Recharging My Battery

Well after almost 18 hours of travel, I am finally here in Israel for the very first time. As I got off the plane alone and headed to the baggage claim, my Israeli cell phone rang. It was my daughter’s voice, “hi mommy.” Unless she had my phone on redial for the last 18 hours, there is no way she would have known that I was accessible, and yet she did. I was tired and nervously excited to meet up with the JWRP group, but my daughter’s voice reinforced why I made this journey. The purpose of my personal journey is to expose myself to the incredible women around me so that it might give me momentum to find a new path in life.

Today, after a two-hour bus ride from Tel Aviv to Tiberias, Israel, we unpack and settled into the hotel and all gathered to hear a presentation by two very impressive women, Kayla Frankel and Nili Couzens. Each performed the first ice breakers of this life-changing program. I was particularly moved by Nili’s metaphor for the trip which was to think of ourselves as a cell phone battery that needed recharging. And to remember that just because you plug the cell phone in doesn’t mean you are charging it if you are also simultaneously using it.

The point was that women juggle a lot on a daily basis and they feel depleted. I know as a single mother of three young children holding a fulltime job with volunteer commitments that I can feel that I am running on empty. And I got emotional thinking about how I can I recharge my battery when at this very point in my life, I need more than a recharge, but a whole new cell phone. Where do I even begin?

The answer…surrounded by 200 JWRP sisters who live similar lives and inspire me to care about myself. Tonight we talked, we learned, we ate, and we danced. On more than one occasion, I was touched by some kind word or gesture extended to me by unfamiliar and sometimes friendly face. And though I am not completely comfortable with the idea of letting go, I gave it a try and began to recharge my soul.

This blog is not only for me and my JWRP family, but it is for my daughter who will one day learn how important it is to recharge her soul when the time is right. Good night from Leonardo Hotel in Tiberias, Israel. See you tomorrow!