O ne of the most common laments as we prepare for the Yamim Noraim is: How can I take seriously my undertakings to improve in such-and-such an area when last year and the year before that I was also working on the same middah?
So it occurred to me that the story of someone who resolved to change — and did — might provide more inspiration than just knowing that we are not unique in our past failures.
Over the last couple of years I have probably spent more time talking to my trainer than to anyone other than my chavrusa and immediate family. While he helps rid me of a variety of joint pains we have plenty of time to chat. He is not one of the trainers who believes that nothing is achieved unless the trainee is in too much agony to speak.
Around this time last year he came across an article about the late Princess Diana and the thought crossed his mind: If she was a princess then how much more so is my wife who is in every respect a true bas melech? She does so much for me. How could I ever be upset with anything she does or express any displeasure or anger?
