I spent the last two days in synagogue praying for a good year, one filled with an abundance of good health, prosperity, peace, wisdom, and well-being. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is a time for reflection. A time for repair. A time to make peace with our fellow man, our inner-self, and our G-d.
We are called to conscience with the 100 blasts of the ’shofar’, or rams horn. The root word for shofar is the same as my Hebrew name, Shifrah. It is a name I always found harsh, not really suitable for my personality. The hard f sound irked me. But I recently found out something about my name that changed my perspective.
The root word ’shefer’ means to beautify, repair and build. Just as a shofar’s job is to help repair, build and beautify us every year as we begin again with a clean slate, I feel it is my life purpose to repair, build, and beautify whether I am painting a battered and neglected piece of furniture and breathing new life into it, or working with a coaching client on building a better life, repairing past damage one step at a time, beautifying by bringing out the inner gem that lies within each of them.
Every day, I look for the hidden meaning in life’s challenges, work on repairing damaged relationships, treasuring life’s gifts. It’s not always so easy. There are many struggles; I lose my cool, my anger is something that I am continuously working on. The important thing is that I keep moving forward with hope, knowing that there is almost always another chance.
Over the Holiday weekend, I began to slowly repair the distance that was growing between myself and my 14 year old daughter. She stopped elbowing my head as I bent down to kiss her goodnight. She actually held my hand one night and fell asleep with her arm around me. I feel hopeful that this will be a positive week with better communication and peace.
So, it turns out that I was named ‘Shifra’ for a very good reason. I can’t think of a better Hebrew name for me! Sometimes, if we give things enough time and change our perspective, we can learn to appreciate what we once found offensive. I did it with my name, now I must learn to apply that same lesson to the rest of my life.
What do you find offensive that could use a perspective shift?
