So — here comes another Elul.

Where have I gotten to this year in this mill called life?

I look around the house.

What’s changed? What’s gotten better? Where is there more to go?

One thing I notice is that this year I started setting up the next week’s Shabbos candles right after this week’s Shabbos ends. The Shabbos candles are always ready. No matter what.

My husband had a business meeting in our dining room with a not-yet-religious man and when the man walked into the dining room the first thing he said was “It’s only Sunday and the candles are already set up for Shabbos?” Something about it really hit him. He must have said it three more times.

As every year does this year had so much in it.

We made a wedding made it through a wedding and everyone was nicely dressed.

Made 52 Shabboses.

Cleaned up from 52 Shabboses.

Paired at least 6 X 365 socks.

Washed at least 3 X 365 loads of laundry.

Prepared at least 2 X 365 meals.

Only two emergency room visits.

Learned how to make pesto with fresh basil and pine nuts and how to give a little bit more (after reading an amazing article about how you can only love someone by giving to them).

Cut our phone bill down a quarter.

Tried to drink 8 glasses of water and walk at least 40 minutes a day.

And … I look around the house again. All of a sudden nothing looks accomplished. Why?

I put a pair of shoes away and start to organize a drawer that leads to another drawer that leads to a closet. Everything begins to seem so overwhelming. How am I going to make it all perfect in one hour? I start to feel irritable and nervous.

Only minutes ago I was so happy to set up candles on Sundays make pesto drink 8 glasses of water walk 40 minutes and cut the phone bill by a quarter. Where did all that calm and satisfaction fly to?

Slow down.

I catch myself before I exhaust myself.

This is it. The key to the whole business. The business of life.

People in big business make an accounting every day. Of what works and what doesn’t. They spend millions to find out what will trigger their business’s success. A lot of businesses fail because they take on major overhauls or expenditures when they are not ready and exhaust their budget.

When I was still living at home before I was married I used to work in our family business doing corporate sales. I’d always try to land the big fish and my father would always say to me “Go for the bread and butter. Build slow and steady.” Of course when you are the age I was you always kind of think the older generation is being overcautious until you get to be that age. Now I understand. No overnight successes. Slow and steady progress.

Look how many times G-d lets Elul roll around again and again and again in hopes that each time we’ll do it a little better.

It all adds up in the end.

To big business.

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