Busiest Day Ever | Don Ghermezian

Today, I'm going to tell you a story, a very personal story, but I'm happy to share it, because I think it's important, and I want everybody to know that Shmirat Einayim is not something that is easy for anybody. I'm not embarrassed to say that several months ago, for the very first time in a long time, all of a sudden, what was generally an easy thing for me, not looking at things that I shouldn't look at, try and keep my eyes holy, ended up becoming very difficult, overnight. And it was a battle for myself. So I decided, one night, I was going to speak to Hashem. I said: Hashem, I know this is not the way the world works, but I need Your help. I know that the world doesn't work where I ask You to do something for me first, and if You do it, I'll do something back for You, but I said: At this point in time, like, Hashem, I don't think I can do that. I need Your help first. Things have been tough. Business is tough. So tomorrow, when I get to the office, Hashem, if You could show me a deal that comes across my desk, out of the blue, and show me: Don, I heard what you said tonight. I will realize: Hashem, thank You very much. You’re helping me. It's going to give me the Chizuk and strengthen me. I'm going to go right back to where I was. I come to the office the next morning. At 10:00 in the morning, I get a phone call. It was a tenant that I've been chasing for eight years. Eight years. No response, no this, no that. No reason why. They called me, they said: Our CEO was in your center, the other day. The mall was packed. Everything was great. We'd like to take 4,000 square feet. We'd like to open this year. Can you send us the deal and send us the location? Yeah, I can do that for you. I hang up the telephone. I turn to the heavens. I'm, like: Hashem, that's about as big as I could have possibly asked. Thank You for doing that for me. I really appreciate it. Now I see I'm going to strengthen myself and go. That was at 10:00 in the morning. I got a phone call at 10:30. Hey, Don. Our CEO was in the mall last week. The mall was really busy. We want 4,000 square feet. We want to open this year. Do you have a space? Can you send us a deal? Another tenant that I was chasing for five years. My phone rang at 12:00, 1:00, 3:00 and 4:00 that day. It was the single busiest leasing day we've had in Triple Five history, from the beginning of our mall in Edmonton until the day that this happened. Every single one was a tenant that I had been chasing, and every single one was a tenant that called to say, We want space in your center. Now I hung up the telephone at the end of the day. I went home. I told my family the story. I'm, like: You guys want to see, When you really want, and Hashem sees in your heart that you want to protect yourself, you really want, Hashem can turn the world around in one second for you, one second. Whatever it is you need in life, Hashem can, like that, you can get it all. How? You go outside of your comfort zone for Hashem, and you will see what Hashem does for you. And I'll add one more point to that, which is a very important point. Just because you do that, or just because I did that and strengthened myself, it doesn't mean that the battle's over. Absolutely not. And the problem is that after a week or two weeks or three weeks, the Yetzer Hara creeps into your head, and all of a sudden, you start stepping down and stepping down and stepping down. And after two months, you've convinced yourself that it was a coincidence and then Chas v’Shalom, Chas v’Shalom, you fail again. The worst thing you can do is once you fail again, is to let yourself believe, I'm a failure. What does it matter? I'm just going to keep going down that path. That would be the worst outcome possible. Because people will fail, even after you get six phone calls out of the blue in one day. The key is, Hashem, I made a mistake. I'm going to strengthen myself. I'm going to start back at Day One, and I'm going to keep going from there. And when Hashem sees you pick yourself back up, you'll see miracles after miracles after miracles.