One Day At a Time

Rabbi Twerski asks a very good question as to how it was possible for Yakov Avinu to look at his seven year wait,(he was eighty three at the time), as ימים אחדים, just a few days.

The Torah makes it sound as though those seven years of hard work in anticipation of getting married, seemed like only a few days. For anyone else, each day would seem like an eternity, until they would be able to be united with their true love.

Rabbi Twerski learned the answer to this question from recovering drug and alcohol addicts. He often marveled as to how they had the will power to make a serious change in their life.

Over and over, he was told by those who successfully recovered, that the secret to their success, was simply taking one day at a time.

If someone looks at a task ahead of him, reaching the finish line seems like something insurmountable. But if you take things one day at a time, you can much more easily reach your goal.

Yakov saw that seven year wait as ימים אחדים, because he was not focused on the seven years. He was focused on one day at a time, and that’s how it seemed the years passed quickly.