Graduate Or Get Left Back – Your Choice
In previous posts it has been repeated that all that comes our way, is what is needed for our growth. It’s also been said that it is important to develop the attitude of believing and accepting that.
What is originally sent our way is not to be confused with what comes our way, from the choices we make with that which is sent. Sometimes the choices we make are seemingly expedient, but are mistakenly so. Usually, those expedient choices are the ones that feed our ego/wants rather than our needs/needed fors, our other centric giving self. In considering which choice to make, take the “ten count” and ask yourself what you are feeding. We are responsible for those choices. We are responsible to ourselves for how they effect our growth and we are responsible for how those choices effect others.
If the choices you make are ones that don’t lead to improvement, then life/your coach will continue to send you other challenges/drills meant to improve that deficiency. It’s as though you took the wrong exit on your trip, your personal GPS will re-direct you if you pay attention. In other words, you get second chances through lessons sent.
How quickly you get to your destination is up to you. It depends on whether you choose to be a slow or fast learner by paying careful attention to the lessons, past and present. That which comes your way and what you do with it determines how quickly you get to where you need or are meant to be going.
“In life there are two paths, the shorter longer way or the longer shorter way.” – Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
You have free choice. Your choice determines whether you graduate to the next grade/level on your mountain or are left back to repeat.
You Cannot Lower Your Mountain, You Can Elevate Yourself
Today, you are the sum of all your choices so far. You will become the sum of your choices, starting right now.
“Life is a sum of all your choices.” – Albert Camus
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light Learn Smile
Everything Happens For A Lesson
Everything happens for a reason. The reason Life as your coach sends/gives you challenges is because they are necessary for your growth. Within them are lessons meant to guide you towards eventually discovering the person you are meant to be and is needed. So everything happens for a lesson. Seeing them as lessons towards your growth depends on your attitude. Your attitude determines your altitude.
“Experience is the best teacher, and the worst experiences teach the best lessons.” — Unknown
Someone I know very well has going through a very challenging time. His mountain has became very steep, dark, stormy….. Most people that know him aren’t aware of it. They think that he has led a pretty charmed life. Their view is from the outside looking in, from their perspective, and because to a large degree he was private. Yet they were mostly right because he still believes he was and is blessed, so what’s there to Kvetch about 😃
A friend once told him that it’s not fair to not let your friends in and expect them to let you in. Nonetheless, many did let him in and he endeavored to be empathetic and helpful. So, when his mountain became very treacherous he eventually took his friend’s advice to heart.
He initially and selectively, shared his trials with some close friends and relatives. Some were very helpful and some not so much. He was in some cases very pleasantly surprised at how very helpful some were, as well as unpleasantly surprised by the not so much. Some of the helpfuls did more than he expected. Some of the unhelpfuls could have…..
There were some that he did not reach out to but ran into. When asked how he was, rather then replying with the standard “I’m fine”, he now told them that he was in the midst of some very serious challenges. He said that he was open to explaining what was happening but not at that moment. It required a sit down. Some followed up, for which he was grateful, and some promised to call and never did. That hurt. Some of those that followed up couldn’t directly help, but listened and stayed in touch. That alone was very comforting.
During this time it would have been easy to become cynical, angry, resentful, develop why me -itis….. He fought against that temptation. Instead, since he believed that everything happens for a reason, then there were lessons for him from his current challenges.
Here are the some of the lessons he learned (again)
1.From the very helpful and the ones who did more than expected, he was reminded that when the opportunity arose, he should, could, would do the same. We can all learn to do more than give a hand but rather to extend our hand
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me. And if I am only for myself, of what good am I.” – Ethics of Fathers 1:14 Hillel
“There is no better exercise for your heart, than reaching down and helping to lift someone up.” – Bernard Meltzer
2. This is a two for one lesson. From the unhelpfuls and those that didn’t follow up, he was reminded to do the opposite. He also recognized that just like they didn’t know about his situation, he didn’t know where they were on their mountain, so don’t assume/judge.
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” – Hillel
3. Listening, if that’s all that can be done, is still vital. Listen with a listening heart. One should have a listening heart in all interactions to hear what someone may really be conveying. That requires taking yourself out of the equation and being empathetic.
Sometimes the opportunities to learn a particular lesson are repeated. Repeated although they always come dressed differently. They keep coming until we learn that particular lesson and turn it into action.
When I was a trader, I used to tell people that good traders learn from their losing trades over and over again. Let’s all continue to learn until
“Habits of action become habits of the heart”. – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light Learn Smile
Love Quotes You Will Love
Here are some quotes on Love, posted once before
I love these quotes. I loved compiling them. I know you will love them too
“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle
“Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones
“What love we’ve given, we’ll have forever. What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity.” – Leo Buscaglia
“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” – Khalil Gibran
“Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
“The first duty of love is to listen.” – Paul Tillich
“The salvation of man is through love and in love.” – Dr.Viktor Frankl
“True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.” — Erich Segal
“Fall in love and you can fall out of love.
Create love and it will last forever.” – Rabbi Tzvi Freeman“Love is a ladder; it allows us to climb out of ourselves”. – Noah benShea
“Do not seek the because – in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.” – Anais Nin
“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert Heinlein
“Any love that is dependent on something — when the thing ceases, the love also ceases. But a love that is not dependent on any thing never ceases…” – Ethics of the Fathers, 5:16
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides” – David Viscott
“You don’t truly love someone until you can take what they need to give you.” – David Suissa
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Theodor Seuss Geisel
“We may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.” – Bernard Meltzer
“Who, being loved, is poor?” – Oscar Wilde
“Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them.” – Bill Russell
“Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says: ‘I need you because I love you.” – Erich Fromm
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu
“If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.” – Michel de Montaigne
“Love is a game that two can play and both win.” – Eva Gabor
“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get – only with what you are expecting to give – which is everything.” – Katherine Hepburn
“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” – Sam Keen
“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” – Morrie Schwartz
“Love has no age, no limit; and no death.” – John Galsworthy
“I can live without money, but I cannot live without love.” – Judy Garland
“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” – Jalal ad-Din Rumi
“I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me” – Song of Songs 6:3
“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” – George Sand
“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“To love another person is to see the face of G-d.” – Victor Hugo
“In our life there is a single color, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.” – Marc Chagall
“Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.” – Duke Ellington
“If you would be loved, love, and be loveable.” – Benjamin Franklin
“True love stories never have endings” – Richard Bach
“So, fall asleep love, loved by me… for I know love, I am loved by thee.” – Robert Browning
For thoughts on love for those that have it and those still searching, not just quotes, read all the past writings on love click here
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light Smile
Who’s Got Talent?
You Do!
Kobe Bryant said after his last game upon retiring from Basketball
“I was blessed with a lot of talent and I worked like I had none”
Each of us was/is blessed “with a lot of talent”, although we don’t necessarily see some of them as talents. We just accept them. We also have, perhaps hidden deeper, untapped, and/or unrecognized talents.
Each of us was given, what we were given, from every single detail of your appearance, to what we normally call talents. All were given to you to make you the player you are meant to be, on the team called Humanity.
The combination of all that’s given to you, makes you a talent. All given to you as a package, so as to make you the unique person you are and are meant to be. It’s given to you so that you may fulfill your unique and needed role on Team Humanity. No one ever before has your unique talent. Only you possess that unique talent and therefore only you can fulfill that role. You are not just matter, you Matter!
Of course, within your package there might be a very outstanding talent recognized by many. Since each of our uniqueness is meant to be used to do a good for one or many, that one gets you noticed by many, so that you can do a good for many.
Recognize and acknowledge your “talent” and then “work as though you had none”, so as to constantly seek to improve what you have. Recognize that your talent is a gift given to you so that you may bring your gift to the party of life. Recognize your “talent” and wonder how it can be used for the good, which is why it was given to you in the first place.
Recognize that all others also have their talents. When we all use our talents, we can have the world we all wish for. Life is not like an individual sport, it is like a team sport
“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov
“Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it will be forward, backwards, or sideways.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“When I stand before G-d at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.” – Erma Bombeck
When you recognize that you are a talent, when you use your talent as it’s meant to be used, you will also be talented at being happy 😊
Use Your Talent To
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light Smile
When You’re Smiling…….*
Feeling depressed, anxious, angry, lonely, low energy, …..? Well now there is and there always has been a prescription to cure all of that. It may not cure the root cause, but it will change your mindset, which will allow you to move forward. It is called Smiling and Laughing.
Smiling and Laughing are the best medicines to keep you going. It begins with and/or creates a positive attitude. It also creates several healthy physiological responses. An additional benefit, is that when you smile and laugh, you make others smile and laugh, which helps others.
Side effects may include: more friends, reversal of frown wrinkles, a busier social calendar, a need to get your teeth whitened, a need to buy more clothes…….
Smiling and laughing includes the ability to laugh at yourself and the circumstances you are in, self-imposed or otherwise.
Whenever you are feeling any of the symptoms described above, try the following: laugh at something about yourself, watch or listen to a comedy or comedian, even forcing a Smile helps
So Now Sing Along With Me
When you’re smilin’, when you’re smilin’The whole world smiles with youWhen you’re laughin’, when you’re laughin’The sun comes shinin’ through
Much has been discussed and written about the Jewish sense of humor. It is often noted that there have been so many Jewish comedians over the years, long before Jerry Seinfeld. People always wonder how is it that after thousands of years of persecution, expulsions, pogroms, the Holocaust, etc., that Jews can still laugh and be funny. The Jewish sense of humor is both self and situationally deprecating. The ability to laugh is both a survival mechanism and less discussed, it is a testament to our faith that teaches us to have faith that things will get better. Smile and it will.
“Laughter prevents hardening of the attitudes.” – Dunc Muncy
“Smile – it’s the second best thing you can do with your lips.” – Don Ward
“It takes 17 muscles to smile, and 47 muscles to frown. Conserve energy.” – unknown
“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.” – Andy Rooney
“As long as you can laugh at yourself you will never cease to be amused.” – Unknown
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Yakov Smirnoff
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” – Phyllis Diller
Watch this video and Smile
Most Important
Always Laugh At My Jokes
I hope this post put a Smile on your face and I’ll be Smiling with you
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light Smile
*A popular song written by Larry Shay, Mark Fisher and Joe Goodwin in 1928
Make 2023 A Year Of Good
As we begin another new year, another new, another beginning, we look forward to all that we wish for. The good that we wish for ourselves, is the good that we wish for others and vice-versa.
For this New Year, let’s do more than just wish. Let’s make this a “Happy New Year”, a year of good. Let’s make this the year where our deeds make our wishes reality. A year where we tap into “all of our possibilities” and potential to become the human we were destined and created to be. A year where we each do our unique part to make our world a better one. A year where we each “Shine A Little Light”! No matter what the circumstances are. We can get there by constantly striving to make all of our actions directed to a purpose higher than just ourselves. All that we need and the world we all wish for is in our hands.
Many years ago there was this great old wise man, a seer, who was coming to a town to speak. His reputation preceded him, so that many people waited with great anticipation for his arrival and then went to hear him speak. Among them, was this one young and skeptical man, who went simply to challenge the wise man. After the wise man spoke, there was a Q&A. When it was the young mans turn, he put out his cupped hands and asked the wise man what was in his hands. The wise man replied, “two little birds”, which was correct. The young man was impressed, but he was still skeptical, so he asked whether they were dead or alive. The wise man knew that if he replied, “they’re dead”, the young man would open his hands and the birds would fly away. If he replied “they’re alive”, the young man would crush the birds in his hands. The wise man’s reply was simply
“The Answer Is All In Your Hands.”
“Each person must see himself as though the entire world were held in balance and any deed he may do could tip the scales.” – Maimonides
May 2023 be your best year ever…so far!!
Healthy and Happy 2023
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Healthy Be A Light
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 