Im Lo Achshav Aymatai?

What are you doing now? What are you doing NOW? WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW!!!?

This line of questioning followed me all through the days of chag. Every moment that was not specifically designated to an action..was followed by "what are you doing now?" I had a friend come for YT who cannot sit still, she always has to be moving, doing, changing.

As annoying as it was sometimes (not really that annoying) it really got me thinking. There is a story of I believe about R'Pincus who was talking to his Rebbe on Shabbat and he was playing with the fence, opening and closing the gate, basically fiddling with the door. His Rebbe asked him "what are you doing?" "Nothing" he replied. Again the Rebbe asked him "what are you doing?" only then did he realize...his Rebbe then gave him mussar,reminding him that on Shabbat a Jew has to be mindful of every action, every thought that is expressed on this holy day.

As Jews, this concept applies more than just to Shabbat. It applies to every moment. Tishrei is over, we have spend the last month on a spiritual high, begging Hashem for life, repenting, and celebrating the beautiful relationship that we have established between us and our Father. B"H at the moment it seems that we have life.

Rabbi Orlofsky makes a comment that is so fitting. If you ask anyone what they want to have more of, everyone says inevitably (after money maybe) that they want more time, there is never enough time. So what happens when we do get than one extra hour a year..what do we do with the present of time that we are given..yay one more hour of sleep!

We have been granted the gift of time, the gift of life. How are we going to use it? Are we conscious of that present that we have received? Do we really appreciate what it is that we have been given? We prayed, cried, and begged for a new year...are we proving ourselves worthy of the time we have been given?

Too often, time slips away from us. Sitting in front of the computer, reading a book, taking a short cat nap..just spacing out..we lose focus. We fade out and just "chill" forgetting that this world is not for chilling, you have time for that later, right now its global warming. Its time to move, jump and run. This is the time to get things done..we have only a short time in this world and once its up..that is all we have..

We have a responsibility, to put a voice in our heads..what are you doing now? what are you doing now? Why? What are you doing now? Why?

Imagine if that was the soundtrack of your life. If you were constantly aware of every action, every emotion, every thought and every movement...how much more productively would we use our time.How much slower we would be to anger. How less likely we would sin, both intentionally and unintentionally.

We have been blessed with life..how are you going to use it?