One of my goals this summer was to teach my daughter Mussya how to ride a bike. I’ve done it with the rest of my kids, but they all used training wheels and it took a while to get the hang of it. Mussya, however, was adamant and determined. All her older siblings know how to ride and she wanted to too. So I figured we could skip the training wheels and get straight to it.
And this week she accomplished it like a champ!
Skills required: Confidence. Belief in yourself. And being unafraid to fall.
And fall many times she did. She tried, fell, got back on and tried again. And again. And again. It took a couple of days, and lots of encouragement. I can’t count how many times I told her, “I know you can do it!” There were times I almost gave up, but not her. She insisted she wanted to learn and ended up mastering it faster than any of my other kids!
It struck me that the process parallels our relationship with G-d and the month of Elul we just began. With the High Holidays on the horizon, we prepare to renew our relationship with G-d.
During the year we may fall and stumble. We sin, we gossip, we behave poorly, we aren’t our best selves at all times. But as long as we get up, dust ourselves off, and make another attempt with the goal in mind, we’re on the right path.
Just like my daughter, we need to master our fear of falling. It’s part of life. It will happen. If we can embrace that, shake it off, and get right back up, we will ultimately succeed with confidence and commitment.
And in the month of Elul, it’s even easier. G-d is closer and more accessible to us. Our Sages liken it to a king who leaves his palace and ventures into the fields to be close to his constituents. As we gear up for Rosh Hashanah, G-d is right there. All we need to do is open our eyes, focus on our spiritual goals, and keep trying. We will get there!