Start Rowing and the Boat Will Appear

“In order that G-d will bless you in all the work of your hands.”
— Deuteronomy 24:19

Sometimes we dream up a worthwhile project, but we hesitate to undertake it because it seems beyond our capacities. Obviously, people must be realistic and should not embark on something that is totally outlandish because it would require means or knowledge which they lack. However, we still shy away from many things that are achievable.

There is a folk saying: "The appetite comes with the eating." A person may not be hungry, yet when he or she sits at the table, and the food is served, the initial course actually stimulates the appetite. When we make a beginning and exert some effort, a Divine blessing may come. A composer may have but one melody in mind, but as he or she begins to write, one idea seems to inspire another, and an entire symphony comes to life.

I once heard a recovered alcoholic with many years of sobriety give instructions to a newcomer who was unable to comprehend how anyone could abstain from drinking for so many years when it was so difficult for him to abstain even for one day. "You just begin," he said. "It's like standing on the shore and wanting to get across when there is no boat. Someone says to you, 'Start rowing,' and you say, 'How can I start rowing when there is no boat?' 'Never mind,' the man responds, 'Just start rowing, and the boat will appear.' "

We must make the effort, and G-d will help us bring it to fruition.

TODAY I SHALL ...
... not hesitate in making a beginning of things that I know that I should do, even if they may seem formidable.

Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. is a psychiatrist and ordained rabbi. He is the founder of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a leading center for addiction treatment. He is a prolific author, with some 30 books to his credit, including, Growing Each Day, from which this was excerpted