"Take a good idea wherever you find it. Use it whenever you need it"
Bassi Gruen’s letter about finding professional references in unexpected places can be extended to ideas as well. “Take a good idea wherever you find it,” is advice that I learned from a kitchen-remodeling magazine.
I applied this when an appliance saleswoman encouraged me to place our new oven at higher-than-counter height. Even though we didn’t buy the oven from her, I thank her for my many years of not bending down too low to open my oven.
I’ll also always be indebted to a woman I met at a shabbaton, over 40 years ago. At the end of the weekend, when we were parting, she told me: “When we see each other next, let’s not apologize for not staying in touch. Let’s just pick up where we left off.” I never did see her again. In fact, her name totally escapes me. But I certainly have said that line over and over again, both to myself and to others.
And you can take a good idea and extend it to other realms as well. As when a new kallah told me, “I got exactly what I wanted, just not in the package I expected.” Isn’t that true of so many of life’s ups and downs!
Create a free account to keep reading.
