This desert scene looks a little bit like the location my daughter used for her film. Her ability to pull it off reminded me of the four strengths required to accomplish anything
1) Being bold, taking initiative.
2) Easygoing nature – Once you’ve made a commitment to do it you need to be easygoing and not sink into the challenges of implementation.
3) Energy -Then it takes energy and enthusiasm to get things moving.
4) Courage – Finally you need courage to follow through with the task.
These four strengths are enumerated in rabbinic tradition which is itself based on reflections on the natural world. What qualities can we learn from different animals?
Rabbi Yehuda ben Teima says: Be bold as a leopard, light as a vulture, swift as a deer and courageous as a lion to do the will of your father in heaven…(Avot Ch. 5:20)
Bold as a leopard: Leopards take on prey larger than themselves. It takes boldness to do something new that’s never been done before. It takes daring to put yourself out there and be a trailblazer. You have to be confident and self-assured and believe in what you’re doing or you won’t even start.
Light as a vulture: A vulture is not actually light. It’s a very heavy bird. But it has very large wings that help lift it up off the ground. Similarly a person is “heavy” by nature. It’s so easy to get stuck in the process, in all the details and hurdles and obstacles to get over.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Teima is saying: Hey! You have wings like a bird. Use them! What are your wings? Happiness. Be happy with your portion, happy with your material and spiritual gifts and happy to serve with those gifts.
Service is an expression of love and an expression of awesome responsibility. These are the two wings.
But first you have to recognize that everything you have is a gift and be grateful for your gifts in whatever form or shape they come in.
True joy is the “wing” of knowing who you’re serving and the value of your service (love) and the “wing” of knowing you have a task to do.
When you’re happy and enthusiastic with what you’re doing everything seems easy. You don’t get bogged down by challenges. They’re just more tasks to do happily. I’m not saying this is easy but the hard part is not the challenges. The hard part is joy in the service. Once you have that the rest is easy.
Swift as a deer: Being swift can be a stumbling block. When you act too quickly you can more easily make mistakes. But it doesn’t mean acting with haste and impulsivity. It means planning out in your head what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it so that you work efficiently
Courageous as a lion: One would imagine taking initiative, finding joy in it and careful planning are enough to get the job done. Even so to follow through and stick with it till the end takes courage.
My daughter is in her last year of film school and I’ve been witness to this process. First she was bold enough to use a location that had many built-in challenges. Then she threw herself into it with love and joy as well as responsibility. Third, although her enthusiasm sagged under the burden of some of the challenges she rolled with the punches and continued to plan and write out everything that was needed and to work on the personal level with a large number of people with calm self-assurance. With all of that there were moments of real hardship and with superb courage she never gave up, refused to quit in the middle. Every project no matter what it is requires these strengths.