Landscape Management, January 2012

JACOBSJOURNAL DANIEL G JACOBS EDITOR IN CHIEF Into each life a little tsuris must fall LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET JANUARY 2012 6 Contact Dan at 216 706 3754 or via email at djacobs@ questex com A n old man nearing the end of his days refl ects on his very diffi cult life He thinks of all the tsuris Yiddish for misery hes experienced business failures illness family and fi nancial problems and the list goes on The man visited by his rabbi asks Ive been devoted to God followed his laws and yet Ive experienced nothing but misery and woe Why is this happening to me Without saying a word the learned rabbi takes a handkerchief from his pocket and passes it over the ailing mans eyes The man drifts away and when he wakes the man fi nds himself walking along a path toward a large hill in the distance The man walks along the path unsure of where he is when he hears a noise growing in the distance He turns to see three huge black semi trailers rumbling toward him The man fl ags one of the trucks down and asks whats going on These trucks are fi lled with your sins Were taking them to the top of the hill where your life will be judged Aghast but ever practical the man asks for a ride Sorry theres not a spare inch of extra room And the trucks move on A few moments later a tiny white Mini Cooper sidles past Again the man fl ags down the driver Where are you headed he asks Im carrying all your good deeds to the top of the hill where theyll be weighed against your sins I dont want to walk the whole way Do you have any spare room Sure plenty Hop in They fi nally arrive at the top of the hill The man looks about and sees all the grandeur of the heavenly court And right in the center is a large scale The mans sins are loaded on one side of the scale which comes crashing down with a heavy thud His good deeds are placed on the other side of the scale and it doesnt move an inch The man hangs his head clearly worried about his fate when three gray trucks arrive What do these carry he wonders These trucks the angels explain contain all the trouble and strife youve experienced in your life The trucks contents are unloaded All those many years of misery are added to the scale along with the mans few good deeds Amazingly the scale reaches perfect equilibrium Immediately the man turns around to face God What You couldnt give me just a little more tsuris Tsuris trouble comes in all sizes and shapes from the pain suffering and loss of loved ones to getting stuck behind some slow driving shmuck who pulls out in front of you forcing you to slam on your brakes and then drives fi ve miles per hour below the speed limit which gets you stuck at the next red light while he rolls cluelessly through the intersection The challenges we face in life and business big and small are tests They test our faith patience dedication and will Who knows maybe if Id made that light I would have been sideswiped by a semi trailer carrying my sins no doubt at the next intersection Maybe instead of cursing the car in front of me I should have been offering thanks For many 2011 was a challenging year But we got through it and hopefully the tsuris we dealt with will make us all stronger And maybe just maybe it will tip the scales in our favor Have a blessed balanced 2012 at work and at home