How do you begin your day? I’m not asking if you work out in the morning or go for a run; I’m asking you to consider the very first thing with which you begin your day, before your actual schedule begins. Do you begin with the latest news, turning on the TV or radio? Or do you quickly check your social media feeds to see how much has happened over night?
The way we start the day affects how the rest of the day plays out. (In fact, it begins even earlier - it begins the night before. The way we go to sleep affects our mindset when we wake up too). And I’ll contend that starting the day with catching up on the latest news or emails is probably the worst way to begin the new day ahead. I will even be pretentious enough to suggest the very best way to start your day: By washing your hands. I don’t mean just washing your hands because they’re dirty, I mean to wash your hands in a ritual manner; three times on the right and three times on the left intermittently. Hear me out; you may not be religious, but that doesn’t have any impact on what I’m recommending. This is about beginning your day right so that you can succeed at this project called life. You’re probably wondering - how does this ritual-style hand washing have any affect on how my day goes? One of the reasons for this Mitzvah is related to how the Kohanim (the Priests) in the Temple used to prepare for their daily service; that’s right, they would wash their hands (and feet, but that’s not what we’re discussing). When we begin our day by ritually washing our hands, we are associating our day's activity with the service in the Temple. And that is extremely significant in two ways: 1) It’s not uncommon for us to get caught up in our life and forget about the reason we’re here; our actual purpose of being. This leads us to prioritize things that are ultimately insignificant. 2) The other extreme: People could get frustrated with life, even depressed, upset at how things are working out; their relationships, work and family all suffer as they attempt to make sense of it all.