How to Maximize Life’s Simple Pleasures

This episode is a special one because of the upcoming Purim Holiday.  We will be taking a break the next two mondays due to Purim and Easter and will return to our mini series on Lead Generation with text messaging; a tool to generate prospects.  

Welcome to another episode of “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday” about living the dream through work life balance.  I’m Rabbi Dave and today we’re going to talk about Life’s simple pleasures – how to maximize and have a happy Purim!

Life’s simple pleasures – The Mezuzah

When I talk to groups of young adults contemplating the meaning of a dream life, I often ask them the following.  What do your parents want for you in life?

They usually answer, they want me to be happy.

I ask do they want you to have any old happiness or the best happiness that can bring you the most pleasure and they always answer – the best!

I then share with them that the commandments are actually powerful tools from the parent of us all to get the best pleasures out of life.

One of those powerful tools for life that the Almighty gave us is the mezuzah.

The mezuzah is a piece of parchment with the section of the Torah “The Shema” written on it.  Then this parchment is rolled up and placed in a small box and affixed to our doorposts.  The Shema is the only prayer that is said that is written in its entirety in the old testament.  All other prayers are derived from words in the bible.

The word Shema in Hebrew means to listen and to hear so the main message of the Shema prayer is to listen to this message.  What is the first line of the message?

“Love the Creator, your Lord, with all your heart, all your soul and all your possessions.”

There is a lot of depth here but the theme is that our parent, who created all of us and wants us to have the best pleasures in life is telling us to use everything the Lord created in this world, all of it, to the ultimate pleasure.  Don’t just settle and enjoy physical, material and spiritual pleasure, become an expert, maximize the pleasure, only accept the best you can get.  Become an expert, a connoisseur, so you can tell the difference between what might appear to be a pleasure but leave destruction and despair and the real thing which will leave you energized and excited!

Life’s simple pleasures – story

Once upon a time in a city in Europe there was a Rabbi and a King who were best friends.  The King wanted to show just how much their friendship meant and so he gave the Rabbi a very rare and valuable diamond.  In return, the Rabbi gave the King a mezuzah in a small silver box.  The King was infuriated.  He exclaimed, I gave you a very rare and valuable gem and you gave me a piece of parchment in a small silver box?  The Rabbi explained that he appreciates the King’s gift but he had to spend a lot of money on elaborate security to protect the gift.  The gift of the mezuzah with the Almighty’s message inside will actually protect the King!  Which gift is really the most valuable?  What does it truly mean to be rich?

Life’s simple pleasures – Action steps

We hang the mezuzah on our doorpost and kiss it whenever we enter or exit, why?  Because it is a reminder of the message of always striving for the maximum pleasure in life and never mistaking counterfeit fake pleasure for the real thing.

One powerful example from a world of almost infinite pleasure is the following. Sometimes we have a lot of difficulties to overcome during the work day.  Then we come home and let those difficulties affect how we interact with our spouse and our kids.  We just react to whatever bothers us and end up taking it out on those we love most.  Our family can be our greatest pain but also our greatest pleasure.  Next time you come home from a hard day, take a moment and kiss the mezuzah before going inside. Leave the mundane issues of your workplace behind, don’t worry, they will still be there waiting for you when you come back tomorrow.  Instead walk into the loving arms of your family and enjoy the pleasure of their love.  Become an expert and focus on what you love in each and every one of them and all else will fade away at least for awhile!  Take this moment to focus before experiencing all of life’s real physical, material, and spiritual pleasures and you will have begun on the road to identifying your real life goals and maximizing life’s “simple” pleasures.

Have a very pleasurable holiday break the next couple of weeks and Happy Purim!

In the next episode when we return, we will talk about text messaging; a tool to generate prospects.

For more guidance and tips on living the dream life, go to my website, https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com to access content-rich articles and more.

You can also access a link to that web page through the show notes, if you are listening to this podcast on any of the popular podcast platforms.

Resources:

1. https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com/video/intro-to-the-rabbi-who-got-rich-on-sunday/ 
2. https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com/video/what-does-it-mean-to-be-rich/ 
3. https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com/podcast-episode/take-action-steps-now-the-key-to-accomplishing-your-dreams/
4. https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com/video/identifying-real-life/