The Perfect Gift

By: Rabbi Yisrael Baron

(Published November 4th, 2013 Sunny Isles Beach Community Newspapers) 

A bunch of children are given gifts. One child receives a bicycle, while the rest get tricycles. All the children jump onto their tricycles with great excitement and are having a great time, while the one lone child feels tortured. "Why do I only have two wheels on this bike which doesn’t seem fit to work, while everyone else is fortunate enough to have three wheels which are perfect for riding?" he complains to himself.

We live in G‑d's world. There are no mistakes about what G‑d gives us. So if we see in our lives a less-than-perfect situation, it is only for the purpose of granting us an even greater perfection. Any seeming imperfection we are given comes with the tools to overcome.

However, the challenges can turn into problems when we chose to dwell on our seemingly imperfect package. We tend to take out our magnifying glass and enlarge them to the point where they may overwhelm us. 

"How am I expected to ride this bicycle, it’s missing a wheel?" the child thinks to himself. Only with the confidence in knowing there is a solution will the child go on to ask himself, "So how do I make this work?"

We too must have the confidence in knowing that there is a solution to our seemingly imperfect package. Don’t ever say, "It’s not possible." Rather say, "I don’t know how, but I am sure there is a way." Only then, can we proceed with confidence to seek a solution which we know is attainable. It is a pity on those who get stuck in the middle of this process; they never get to appreciate the gift that they have been given.