Sometimes a person may feel happy one moment and sad the next. Another may appear calm now and explode the next minute. Everyone experiences mood swings during a day. Some swings are mild and others are extreme but all moods affect the way one assess a situation and behaves.
It may not be simple but it is necessary that one overcome one’s mood and rises to the occasion. A mother may not be in the mood to deal with her children’s early morning grumpiness but she must get them off to school. A man may not be prepared emotionally to face the commute — but he must get to his desk in any event. A young man may feel very lazy but still the time for morning prayers must be met.
These are everyday tasks that one must perform in order to meet one’s obligations. There are times, however, where one must to something unappetizing for the sake of another. You might feel it is time to visit a sick relative but you may not be in the mood to deal with his or her idiosyncrasies. You may be needed at a meeting for the benefit of a community organization yet you are not ready to deal with all the self-serving chatter that always precedes any decision. Well, you can’t always do what you’d like and you can’t always have things your way.
Today when you are just not in the mood — stop. Overcome how you feel to do what you must. It only takes a minute to build one’s resolve in order to do what is right even though you may not be in the mood.
Text Copyright © 2003 Rabbi Raymond Beyda and Project Genesis, Inc.