ARE YOU ALL THAT YOU CAN BE?

You know there’s a well-known principle that G-d grants us a unique set of talents with which we can fulfil our potential in life. Sometimes we misapply it: As we grow up we naturally become aware of our strengths and weaknesses - there is a tendency that we can limit our activities to our strengths ignore those fields where we fell less able. For example, a dude is amazing at speaking in front of small groups but he thinks he can’t speak in front of large audiences. So, even when he is begged to talk for them, he will shy away because he’s 'pigeon-holed' himself as being unable to speak in front of lots of people.

Our rich tradition has some wisdom on this point of potential. Ramban a 1200s leading Jewish scholar, philosopher physician. He said that our own lives there’ll be times when there is a need for a certain task to be performed and we may feel that we are can’t do it - but, our heritage has more to share on the point. Ethics of the Fathers (approx. 2000 years ago! )tells us that, "in a place where there are no man/women, be a man/women." The teaching doesn’t qualify its message by saying that you should only stand up where there is no man/women in an area where you feel highly capable!? No, the only condition is that we should see if there is anyone else who can perform the mission as well as we can. And if there isn’t, then we dedicate ourselves to doing to it. And if it’s God's will then surely God will bring out in us hidden talents to manage it!

There are so many examples of people who were inspired to bring out hidden talents and achieved great things. Prof. Dweck, Carol. In her bestseller Mindset shows that there are two kinds of people fixed mindset and growth mindset people. The fixed mindset crowd see themselves in a state of arrived. Like they are who they are and that’s it. “If I fail a math test that means I’m dumb” kind of attitude. Whilst growth mindset people allow themselves to master the ability to learn things and take setbacks as future successes.

Professor Dweck writes “Sometimes people with the growth mindset stretch themselves so far that they do the impossible. In 1995, Christopher Reeve, the actor, was thrown from a horse. His neck was broken, his spinal cord was severed from his brain, and he was completely paralyzed below the neck. Medical science said, So sorry. Come to terms with it. Reeve, however, started a demanding exercise program that involved moving all parts of his paralyzed body with the help of electrical stimulation. Why couldn’t he learn to move again? Why couldn’t his brain once again give commands that his body would obey? Doctors warned that he was in denial and was setting himself up for disappointment. They had seen this before and it was a bad sign for his adjustment. But, really, what else was Reeve doing with his time? Was there a better project? Five years later, Reeve started to regain movement. First it happened in his hands, then his arms, then legs, and then torso. He was far from cured, but brain scans showed that his brain was once more sending signals to his body that the body was responding to. Not only did Reeve stretch his abilities, he changed the entire way science thinks about the nervous system and its potential for recovery. In doing so, he opened a whole new vista for research and a whole new avenue of hope for people with spinal cord injuries.

Our ancestors over 2000 years ago were already taping in to this psychology of growth. In the building of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) the Torah says that, "Every man whose heart inspired him came..." The Ramban writes that this refers to those who came to do the work of weaving, sewing and building. But where did these people learn how to perform such skilled crafts? The Ramban answers that they found deep within their nature the ability to do them. These formerly hidden powers came about as a result of their deep desire to grow and fulfil God's will. As a result of their burning desire, God gave them the ability to do things that they had never been taught! The something can happen with us if we push ourselves.

Only now is modern psychology catching up on what Judaism has known for millennia. The Chafetz Chaim (1900s Rabbinical leader )addresses this mindset issue; he points out how much effort we invest into our own interests. For example, if a business venture is not going well, a person will not simply give up, rather he will constantly think how he can improve the situation - he will seek advice from other businessmen and eventually he will often succeed. So too, he writes, "If performing God's will was of equal value to a person as are his own personal affairs, he would seek advice and strategies how to build up Torah so that it does not weaken, and surely God will help him find ways to succeed[in all his endeavours]… however we do not do so in heavenly matters. When one sees that there is no way to improve the situation he immediately gives up and exempts himself from having to do anything." If we are willing to apply the same effort in Divine Service as in our financial interests then definitely will do even better in all our monetary causes! He is telling growth mindset!

You can totally achieve anything if you’re willing to grow!

So my dear readers I pray that we as a nation take on our own power; grow our potential. And when we focus our intentions of growth towards G-dly service we will merit the coming of our Holy Redeemer soon and in our days Amen!

~ Shimshon

Dweck, Carol. Mindset - Updated Edition: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential (p. 22). Little, Brown Book Group. Kindle Edition.