Float Your Boat

בס"ד

Since I was a small child, I've loved sailboats. 

My uncle had a boat.  He and my aunt lived near the San Francisco bay.  In all the years I was going up, I only once went out on that boat.  I was about 14 years old and I'll never forget it because I was horribly seasick.  I was gray.  Nothing helped, not sitting in the fresh air, not laying down in the bunks.
In spite of this experience, I still loved boats, the sea and salty sea breezes.  In spite of that seasickness, I've wanted to learn to sail.  My uncle was not a teacher, and my seasickness was a real barrier, but I still "wished" to learn to sail.

Fast forward 35 years

I wanted to spend more time writing and to that end I was doing some Internet searches looking for a online writing community to connect with so I could set some writing goals and have some support in achieving them. (Write a lot, everyday!! Finish my stories!! Get them published!!) I'm still looking for that community.

I found a website:  www.43things.com which has you make a wish list of goals you want to accomplish, then reminds you everyday  by e-mail and also gives you lists of other people that have similar goals so you can help each other and literally 'cheer' each other on:  you are allowed to give 5 cheers to 5 different goals each day.
So besides writing goals like write 3 pages of practice each day, and blog everyday and finish a book and get it published, I decided to put 'learning to sail a boat' on my list, too.  I even went so far as to find places near my home in Israel that teach sailing. I have the names and phone numbers of the teachers.
I don't know when or if I'll ever do anything about sailing, but now I know that it's possible.  It's only a phone call away.
Long ago when I was at university, a class mate of mine pointed out a line in our Islamic history book, The Venture of Islam:  "The power of wishful thinking is not to be despised."
She said it would make a wonderful bumper sticker.

I believe it is the basis of all of human existence-  we are hard wired to want.  We were created with t need.  We were created 'lacking' חסרים. (Messilat Yessharim.)

Our wishful thinking is our humanity and the Jew is the greatest wishful thinker of them all.
The entirety of Jewish life is built on the forward looking vision of a perfected world.
 
עולם חסד יבנה

בשנה הבאה בירושלים 


הריני מאמין באמונה שלמה בשלשה עשר עקרים של התורה הקדושה

What do you wish for?
What are you doing to make it happen?