Shalom My Gantseh Megillah Family and Friends,

I hope you enjoyed a joyous, sweet and peaceful Peysakh.

As most of you already know, a few weeks ago, Arnold and I (and Rosco too) moved into our new home. You might remember this was not something we did with great eagerness. After being happily ensconced in our previous apartment for over 16 years, we had no reason to go through the trauma, and just plain hard work, of moving. But life has a way of finding you and presenting situations that are beyond your control. So, being the mature adults we are, we set about making arrangements to find a new suitable residence.

Now that the move is complete, I am happy to report that things have turned out better than I could ever have hoped. Oddly, this has often been the case before. I have experienced many situations where I dreaded the position I was being forced into, and then I discovered that I’ve ended up in a much better place.

I think what is at play here is a resistance, and fear, of change. Facing the unknown and upsetting the status quo is very disturbing. After all, we know what we have, but we really do not know what we will wind up with. We feel safe with what we know and what we believe. This kind of self-imposed comfort level, however, can be extremely limiting.

Unfortunately, complacency can even invade our attitudes and opinions. We become so comfortable with our own ideas, beliefs, and thoughts that we refuse to listen to opposing points of view with an open mind. Sometimes, we can even become hostile when people simply question our ideas. When I think back on cathartic moments in my life, they have always been a result of listening to, and learning from, others.

When I was younger, I had very different political views than I now hold. I believed I had all the answers and anyone who didn’t see things my way, quite frankly, was either stupid, wrong, or both. Over time, I started listening more carefully to people with different ideas from mine. By listening, some of my beliefs were strengthened because what I heard reinforced my original thoughts. But, in other instances, I could see that I had not sufficiently worked through a concept, or I had been labouring under a mountain of misinformation.

As an example, I used to believe that the problems in the Middle East, between Israel and her enemies, could be solved with a strong show of Israeli military force. But after speaking and listening to many people with differing opinions, I came to my own personal realization that continued warfare and killing only added to the turmoil and bloodshed while doing nothing to solve the problems. I have become a firm believer in negotiation and compromise on all sides as the only way to bring about a lasting peace. Agree with me or not, this is an example of how opening my mind to different and new ideas helped my thinking to evolve.

The bottom line of this entire piece is to point out that renewal and change can be very good things. We should always leave our hearts and minds open to new opportunities, thoughts, and ideas. I know my life has become far more interesting and diverse, thanks to opening my mind and embracing change.