When we are in Venice for Shabbos we stay at wonderful, little, extended stay hotel on the boardwalk called Su Casa. They try and give us an Ocean View Room. It is great to have the ocean view, but not as much for the ocean view as for the “boardwalk” view.
You see, Venice Boardwalk is like Mardi Gras every weekend. (See picture to the left.) Street performers, vendors and drunkards line the boardwalk and thousands and thousands of tourists and natives walk back forth as they hawk their wares.
Rami loves the people watching and I must admit, it can be quite addictive!
Today we saw, by far, the most ambitious sales pitch on the boardwalk. We were sitting down to lunch with the windows ajar and we heard the following declaration from the boardwalk.
“Get your sand here! The very best California sand, just 50 cents! Hand picked sand here! Why walk 5 more feet to the beach when you can get your own handful of sand right here for 50 cents!”
So we went to the window to check it out. It was two teenage boys with a lot of spare time and a great sense of humor. They were just being funny, but they actually kept it up for a few hours. They tried to sell sand to every one who passed them by. Some people gave them a few tips and I think they ended up with a couple dollars.
But it got me thinking. How often are we looking for something and we are willing to make an effort to get it, yet it is right there in front of us. Imagine someone actually bought the sand they were selling. They could just walk 5 feet and get it for free!
I think that sometimes people are looking for things in exotic places and very often what they are looking for is right in front of them. Certainly happiness is this way. People travel to the far corners of the earth in search of happiness. But happiness is right there in front of them. Happiness is a choice.
Love is the same way. People look so hard to find love. But we can always love. Everyone we know can benefit from our love. Our families yearn for our love and to love us back. Again, it is right here in front of us.
Even business opportunities can be the same way. We look and look, but very often, our best opportunities are the ones we already have.
We would never buy sand on the Venice Boardwalk. Let’s always look at what we have before we look for what we think we do not have…
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