My life in two words

Pick two words to describe your life.  Try to do it quickly without much thought.  What words came to mind?

This important exercise comes to us courtesy of the Torah. Joseph introduces his father Jacob to Pharaoh.  Pharaoh asks Jacob how old he is.  And Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojourns.” Genesis 47:9.

If we knew nothing more about Jacob, nothing about his vision of angels or conversations with God, his travels and travails, we would believe that he is despondent.  He believes that his life is shorter and less fulfilling than the lives of his father and grandfather: years few and hard.

So how does your life measure up?  What might you learn about yourself by being asked to condense the meaning of your life in just a few or even just two words? When life presented challenges did you describe yourself more often as victim or survivor? When relationships didn’t work out, do you understand yourself to have been devastated or resilient?

If the words you used to describe yourself are not satisfying, you always have the chance to reimagine the quality of your time on earth. It takes is some self-awareness and motivation for change. These are not always easy mental tasks.

So let me pose a slightly different question to help you start again.  What two words would you want to be used to describe your life? How will your life be described by those who know you well? Hear those words and try to live your life as described. All you really need to do is take a daily journey through the existence that is yours.

Rabbi Evan Krame