Two Paths | Rabbi Joey Haber

Do you ever feel like it's so hard? You're walking in the streets, the weather is warm outside, the world seems to dress however they want, and it's just difficult! There's a famous Midrash: The Pasuk says, I'm putting before you, blessing and curse. And the Midrash says, that here's how it works: that there was once someone who was walking on the road and he saw two different roads. He saw a crossroads. One way, had beautiful pasture. The other way, had intense thorns. So he said to himself, "There's beautiful pasture, I want to go that path." But says the Midrash, you know what happens at the end of the beautiful pasture? Then it's incredibly thorny. On the other path that starts off with thorns, at the end of it, it's beautiful and smooth. And the Midrash is saying, that's how life is. You could either take the easy path, and the result of the easy path very often is, gets much more difficult at the end. Or you could take the tough path, and the result of the tough path, is it becomes so much more beautiful. So now you are walking on the road, and there's everything that's pulling your eyes. You could let your eyes go, and see everything that's out there. And you'll be taking that smooth path. That's the easy thing to do. That's the natural thing to do. That's where your mind and body's pulling you to do. So you just keep turning left and right, and you're turning all over the place, and you're seeing everything, it seems easy. But then you know what happens to your mind? You know what happens to your marriage? You end off totally in the thorns. You end off a mess! Because your head is everywhere. But if instead, you could take the tough path initially, if you could go down that road that's not so easy, where you're staying focused, and you're not looking left and right, and you're staying in the zone. Yes, it's hard in the beginning, but the end of it is beautiful. So it's worth it. To fight yourself now, to give yourself the wonderful result that it brings. I don't just mean in Olam Haba., I mean the wonderful result that it brings in Olam Hazeh. In your life, in your marriage, and your home, and your calmness, and your focus, and your tranquility. So you could either go easy, or you could go hard, and end up so much easier!