meaning "red" (Bereishis 25:30). 

This is not, however, the first encounter we see of Esav and redness. In fact, Esav was covered -already from the womb!- in red. Why is it that only now he was called "red" after this fairly vague and enigmatic statement regarding lentils? He was covered in red "like a hairy mantle" (Bereishis 25:25)! 

Regardless of what exactly Esav's statement implies, at the very least it reflects a perspective Esav cultivated on his own. His statement was a manifestation of some engrained attitude towards life. His naturally hairy body, on the other hand, was not his decision, it was merely a predisposition. 

We are all different, whether it be through our nature or our individually nurtured upbringings. The way we are judged and the legacy we leave is not based on how we are born or with what qualities we naturally contain. What matters is how we make the most of what we are given. 

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture