Oh Wait, There Are Time-Outs
In the midst of the game of life there are actually time-outs. They are called smiling and laughing. It’s the ability to laugh at yourself and the circumstances you are in, self-imposed or otherwise.
“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
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” – Phyliss Diller
“I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
“As long as you can laugh at yourself you will never cease to be amused.” – Unknown
Just Give Me Some Kind Of Sign
Sometimes the person taking a time-out (see yesterday) is waiting for a sign to get back in the game. There are signs given to you all the time. They come in many forms.
If you accept that everything happens for a reason, then get into the habit of asking yourself “what is the reason?” of a particular event or meeting a particular person.
Believing that the reason is always ultimately for the good, makes it easier for you to see the signs and make it into a good. Of course, it begins with you really wanting to see the signs.
An elderly Jewish man was living in an area that was expecting a major hurricane with potential massive floods. The police drove through his neighborhood telling people to evacuate. The man refused claiming that he had been an observant Jew all his life and that G-d would take care of him. The floods started to come and now the police came in boats. Again he refused. The floods continued to rise and now he was sitting on the roof. This time the police came in helicopters. Again, he refused. Eventually he drowned. When he met his maker, he asked “why you would do this to me, why didn’t you save me?” G-d replied, “I sent you a police car, a boat, a helicopter…..”
“One who watches the wind will never sow, and one who keeps his eyes on the clouds will never reap.” – King Solomon Ecclesiastes
“Life’s not about waiting for the storms to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
No Time-Outs
An athlete competes and is alive during a competition. Then there is training and preparing.
In between training and competing, there are time-outs. In life there are no time-outs (sleep aside?). How often have you said, or heard someone say, “I’m in a place in my life” or “I need to work on myself”?
That’s asking for a time-out in a game where there are none. It’s like walking off the field in the middle of the game. This mindset is often the result of a tragic event and/or an epiphany that wrong choices have been made consistently. This is a natural and understandable emotional response.
Everything happens for a reason. Therefore, everyone you come into contact with today and tomorrow is for a reason. That person may need something from you, or need to give you something you need. That can’t happen if you are not on the field.
If you have taken yourself out of the game, then you are at best delaying the discovery of your purpose and fulfilling your potential. If your reason for “working on yourself” is so that you may be the person you were created and wish to be, then you can’t be a spectator of life. You need to be “working on yourself” during the game. The rest of us need you to play to your potential. If not we all lose.
A woman was considering leaving her teaching profession to travel and look for the meaning of life. She went to see her spiritual leader, a man known as The Rebbe, for advice. He said to her,
“When you find the meaning of life, will you have enough time left to live a meaningful life? Better to live a meaningful life and find meaning along the way”.
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” — Albert Einstein
“Time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh and know that I have just one chance to live this particular day right, and to string my days together into a life of action, and purpose.” – Lance Armstrong
For those who take themselves out of the game of love, consider that a person presented to you may be the one and…
“If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” – Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca
A Soul Elevating Quote
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Clothes Make The Man?
As we recognize the radiance of our inner-beauty and its connection to our outer appearance, we might consider what we do for appearance sake and why. Perhaps this is one time where inside-out is the correct way to start.
When Albert Einstein’s wife asked him to change clothes to meet the German Ambassador, he said
“If they want to see me, here I am. If they want to see my clothes, open my closet and show them my suits.”- Albert Einstein
If we are to actualize our purpose, goals and dreams, we have to let go of the past by accepting the past. There is purpose and meaning to everything. That means you are exactly where you need to be to get to where you are going. You had to go through whatever you went through to get here.
Let’s say you hire a personal trainer to get more fit and/or improve at a sport. The trainer will put you through drills and exercises that you might not like and might not want to do. You might even hate the trainer for it. Those drills will cause some pain and suffering. When you are done, you are stronger, healthier and better. Could you have gotten those results without all the blood, sweat, and tears? You chose to hire a trainer, would you have chosen to have those past experiences?
“Remember that not getting what you want, is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” – Unattributed
“Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
First of If You are Always Looking Back, Then Your Future Will Look Like Your Past series
An Oldie But Goodie originally sent 1/31/11
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 