Robin Williams, R.I.P.
We are all deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Robin Williams. A man who warmed our hearts, inspired us, and put a smile on our face, both on and off-screen.
How painful it is to consider the depth of pain that one must feel to take that step. It is heartbreaking to think of him or anyone in that much existential pain.
Here is a telling and perhaps prescient dialogue From “Mork and Mindy”, when Mork is giving Orson one of his regular reports about us
Orson: The report Mork.
Mork: This week I discovered a terrible disease called loneliness.
Orson: Do many people on Earth suffer from this disease?
Mork: Oh yes sir, and how they suffer. One man I know suffers so much he has to take a medication called bourbon, even that doesn’t help very much because then he can hear paint dry.
Orson: Does bed rest help?
Mork: No because I’ve heard that sleeping alone is part of the problem. You see, Orson, loneliness is a disease of the spirit. People who have it think that no one cares about them.
Orson: Do you have any idea why?
Mork: Yes sir you can count on me. You see, when children are young, they’re told not to talk to strangers. When they go to school, they’re told not to talk to the person next to them. Finally when they’re very old, they’re told not to talk to themselves, who’s left?
We all crave to love, be loved, and to know that we matter. Let someone know that they matter. Do it today.
Time Is Not On Your Side
Unless you use it wisely.
Say someone e-mails you a YouTube video, or an article that deals with something you have been struggling with, will you watch it or read it if it takes more than three minutes? Is that how you determine whether or not you will watch or read it?
How much time are you willing to invest in and for your life? How much time are you willing to invest in your growth, improvement, and refinement? How much dedication, discipline, and energy are you willing to spend for your growth, improvement, and refinement?
Or are you content where you are?
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
How much time do you spend in a day on things that don’t lead to your growth? How much time and energy do you spend on avoiding that which will lead to growth and improvement?
Just asking!
“You may delay, but time will not.” – Ben Franklin
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” – William Penn
“I was planning to procrastinate, but I never got around to it.” – Unknown
Heart and Soul
86,927 Days
On the Fourth of July 2014, we will have been blessed with and enjoyed 86,927 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”.
This was a novel experiment 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 else to be grateful for!
May we cherish and protect those freedoms for many, many more days. May we use our freedom to fulfill our greatest human potential.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
G-d Bless America
Always Fight Like A Champion
You have chosen a dream or goal and now you are preparing to begin. In your preparation, don’t forget to prepare mentally. Your mindset going into and while you are moving towards the realization of your dream, or goal, or purpose will be a determinant of the outcome.
Your preparing is in many ways similar to the way an athlete, let’s say a boxer, in training would prepare. Proper training for a boxer requires not just physical, but just as important, mental preparation. Who you are, or believe you are going into the fight will be a determinant of your success.
“If you have it and you know you have it, then you have it. If you have it and don’t know you have it, you don’t have it. If you don’t have it but you think you have it, then you have it.” – Jackie Gleason
Just like the boxer, as you fight for your dream, goal, or purpose your mindset will also determine how you see and deal with any setbacks. You can see a loss as a knockout punch or “failure” and then give up. Or you can see it as just the loss of a round, from which you can learn and become a better fighter. It is never too late to change your mindset and not give up.
It has been said that even when Muhammad Ali was losing a fight, he fought like a champion.
“Failure is only postponed success as long as courage “coaches” ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory”. — Herbert Kaufman
“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
Heart and Soul
part of Eye Of The Tiger series
“I Can’t Help It”?
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’! – Audrey Hepburn
“Our freedom can be measured by the number of things we can walk away from.” – Vernon Howard“One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities.” — Abraham Maslow
Heart and Soul
Are You A Cynic, Or Don’t You Remember?
A very recent study gives us more evidence of the benefits of a positive outlook. There have been many studies that have shown that a positive outlook leads to more happiness and better physical health, and vice-versa.
This study shows that people who are cynical (dictionary definition – believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity) are three times more likely to develop dementia.
If you don’t see the good in others, look harder. It might be easier to see the good in others if you “loved yourself as your fellow”. In other words, consider this:
“Your fellow is your mirror. If your own face is clean, so will be the image you perceive. But should you look upon your fellow and see a blemish, it is your own imperfection that you are encountering – you are being shown what it is that you must correct within yourself.” – The Baal Shem Tov
Look for the good in yourself, it’s there. Look for the good in others, it’s there. Look for the good in this world, it’s there. Believe in the overall good of humanity and believe that the world is improving. Then you will be happier, healthier, and better… Heart and Soul. Then you will also be contributing to an even better world.
Interesting, isn’t it, how one can detect a speck on another’s hair, but can’t see flies on his own nose? — Mendel Moicher Sefarim
“We don’t always see things as they are, we see things as we are” Anais Nin
Always remember this
“One who is of good heart is festive always.” – Proverbs
Heart and Soul
“Love Your Fellow As Yourself.”
We are all aware of this cardinal rule “Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19;18), which is sometimes stated as “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. It is a cardinal rule, because it is something to be constantly considered, to guide our actions or words, whether consciously or un. It is another one of those cardinal rules that needs to be constantly considered, until it becomes second nature, or as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says, “habits of action that become habits of the heart”.
Most of the discussions about this cardinal rule centers around what it means to “love your fellow/neighbor”, no matter how difficult it may be. We all tend to find things about our “fellow/neighbor” that we don’t like, or bugs us. This teaching reminds us to look for the good in all.
For now, let’s focus on the “as yourself/thyself” part, which it really where it begins. If you don’t love yourself first, then your “fellow” isn’t so thrilled with you loving them and your “neighbor” is probably thinking, “don’t come a knocking”!!
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me. And if I am only for myself, of what good am I”. – Hillel
If you don’t love yourself, then how can you love another? If you can’t see your inner beauty/soul, the true you, how can you see that of another? Begin by recognizing and constantly remembering that you have value and you matter. Never forget that. You were created on purpose, for a specific purpose and mission, that only you can fulfill. That you are still here, as in alive, is on purpose, for that specific purpose. As younger people would say, “How cool is that”? When you truly believe, internalize, and actualize that, you will love yourself and then you can start knocking on your neighbors doors. They will be glad to see YOU!!
“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” – Dr. Seuss
“We must be our own before we can be another’s.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” – Marvin Gaye
Heart and Soul
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 