All beginnings are difficult

Day 1, Rosh Hodesh Elul, Wednesday, August 27

Kol hatchalot kashot.

All beginnings are difficult.

So we learn from the Talmud, and often it’s true. The first day of a new job. The first time a child goes to camp. The first column I have to write. Where to start?

I usually love new beginnings. As a child I set out my outfit for the first day of school, eager to make a fresh new start, to see old friends, to learn something new. New projects excite me.

On the other hand, sometimes I need a push. The transition from A to B, from the comfort of what is to the discomfort of what might be, takes an extra measure of energy.

Like stepping into a cold swimming pool on a hot day, sometimes the best way to start is just to take the plunge. Set aside fear and worry for a moment and one-two-three immerse in the total experience

So I stop wondering when I will have time, what will I have to say, whether it will be good enough and I sit down and write.

Making a fresh start is what this Elul practice is all about. We have twenty-nine days together until the New Year actually begins. Here is your push. Today the moon is a slim sliver but its light will grow each day. As the earth rotates on its axis, each minute offers a new opportunity that will never come again. Each day that passes holds infinite possibility. What will you begin? Where do you want to go? And if not now, when?