Interestingly, at last week’s 43rd World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a panel of experts got together for a discussion called “The Mindful Leader,” where they explored the importance of mindfulness to successful leadership in business.
It’s not particularly surprising that mindfulness is a hot topic now, not only among these leaders but also in business management schools around the world. The truth is that with all of the distractions, doubts, fears, and responsibilities we are constantly encountering, it can be very difficult to be “present” in our daily lives.
It says in the Bible that when the Israelites were in the desert, they were given food one day at a time. The manna fell from the sky every day, so they didn’t have to—indeed; they could not—create a stockpile of food.
One of the messages for us in this story is that “today” is the only day that counts. As a matter of fact, if we really think about it, there is no such thing right now as “tomorrow.”
If we are not capable of giving of ourselves today, if we aren’t capable of feeling a connection to the divine spark that each of us has within, then we need to learn this simple lesson: We cannot sit around and wait for tomorrow—a tomorrow when we are not busy or when the “time is right” to share and to connect with those around us and with our own souls. As Johann Goethe said, “Nothing is worth more than this day.”
None of this is supposed to be easy. Rabbi Ashlag wrote that there is no such a thing as Light without darkness. But in everything in our life where effort and struggle is involved, there is the energy of Light.
Being human, all of us will find doubt and difficulty in our lives. Each and every one of us has doubted ourselves at some point in our lives—who we are, what we are doing, what is the best way to move forward. Nevertheless, while we might not have Moses in our generation to lead us out if this place of uncertainty, we do have spiritual tools and teachings that can bring us to a higher consciousness and a greater mindfulness. We just have to open ourselves to a spiritual space to use them.
