“Are you happy?” A nurse hovering over me was asking what I deemed an entirely inappropriate question given the timing. It was now two in the morning, post heart surgery. I had tubes coming out of both arms, my body was strangely sore, and I was exhausted.
“Happy?” I thought about how I was rarely asked that question intentionally as a child. My mother believed happiness was a
by-product of living a life of meaning. She asked if I was helping others to create purpose, overcome obstacles, and understand loss. She wanted to know if I was living with hope and enabling others to do the same.
I thought of all the people in their divine holiness that had enabled me to reach this moment. I realized that I and so many others are standing, or in my case, lying horizontal on a hospital bed, because of all the people who sought to make the anonymous person in front of them feel seen. I thought of all the giants on whose shoulders I stand, regular people who bring and sustain hope for others in a world that at times can feel hopeless.
I smiled. “I am very happy. Thank you for asking.”
Rabbi Sherre Hirsch is the Chief Innovation Officer for American Jewish University. www.sherrehirsch.com
