The Wrong Question Promotes The Wrong Attitude*
We are often asked “How is life treating you”? That question creates a mindset of us as victims of circumstance. The question really should be “How are you treating life”? Thinking that way is another attitude shift.
We have no control over the events that come our way; we can only control how we react to them. We can train ourselves to treat everything and everyone that comes our way as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve. That’s why it’s presented to us.
An athlete’s trainer has the athlete perform drills to master in order to build a base. Building on the base the trainer successively gives new and more challenging drills. We should view the next thing that comes our way as what we now need to master.
“It did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.” – Viktor Frankl speaking of himself and other inmates of Auschwitz from “Man’s Search for Meaning”
“Circumstances are beyond the control of man; but his conduct is in his own power.”— Benjamin Disraeli
“A joyful person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes”.– Hugh Downs
So, How are you treating Life?
Heart and Soul
*”Oldie But Goodie”
RWA*
You begin your day by being grateful. You’ve unwrapped your gift. Now to bring all of you, to all the day brings your way, think RWA.
R=Ready W=Willing A=Able
Ready – is from all the previous life lessons sent to you to train and prepare you to become you
Willing – is your choice, choose willing
Able – it’s a given that you are, otherwise these challenges wouldn’t have been sent to you
Make it your mantra as you start your day and as challenges of any type come your way, anytime. Say silently or out loud “I am RWA” (or say the words), and believe it.
This is an attitude adjustment, that if said and believed often enough, that attitude will become automatic. Having that attitude will lead you to constant growth, improvement, and happier days.
R— “Good judgment comes from bad experience”.- Elderly wise person
W—“It’s choice, not chance that matters.”- Jean Nidetch, founder of WeightWatchers
A—“Imagine if a bird was unaware that its wings enabled it to fly.”- The Rebbe
Heart and Soul
*”Oldie But Goodie” updated
You Are Our Gift*
If you are reading this then you have continued to receive the gift of life and more time for you to unwrap it. Now it’s time for you to realize that you are a gift.
We all need you to unwrap the gift within you, which is you. When you present the gift of the true you to the world, you will find your purpose, you will find joy, and we will all benefit.
To do that you must be who you were created to be. In the great symphony of life, a violinist needs to be a violinist and a pianist needs to be a pianist.
“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be”. — Abraham Maslow
Heart and Soul
*”Oldie But Goodie” updated
Your Eclipse
The sun shines and brings light all the time. Sometimes we can’t see it because of clouds, the earth’s rotation, or on those very rare occasions when its light is eclipsed by the moon.
Just like the sun, our light is ever-present or available. Our light is our soul.
There is a difference between the sun’s light and ours. When the sun’s light is blocked, it’s not of its own doing. When our light is blocked, it’s because we are blocking it. Our ego and wants keep it blocked.
So “Let the sun shine”*, your sun, your soul, or your truth!
“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.’ – Elvis Presley
So how do you keep the light shining through? For starters read this “Oldie But Goodie” true story
Many years ago there was a very wealthy man who was a pillar of his community. He was a very charitable and generous man. Many came to him for loans, advice, investments in their business, or just to be around him. One day through no fault of his own he lost everything. Pretty soon people stopped coming and he was left to be alone with his sadness.
He became very depressed. So one day he went to see his spiritual leader Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), known as the Alter Rebbe. He presented his letter to the Rebbe outlining the help he was seeking. The Rebbe read the letter and looked up at him and said “I see you have given a great deal of thought as to what it is that you need, but have you given any thought as to what it is that you are needed for?”
“Once you have found that which you are needed for you will have all that you need”
When you focus on what you are needed for, your light will be radiant. It will produce an inner and an outer warmth.
Heart and Soul
For other suggestions browse through this site and stay tuned for more reminders
*Aquarius by the Fifth Dimension
Jump Out Of Bed*
Begin each day by being thankful and grateful. First and foremost be grateful that you woke up.
For that means that you have been given more of the most precious non-renewable resource of all—Time! You have been given time because you are needed, your life has purpose and meaning, and you matter.
You are given this time to perform a good for one or for many. You are given this time because no one else can perform this specific good except you. It all depends on you.
You are not just matter. It is you that matters.
You are given life for this moment, so that you can give this moment life.
Heart and Soul
*”Oldie But Goodie” updated
How Do I Know What My Purpose Is? (first in a series)*
*”Oldie But Goodie”
Your specific purpose may become clear to you any moment, or it may take a lifetime.
Yet there is a way to find it. It is traveling your path with purposefulness. It is a path of good. It is a path where we ask ourselves in all that we are about to do, “is this for the good”? Will this benefit another or others?
As long as the answer is yes then we know that we are headed in the right direction.
A rule for the road
“It is easier to do what is right than to right what is done”. – Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
Heart and Soul
How Do I know My Purpose series
“And Now I’m Back………..”
Yes, it’s been some time since I published a post. “And now I’m back to let you know I can really shake ’em down” (from “Do You Love Me” by the Contours)
During my time off, I have been touched by the many readers from around the world that have availed themselves of this site by reading old posts. I call those posts “Oldies But Goodies”.
The most popular post of any ever published here at the Spinning Rabbi* is, “If Iam I because I am I… (click the title to read it). Every day, people from all over the world visit the site to read it.
One reader during the time off, having read that post, asked in the comment box, “What if I don’t like who I’ve become? How do I change and become good? “
In responding to her question it hit me that I should share it with all of you
So my here is my response
Firstly, I must remind you as it says on my home page, I’m not a real Rabbi.
It’s great that you’re asking that question. It means that you recognize that you don’t like who you presently are. That recognition is a very positive first step. It means that you know the difference between what’s good and that which is not.
“The entire purpose of our existence is to overcome our negative habits.” – Vilna Gaon
Since you know right from wrong, as the next step, develop a pause button that allows you a moment to always ask yourself if your next words or actions are good or not. That pause moment may seem like a long time at first but with repetition and practice it will become instinctual.
“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.” – Leonard Cohen
You recognize that you don’t like who you’ve become because that’s not the true you and that’s what troubles you. The true and real you is embedded in your soul. It knows what is good and what your true purpose and mission is.
There are many posts on this site that will give you some more tips on staying on the path you truly wish to be on.
Thank you for asking me your question!
As I view the many old posts that readers have gone to over the past few months , I will re-post those that speak to the above the most and others, under the heading of “Oldies But Goodies”
You Cannot Lower Your Mountain, But You Can Elevate Yourself
Heart and Soul
