The Blender

One plain yogurt.

One soft banana. Two small plums. Frozen peach slices and frozen mango chunks. A generous handful of assorted frozen berries. Into the blender. Splash some milk in and mix! I watch the rapidly-spinning blades do their thing. True, the actual steel pieces are moving too fast for me to follow them precisely but I can see the outcome of their labor. (Yes, yes, I was tempted to write “fruits of their labor.”) Slowly but surely, the different colors and textures of the fruit and the milk coalesce into one unified and beautiful smoothie. Well, that’s the plan at least. In reality, things are stuck. The bottom is completely blended but the top, say, 70% is not. Now, obviously whenever there are too many solids, the logical next step is to add more liquids; in my case, either more milk or maybe some juice. The routine is a familiar one: open the blender cup lid, scrape the inner sides of the glass, pour in a bit of liquid, close the lid, mix again, open lid, scrape sides, pour liquid, close, mix and so on and so forth until all the ingredients are properly blended. This time, though, something tugs at me. This time, a voice from I-dunno-where-but-certainly-heard-only-by-me tells me to stop. To not push the “off” button and to not reach for more liquids. To just let things be. Let things be?? What’s the point of that?? I should just let solid chunks sit miserably near the perfectly-blended delicious mixture? And then what? For how long? Why? Huh? “Shhh, Chava. Be still.” (the voice) “Just wait. Wait and watch.” So, I wait and watch. (I try not to argue with silent loud voices.) I watch skeptically. The blender blades are spinning merrily, blissfully unaware of the fact that they are doing pretty much nothing. But, then, with the stillness and peace that comes with patience, my skepticism melts away and is replaced by wonder. Whereas previously I had seen “nothin’ happenin’,” I now see that things ARE progressing. Bit by teeniest bit, little wisps and shreds of fruit are sucked into the relentless whirl. Slowly, slowly, slowly, a full glass of thick, delicious, creamy, fruit smoothie is born. Wow. I honestly did not think it had been possible. Amazing what a little stretch of “nothing” can accomplish. ~ ~ ~ ~ I set out to make many sorts of blended creations in life. At times they go smoothly, and at times they don’t. My automatic response when things get stuck is to change things up. I ask myself (and others): “What am I doing wrong?” “What do I need to do differently?” “What can I add or change to make things work?” I can even get frantic, panicky, “Quick! Help me! It’s not going!” I like this new voice that I hear. The voice that tells me, “You’ve put all the right ingredients in. Just wait now. Wait and watch. Trust that things are happening, that Hashem is mixing things up, even if you can’t see it. Just keep your finger on the pulse, keep doing what you’re doing, don’t look for results, focus only on effort, and soon very soon, those mighty blades will reward your patience by churning out something super successful and sweet.” B’ezrat Hashem! Note: A proper mashpia helps us determine when we need to change things and we need to let things be. This post is dedicated by Anonymous in zchus of: ראובן אייזיק הלוי בן שושנה רעשע ושניאור זלמן הלוי בן שושנה רעשע Chava Isacovitch delights in uncovering Hashem behind and beneath every facet of life. She writes and lectures on a variety of topics and is the author of Aharon's Staff: Practical Chinuch Tips from Chassidus. She also coaches parents and teachers of children with behavioral challenges. Chava lives in Eretz Yisroel.