“I Don’t Feel Like It”*
Do you suffer from “I don’t feel like it -itus”? Here is a cure for whenever it gets in the way.
You know you should get some exercise but you don’t feel like it. You have a list of excuses to choose from
“I didn’t sleep well.”
” I had a fight with my significant other.”
“I had a bad day at the office.”
Etcetera. ecetera….You know that exercise is good for you. You know from experience that when you exercised, you always feel better afterwards. So it’s important to make that extra effort to exercise. Making that extra effort is now part of the workout. It’s as though you began with some heavy lifting. You have trained yourself to overcome an emotion that stands in the way of your progress and growth.
Kabbalists speak of “Head over Heart.” The head is above the heart, so that metaphorically the head should overrule the heart. The head represents the intellect that knows what is right to do. The heart represents the emotions which are often impulsive and when acted upon alone, sends us off the path of our improvement and growth. Ideally, eventually the head and heart will find a balance to work together. Until we find that balance we should let the head overrule.
Beyond exercise, which is for ourselves, the same head over heart approach applies to our dealings with others. Too often we are not as kind, compassionate, or charitable, because at that moment we “don’t feel like it.”
When we are feeling up and in a good mood, it’s easy to be giving. Giving of ourselves is hardest, just like exercise, when we’re not in the mood. Just like exercise, that is precisely the time to make that extra effort, knowing that it’s the good and right thing to do, and that you will feel better afterwards.
Eventually, using that knowledge, it will become easier and easier to automatically do the right thing. So whenever you find yourself saying “I don’t feel like it,” tell yourself that that’s all the more reason to do it.
Doing good always makes you feel good
“There is no better exercise for your heart, than reaching down and helping to lift someone up.” – Bernard Meltzer
With that in mind, keep this in mind
“The greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.” – Dr. Jonas Salk
Be Good Do Good Think Good
*An “Oldie but Goodie” updated
“What I Felt From Above”
The story in this video moved me so much, that I must post it here and share it with you.
It is a beautiful, touching, and inspiring story of a true miracle, of faith, and true love of another human even if a stranger. A true example of “Love thy fellow as yourself”. It touches on and in so many ways summarizes so much of the overall message of this site.
“I saved your body, but you saved my soul”
Muawia Kabha an Israeli Arab medic volunteer with United Hatzalah
Be Good Do Good Think Good
Happy Days Of Independence 2019
On this Fourth of July 2019, we will have been blessed with and enjoyed 243 years or 88,753 days of independence since the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. It said;
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
The founding of America was a novel idea in building a nation based on individual rights and freedom. Without these rights and freedom we could not pursue our dreams and our individual purpose. Something to be eternally grateful for!
We were created with Free Will. The USA was created to be a land that gave us the opportunity to express our Free Will. With the freedom of Free Will, we can choose to elevate ourselves and become the person we were created to be. A person who follows “Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19;18). When we use that freedom to be who we are meant to be, to fulfill our unique purpose, America will be all that it’s meant to be and what it was created for.
To have that freedom to pursue and become our true selves is indeed something to be thankful for. That liberty should be celebrated everyday by using it for the good.
May we cherish, be grateful for, and protect those freedoms for many, many more days and years.
May we use our freedom to fulfill our greatest human potential.
Watch this video of the amazing rendition of the National Anthem by this beautiful seven year old girl
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
G-d Bless America
“Oh! My Papa”*
Happy Fathers Day
On this Fathers Day, I wish to honor my Father (obm) and re-post this piece I put out once before
Sam Fox, My Father, A Holocaust Survivor
1924 – 2015
I wish to share with you some of the many lessons I was privileged to learn from my Father. May these lessons inspire you as much as they have inspired me.
When asked by my Brother, “What is the secret to a successful and happy life?”, despite having experienced the Holocaust, in which he lost his parents and five siblings….despite then sitting in a wheelchair because of a paralyzing stroke….. despite that his wife, my Mother, was dying in the other room…..He said
“In life some people have it easy and make it hard and some people have it hard and make it easy”
The value of charity
“When I first came to America I had nothing, yet I always gave to charity. When I did, it always made me feel rich.” – from an acceptance speech upon receiving an award
The value of the pursuit of good
“The pursuit of the good is the noblest of character builders and one of the sources of true gratification”. There are other things in life besides self-interest. Personal involvement in others challenges, in community affairs are the greatest sources of personal achievement and success. Too many people refuse to understand what it means to be involved and to help others. They are truly missing something. There is nothing as gratifying and self-fulfilling as helping others. Why don’t you try it? If you do, I can assure you that you will arrive at a similar conclusion. Try it, you will like it”. – from another acceptance speech upon receiving an award
These were just some of his words. The valuable lessons learned by all who had the privilege of knowing him, came from watching him turn those words into deeds.
*Listen to Eddie Fisher’s beautiful song
Be Good Do Good Think Good
