Get In the Game!

"Reaching out for something you've got to feel while clutching to what you had thought was real … the struggle within" (M)

Don't be stuck on the sidelines -
get into the game!

People often wonder why the happy and celebratory days of Sukkos follow Rosh ha'Shana and Yom Kippur - the Days of Awe. After all, why do we sit in a Sukkah just days after we begged for our lives? What is the connection between the two?
On a different, yet related note, once we finish the busiest time of the Jewish year, we may question what we can take with us from the "holiday season." How can we keep the spirit of these days alive throughout the rest of the year?

Everyone wants to be someone great. Nobody wants to be just average. Each of us have role models to whom we aspire, and through our lives we attempt to achieve the goals with which we may become more like those role models.
A few days ago, I was in a restaurant and recognized that half of the people were wearing the same green outfits - Jets jerseys. Being Sunday, a day many dedicate to football, several people had returned from the game and came out to eat to celebrate their win. Why do they wear the jerseys, though? If they aren't the players, then why wear their clothing?
The answer is that when they watch the game and root for their team, they feel connected to them. They feel part of the team. When their team wins, they celebrate - just like the players. When their team loses, they sulk - just like the players. So, during the game, the fans pretend like they're players. Yet, when the game is over, the jerseys come off and they return to normal life. They are no longer "players," rather regular people.
But what about the players themselves? The role models? The people who everyone looks to? They, too, take off their jerseys - but they are still the same people! They are still players!

As we stood in shul on Rosh ha'Shana and Yom Kippur, we promised Hashem to be better. We promised to become the people we know we're supposed to be. The people we know we can be. But this is no easy task. How can we immediately transform ourselves to become truly great overnight? The moment we walk out of shul, we are hardly different people. How can we take the feeling of sanctity of Rosh ha'Shana and Yom Kippur - the feeling of wanting to be great - with us throughout the year?
In comes Sukkos. The moment we leave shul we are told to start building a Sukkah. We are taught that we are to leave our Diras Keva, our permanent home (our houses) and move into the Diras Arai, our temporary home (the Sukkah) - and it, the Sukkah, should become our Diras Keva during this time.
This is our answer. Hashem is telling us to leave our permanent place - the person we have grown into - and move into our temporary place - the person we become only on occasion. Everyone experiences times when we feel tremendously elevated and inspired. There are times when we fulfill mitzvos that uplift us. Carry us. Give us a sense of accomplishment. Transform us into a greater person - temporarily. However, time passes. The feeling wears off and we revert back to our regular selves.
Although we may wear the jersey of our role model, we are not the real player ... yet. After the experience is over, we take off the jersey - the temporary person - and return to our permanent self. Sukkos is about making the temporary permanent. It is the time to keep the jersey on. To become the player - the role model. To incorporate the inspiration of Rosh ha'Shana and Yom Kippur into our everyday lives. To become part of our reality. Who we truly are.
To make the temporary permanent.

Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem, help me be the best I can be today!"