Dear Friend,
Taking a walk with my toddler is a great lesson in appreciating the small things in life.
What is usually a 10-minute walk to the local kosher grocery store can take more than 40 minutes with him. Everything catches his attention: birds and squirrels, flowers and plants, rocks and pebbles, cars and motorcycles, people and pets, stoops and steps.
Time is not an issue for him as he savors and explores whatever object catches his attention with intense curiosity until he moves on to the next item. Then the wonder starts all over again.
The founder of Chassidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, whose yahrtzeit we observe on Shavuot, often said that “everything one sees or hears is to be taken as a lesson in how to better serve the Creator.”
From my toddler I learn (among other things) to pay closer attention to the beautiful world G‑d created, to truly appreciate it and be grateful for it and all it contains. Thanks to him, I rediscover meaning in many aspects of daily life, and hopefully become a better person.
Chani Benjaminson,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
