The Odd Phone Call

I got a phone call the other night from a friend in Illinois. He tends to see the glass flat out EMPTY, if you know what I mean. He was born in the USA, but his parents moved to Israel when he was a small boy.  As a young adult, he moved back to Illinois.  He travels to Israel a few times a year to visit friends and family.

So my phone rings, and for two and a half hours, he went on and on about why I am making the biggest mistake of my life. The mistake, in his eyes, is becoming a citizen of Israel.

"Why can't you just go and visit?  Why do you have to move there? You are going to regret it.  You know how difficult life can be in Israel, why in the world would you go put yourself in the middle of it?"

I have spent the last 3 and a half years of my life thinking about making Aliyah.  It has not been a rash decision. It's not something that I take lightly.  I realize the ramifications of the move.  You leave family behind that you won't get to physically see as often. You go to live in a Land where everything is different.  Even when "things" are the same, they are still different than what you are used to.  More about that in a future post.

It's no use trying to convince someone of the convictions that live in your heart. No one else lives YOUR life. Maybe living in Israel is not a good choice for him. I accept that. But why send negative energy my way because HE wouldn't make the same decision?

I was a little down after the phone call.  The mood lasted for a couple of days.  Why had it knocked the wind out of my sails?  I DO know what I am getting into!  I DO know that I will cry at some point, as I always do when I miss my family.  I DO know that I will have struggles learning the language and dealing with the bureaucracy.  I DO know that I need thicker skin.  ALL OF THIS I KNOW.  Even so, my heart and soul still long to be there, regardless.

So what did I learn from this phone call experience?

I learned that I would rather have a friend who feels there is nothing that they could not say to me.  There is comfort in the fact that in our individuality, we often won't see things eye to eye on any number of things.  And that's OK!  But it's a two way street.  The key is listening and respecting each other's thoughts and opinions and still being friends, despite our differences.

Good Lesson.



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