大象传媒

Harvey Belovski, rabbi at Golders Green United Synagogue:

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Last week, a plane from London ended up in completely the wrong destination.听 It was supposed to fly to Germany, but landed in Scotland.听 The funny thing is that no-one knew that something had gone awry until just before landing.听 It seems that no-one noticed that the plane hadn鈥檛 crossed the sea or any part of mainland Europe.听 And when the passengers heard the announcement 鈥榳elcome to Edinburgh鈥�, they thought it was a joke!

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This reminds of the time when a friend and I managed to board the wrong plane at Luton Airport.听 We had misread the gate number and were only stopped on the plane by a stewardess.听 We laughed ourselves silly at what had almost happened, although it was pretty difficult getting back into the airport and to the correct departure gate.

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I reckon being able to rethink where we鈥檙e going and where appropriate, change direction, is a vital skill.听 In fact, if we aren鈥檛 able to develop this ability, we may find ourselves stuck in a rut, continuing with a relationship, a career, even a life, that isn鈥檛 right for us.

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But I know from personal experience that change can be painful.听 Routine, the familiar, and the fear of the unknown all motivate me not to change, even when my mind tells me otherwise.听 And I can become uncooperative and irritable when even my daily schedule gets upended, and miserable when bigger changes of direction are needed.听 It can even feel less painful to keep things as they than risk change.

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The former chief rabbi, Lord Sacks mentioned something he鈥檇 learned from the 鈥榮at nav鈥� in his car.听 If the driver takes a wrong turning or there鈥檚 an accident, the device quietly recalculates the route with no fuss, no anxiety and no irritability.

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Imagine if we were able to take unexpected change in our stride, to remain calm and collected when the plumber鈥檚 late, the washing machine floods or the car breaks down.听 These are out of our control, yet require us to change our schedule at the last second. 听We can fall to pieces or we can accept the disruption and recalculate our route for the day.听 And I believe that if we learn to do just that, we may even come to actively embrace change as necessary for happier relationships, jobs and lives.