Never Ready & Never Enough

Never Ready & Never Enough

Get ready cause here I come

Temptations ‘Get Ready’

            Daily upon awakening after Shema (Jewish prayer), licks, constitutionals etc, Goodie, Simcha and I ‘ready’ for the new day make our daily rounds: open window shades, turn on the Dish downstairs in the office and to check out everything is ok. (Simcha is like an energetic young Dr. Kildare herding and peppering this aging Dr. Gillespie during these Bet Kelev rounds making sure everything is ‘on,’ done, and or ‘ready.’)

            Really there is no ready (save the Everyready™ Bunny) just as there isn’t ‘THE one , THE answer, THE if only.’

            There is always something regardless of planning and preparation (remember ‘man plans, God laughs.’)

            And if there isn’t ‘something’ – we invent something however tangential of miniscule probability

            And conveniently, there can always be an excuse for not being ‘ready.’

            Not ready is a readily excuse.

            There is no state of readiness.

           

            So let’s stipulate there is ‘no ready’ (perfection) and not ready (imperfection) is typically an excuse presented as caution, adorned in vigilance showing the good sense of being prepared. The aforementioned excuses are all good reasons but the real reason for ‘not ready’ are fears of failure, appearing foolish, and being exposed as lacking – being less –incompetent -  in the name of ‘ready.’ A not ready excuse:  reflective wise good sense as opposed to ‘the rush to judgment’s’ adverse consequences of ‘fire, ready, aim.’

            Better to: ready, aim, fire!

            And yet, it was a teenager, who, with but a slingshot prevailed slaying the Giant Goliath. This teenager wasn’t ready in either in stature or weaponry but, in faith – making Hashem BIGGER, yet this teenager, named David triumphed.

           

Shaddai = God, God Almighty, All Sufficient, ‘Enough’

Rabbi Mordecai Twerski

            ‘Not ready’ is a default excuse akin to ‘never enough.’

            Regardless of defining enough, it seems there is never enough – even when there is more than enough – because there is always another fear (solve risk #1, promote risk #2) ‘that we’re not ready for’ in the delusional search for permanence, continuity, certainty (surety).

…ass-urances…

            Yet, how can we be 100% (some preferring 150% ‘just in case’) ready (sure) when we are born deliberately incomplete?

            This ‘ready’ when we will have more – so we will have enough’ (which is never enough) is our chasing our tail with tales of ‘then I’ll be ready.’

            Talk about wagging the tail/tale?

            No “wagger” and no swagger.

            Ready and never enough have a common thread: fear.

            Fearing we may think ourselves as lacking, cowardly, spineless and or gutless, we spin and sanitize fear (the ‘F’ word) (1) typically with 3 other more erudite sounding four letter words connoting cognitive good sense, forethought, discretion & wisdom: risk and its tributaries loss and less.’ Thus, fear (in the name of risk, less and or loss) invokes never ready and never enough. . 

And you shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them

Exodus 25:8

            We will never be ready (nor was David) and we can’t beat fear. (Actually, fear, in context, is usual and necessary in a ialectic with gain for protection. But when fear is overwhelming (masked as not ready, never enough, and or obstructing with anxiety) – neither Fleets™ nor Phillips can permeate fear’s constipating & a-voiding effects. ((Ready, Willing, but Dis-abled)).

Since fear is necessary and can’t be vanquished, faith, having meaning IN one’s life, and re-membering oneself have to catapult (better doggiepult) the fears of ‘not readiness’ and ‘never enough.’ Doggiepulting faith (making God BIGGER than the fear), finding meaning IN one’s life, and re-membering one’s past adaptability and resourceful (one’s enoughness) leapfrog the not ready, the never enough (MOREon behavior), and the four horsemen of 4 letter words: risk, less, loss and fear. (2)

Having faith, finding meaning IN one’s life, remembering one’s adaptability and resourcefulness (enoughness) now that’s David’s Ready Whip™ (and without artificial flavoring)!

ENOUGH, ALREADY!

           

1.      Another F word denoting ‘fear’ (or you better be fearful) is the ‘fine’ said with a certain tone of voice primarily by the female gender – often accompanied by a stop of the foot and or hands on the hips as well as an askance look.

2.      By and large, self serving professional religioustariat have failed in assisting our finding meaning IN our lives preferring their role as spiritual leaders (rather than spiritual resources) through whom – as whole-salers – we get VICARious redemption (and maybe a plaque sans gingivitis) in the name of faith and deeds (accompanied by dues and large donations) alone