A Light In The Forest

A man once was traveling from city to city by foot and got lost inside a forest. For three days he wandered around aimlessly trying to find a way out of the forest. Finally, after three days from a far distance, he sees a light. He gets extremely excited and walks towards the light. As he gets closer he sees an elderly man. With much excitement, he approaches the man and he says sir I am so happy to find you. You see three days I have been lost in this forest and I have lost my way can you please show me the way out? The Elderly man looks at him and says only three days, I am lost here already six months. I can not show you the way out however I can show you which ways I have tried which do not work. The lost man asked the elderly gentleman if you have tried so many times and failed how come you still have a light? The elderly gentleman smiled softly and responded in the most calming tone, no matter how lost you are in life you always have to create a little of light. The elderly man then put his arm around the lost man and said, perhaps together we now can continue to share our knowledge of what paths did not work and try to find a way out of the forest together.

This is a famous parable given by the great Reb Chaim of Tzanz Rabbi Chaim Halberstam(1793-1876). The times that we are living in at the moment has turned many people’s lives into a dark forest. The future is unknown and we are searching for some understanding of the future. The truth is that no one knows the future however we must all remember that each and every one of us has their own personal light. If each and every one of us will focus on shining his individual light eventually the forest will be so enlightened that the exit of the darkness will become self-evident!

Some of us have lost our jobs and some of us have a fear of losing our job or our business. Some of us have the virus and some of are full of fears of getting the virus. The trick is to shift our thoughts from the negative toxic thoughts to the positive healing thoughts. Think about the good people we have in our lives and how we can make there day a bit brighter today. Think about all of your accomplishments in the past and plan more accomplishments for the future! Use this opportunity of self-introspection to rid yourself of any toxic negativity. Now is the time to focus on positive constructive thinking to build a brighter future for yourself and for the world around you.

Have a wonderful and meaningful day!

Author: Yitzchok Friedman – Online Non profit specialist at Yitzchak Friedman

Article first published on LinkedIn

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