Life lessons from a "Humble Virtual Assistant"
2-12-13
Dear Henry,
I am sorry it's been so long since I have written. I imagine your devoted readers have been anxiously awaiting for the next post, in the same way that a young beaver cub anxiously awaits his mama to return from a long days work in the frigid Icelandian meadows. Heck, I even bet they have been anxiously awaiting the next blogg post in the same way that Fitty aka Fifty Cents is anxiously awaiting for his track to explode.
I have been doing well, thanks for asking. It's taken so long to post since I am simply, Thank G-d very busy, not because I have forgotten about you. There are a few topics on my mind that I want to discuss, but since time is short, I will bli neder leave writing about my aversion to automatic hand dryers for another blogg post. Instead, today, I plan to discuss an incident I had with my IPad and Iphone 4s.
You see, dear Henry, that as my iPad is in my backpack, sometimes, some mysterious lady named Suri, who my lovely colleague Nadine introduced to me, (whom I refer to by her Yiddish full-name of Surele) starts talking to me. Apparently, she is on my new, fancy shmancy I phone 4S as well. As I pulled my car Sally-the Santa-Fe into my garage--I decided I should ask Surele what the weather is going to be for that particular moment, on that particular day. So as I turned off the car, I dramatically looked to my left-- and then, like James Bond himself, gaze to my right-- to make sure no one was going to witness me speaking to my some-what imaginary friend Surele. When I saw the coast was clear, I went ahead and I pressed the little button on the front of my Iphone 4s, and said, "Suri, what is the weather today?" She responded, without missing a beat, "Its not looking good-- Going to be cold until Monday." Then I said, "Thank you Suri!" She responded, "Just doin' my job." To this, I replied, "Really Surele, you're really great! I appreciate the help." At this point, she responded, "Who is Surele?!" I answered, "That is you silly! Anyways thanks for all the help!" To this, she answered-- "I am just putting myself to the fullest possible use."
As I sat there, speaking to Suri, I couldn't help but reflect on her powerful words. When I asked her what she was, she told me she is, and now, Henry, I quote, "just a humble virtual assistant." I thought about how when I tried thanking her, she deflected the praise, and told me she is just doing her job. I then thought about what she meant when she told me just tries to put herself to her fullest possible use.
She actually reminded me a lot of what I have studied in our timeless volume on ethics called Pirkei Avos-- Judaism's book of ethics given by G-d at Mt. Sinai, passed on to us from generation to generation. Pirkei Avos has many tremendous lines, like "Mo Money Mo Problems," for example. However, after speaking to Suri I see that she also was well versed in Pirkei Avos. Pirkei Avos teaches us "If you have learned a lot of Torah, don't think you are so special, because that is why you were created." In other words, if someone comes and gives me props for being such an accomplished Torah Scholar, my response, is meant to be like Suri's: "Just doin' my job!" It says elsewhere in Pirkei Avos-- "If I will not be for myself, who will be for me? And EVEN If I am for myself, what am I?" In other words-- even if I am accomplishing a lot, and doing good work-- just like the good folks on Central Ave who take care of Sally when she goes in for an oil change, and even if I am fighting the good fight, just like a gang of ugly grey squirrels just tryin' to make it through the winter--Still, oh Henry, what does that amount to, in light of what I am CAPABLE of doing? If I have the potential to be a .300 hitter for YOUR Colorado Rockies, and I instead am batting .275, what the heck am I accomplishing, compared to what I am meant to be doing? If I decided to be a super-model instead of a world renowned rabbi capable of inspiring millions, should I feel good about myself? If I ran a quarter marathon, when everyone knows I could easily run 2 marathons blind-folded--much like my future brother in law-- should I be proud of my accomplishments? Or, should I realize that that is only the tip of the tip of the tippy top of the icey- iceberg of what I am capable of accomplishing? Are we, G-d forbid, selling ourselves short? Or, are we like Suri, putting ourselves to the fullest possible use?
My blessing to all of us, is that we should strive to be like my new imaginary friend Surele, and we should settle for nothing less than living according to our maximal potential. And even when we are meeting our potential, let us retain Suri's humility, and realize that we are merely doing our job, and ultimately, nothing more, than "simple, virtual assistants."
