So my rabbi was trying to be “cool” and connect his weekly sermon to the holiday season.

It turns out that Rabbi Lior Engelman was at the seaside last week, when he started contemplating the waves. Yup – some of them roll in with “whites” on the top, an expression of anger. And Lior reflected how the way people deal with waves (and their anger) is similar to how we can deal with life. He pointed out 4 situations.

1. Some people just let the waves hit them. They take in a mouth full of unwanted salt water and are often pushed back to the beach where they do not want to be. But they do not try for anything else. For whatever, they do not try to control the issue.
2. In contrast, some people are clever and heroic. They watch the tall wave approach, judge it carefully and try to go through it head-on with minimal “fall out”.
3. Most of us turn our backs on the wave. We try to ignore it or pretend that it is not so bad..if fact anything so long as it will leave us alone. The problem will pass us by, won’t it?
4. And a few clever people say “please hold my hand and let’s jump this together”. They look for support.

Now, I could take this far and deep, but I will concentrate on the last point. So long as we are not talking about Hawaiin or Australian beaches, jumping waves can be fun. Yet amazingly not everyone likes to do it by themselves, and few of this group reach out for help.

In the world of sport, there is hardly a top personality that does not have their own trainer. However, when it comes to the world of commerce and business, few take on a mentor or consultant. 

Ask yourself why is that? And then contemplate how many companies you know could do so much better with an external person looking in, offering a few words of guidance. You never know; the added value generated might encourage the boss to give the staff an extra day off at the beach.