3/4 September 2021, 26/27 Elul 5781

Are we proud of and content with our habits? Are we ready to consider who we have become and what more we can be? Change is always possible, it seems.

We are what we repeatedly do..Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.- Aristotle

Teshuvah is About Change and Growth rather than just Return. Is it Possible to bring new growth and wisdom into our lives?   The philosopher William James wrote about habit and our capacity to change;

Plasticity … in the wide sense of the word, means the possession of a structure weak enough to yield to an influence, but strong enough not to yield all at once. Three ways to secure change.

1. The acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and decided an initiative as possible…in short, envelop your resolution with every aid you know.
2. Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. It is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it be never fed.
3. Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits.