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Thought for the Day: Guard Your Eyes and Reap Unimaginable Reward in the World to Come

There is an amazing organization dedicated to inspiring people to guard their eyes in our times, called  וימאן Set Your Eyes on Greatness. You can sign up for a daily inspirational video on WhatsApp. Now that I am retired, I get to have breakfast with a couple of my grandchildren and then take them to school each weekday. Part of our routine is watching the וימאן video. The two of them organized a schedule to take turns starting the video. It is an additional inspiration for us to see what inspires our priceless grandchildren.

By far the most popular videos are about ordinary people using ordinary strategies. I highly recommend a recent video called Rubbing Away A Frosty Night. (Available from TorahAnytime as well as וימאן). This morning I got to share my own story.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Chicago; nearly 70 degrees -- quite a rarity in Chicago for spring time. (I wish that was sarcastic...) I took advantage by going for a bike ride. I took my usual route through the forest preserve. It is a paved route and shared by bikers, joggers, and walkers. One of the challenges of a warm day is the way other people dress themselves for enjoying the weather. I was at the end of my loop and headed home. Then it happened... two young ladies walking along the trail ahead of me and in my direction. They were dressed like any normal person going for a jog on a warm spring day. I needed to act quickly.

I have a great new strategy: I have to look where I am going and I have to stay on the trail. I have found that by looking  down and toward the edge of the trail, I can easily follow the twists and turns while keeping my head down. (If you look straight again, then a sudden turn in the trail can come way too quickly for bike speeds.) I stared intently down and to the side, concentrating on following the trail. When it was safe, I looked up. Success! Past the danger.

One problem. I had no idea where I was. The trail was unfamiliar and I was approaching a busy street. My mind raced... somehow I must have earlier taken a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the street. Weird. The bike crossing looked vaguely familiar, so I decided to press forward; confident that I would soon be in familiar territory. As I crossed the street, I finally recognized where I was.... and I was going the wrong direction. I started laughing at myself and turned around.

Have you every taken a big swallow of seltzer... only to realize it is plain water? It felt like that. While concentrating on the path and keeping my eyes averted, I had overshot my exit from the trail by a few yards. Since I rarely go past my exit and I was refocusing my attention, I was momentarily disoriented... just long enough to feel completely lost for a few seconds.

What is the message? One thing: averting your eyes takes thought, preparation, quick thinking. It is not often rewarded by a deal you have been chasing for years nor a winning lottery ticket. It is rewarded with an immense feeling of satisfaction and confidence that you have done the right thing. That is in this world. In the next... beyond imagination.

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