Covid Is Not A Time Out
In thinking about the past several months, I am reminded of this “Oldie But Goodie” post. So here it is updated and reposted with it’s relevance to the Pandemic in mind. Perhaps it should have been sent earlier, yet it’s still relevant.* It’s always relevant because all of us have probably taken a “time out” at sometime, or wish we could. So it’s a valuable reminder to all, anytime and all of the time.
With all of the restrictions still upon us during this pandemic, we have to be careful not to view it as a time out. It is easy to turn this into an excuse to “take a break” or a “time out”. Rather, see it as another opportunity, perhaps disguised, to learn and grow .
No Time Outs
The most important moment of all is Right Now! That being said, we know that every moment is precious and counts. Every precious moment counts and goes by whether we choose to participate or not.
“You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin
“The day will happen whether or not you get up.” – John Ciardi
“We cannot put off living until we are ready.” – Jose Ortega y Gasset
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
An athlete competes and is alive during a competition. Then there is training and preparing. In between training and competing, there are time-outs. There are also time-outs during the competition.
In life there are no time-outs. The proverbial exceptions to this rule are sleep (although a case can be made that sleep is part of preparing) and an appropriate mourning period.
There are moments when we might wish for a time-out. If we were to take one, then we are not fully alive during those lost moments. 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 and watching the game go on from the sidelines.
“Life is like playing the violin solo in public and learning the instrument as you go”. – Samuel Butler
This mindset is often the result of a tragic event and/or an epiphany that wrong choices have consistently been made producing negative results. This is a natural and understandable emotional response. To not allow this emotional response to control you, remember that 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 and you have taken yourself out of the game. If you temporarily take yourself out of the game, then you are at best delaying the discovery of your purpose and fulfilling your potential for the benefit of one or all.
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” in and during the game. The rest of us need you to play to your potential. If not we all lose.
A woman was considering taking a sabbatical from 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. This is what 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”. – Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
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
If you have been taking a “time out” during this period, Life as your coach is calling you back in the game. The team needs you!
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Healthy
*I would have put this out sooner but I was taking a time out 😀
Fill This Prescription
Fill this prescription now
Currently, as we Navigate the extra stormy seas of the pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes, etc., a stronger dose of this medicine is highly recommended. So take this medicine at least once a day and everyday.
Feeling depressed, anxious, angry, lonely, low energy, and more? Well now there is and there always has been a prescription to cure all of that. 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 a healthy physiological response.
An additional benefit, is that when you smile and laugh, you make others smile and laugh.
Disclaimer
It doesn’t guarantee to make a problem disappear. It will make you feel better, stronger, and hence better able to deal with the problem. Being stronger does give you a fighting chance. As long as you’re fighting you have a chance of winning.
You have no control over the tests, hurdles, and struggles sent your way. You do have control over how you respond.
There is no risk in taking this medicine, it is completely safe. There is only upside.
Side Effects
Side effects may include: more friends, reversal of frown lines, a busier social calendar, a need to get your teeth whitened, a need to buy more clothes…….
Directions
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:
1.Laugh at something about yourself
2. watch or listen to a comedy or comedian
3. say cheese
The Clinical Trials
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 situational deprecating. The ability to laugh is both a survival mechanism and less discussed, is that we are taught to have faith that things will get better. When we all have that faith and smile they 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
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” – Phyliss Diller
“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
“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.” – Andy Rooney
“I live to laugh, and I laugh to live.” – Milton Berle
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.” – Yiddish Proverb
“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face”. – Victor Hugo
“Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.” – Connor Franta
“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose”. – Tom Wilson
“Always wear a smile. The gift of life will then be yours to give.” — Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” – Charlie Chaplin
Watch this video and Smile
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Healthy
The Spinning Rabbi is not a Doctor, I’m not even a real Rabbi, but I can confidently and legally prescribe the above 😀
I hope this post brings a Smile to your face 😄 If it does share it with those who might need it
Where Does “Love Your Fellow” Begin
In the last post, I once again used the quote
“Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).
Let’s delve into the meaning of that quote further and see how we can use it as a guiding light.
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 constantly have in our thoughts, to guide our actions or words, whether consciously or un. It is another one of those cardinal rules that needs to be constantly thought of, 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 though, let’s focus on the “as yourself/thyself” part, which is 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 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?
How To Love Yourself
To truly love yourself, begin by recognizing and constantly remembering that you have value and you matter. You are not just matter, it is you that matters. Never forget that.
You, your soul was created on purpose. It was placed in your body for a specific purpose. A unique purpose that benefits all. It’s a mission that only you can fulfill. That you are still here, as in alive, is on purpose. In other words, you are still needed. 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!!
When you believe that you are needed and matter, you will also be better prepared and able to handle anything that comes your way.
“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” – C. S. Lewis
“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
“The worst fault a person can have is to forget his intrinsic greatness as a human being.” – Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin
When you don’t believe, it becomes too easy to believe you are a victim. Victimhood leads to depression, anger, and blaming another/others. It can cause any interaction with another that isn’t what you want it to be, or perceive it, to be taken as personal and negative. There is no room to see another, just to see what you want to see. It causes you to act on assumptions. None, of this lends itself to “love your fellow”.
Victimhood is internal and it can cause the need for external affirmation and going to any length to get it. Including going along to get along, even when you really know better.
“We don’t always see things as they are, we see things as we are” – Anais Nin
“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” – Henry Winkler
“Victimhood comes from the inside. No one can make you a victim but you . We become victims not because of what happens to us but when we choose to hold onto victimization.” – Dr. Edith Eva Eger
When you truly love the truly you, then you can truly love your neighbor/fellow. When we all do that, we will have the wonderful world we all truly wish for.
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Healthy
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2020 and Many More
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 then, a very novel idea in building a nation based on individual rights and freedom. A nation founded on the idea that man is inherently good and given freedom could/would live up to that good. A nation founded on the belief that all are created in the image of G-d. That we are all children of G-d. That given freedom, we could and would eventually have a country that lives up to and recognizes these “self-evident truths”.
Those who got freedom back then, were grateful. Yet it was not something that they were familiar with and had no real experience. They were an imperfect people given the freedom and opportunity based on the founding principles to grow and become a more “perfect union”. So began the journey in learning how to use their new freedom.
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 unique person, with a unique purpose and mission for which we were each created. A mission that contributes to the benefit of all. A person who follows
“Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19;18).
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me. And if I am only for myself, of what good am I.” – Hillel, Ethics of fathers 1:14
Without these rights and freedom we could not pursue our dreams and our individual purpose. 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. Without the freedom to fulfill our individual purpose, we will never get to a land fully defined by it’s founding principles.
What could be more gratifying for each of us to know that we chose, because we could, to use that freedom to reach our ultimate potential as human beings. To know that it came from you and not imposed on you. To look around us and see that all are enjoying “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” To be truly United. It may take longer than we would like but freedom is the only way to get there.
If there are faults in America, it is not the fault of America. We are all still imperfect people.
A young child asks his parents on a long trip, “Are we there yet?”. The parent answers “no, not yet”. On our journey, we must constantly ask ourselves, “Am I there yet?”. Each of us is a work in process that can lead to progress. The closer we get, the closer we will be to the goal that America was founded on. We have made much progress, so let’s keep going, until the answer becomes, “yes, we are there”. Without freedom we will never get there!
To have the freedom to pursue and become our true selves is indeed something to be thankful for.
Our liberty should be celebrated everyday by using it for the good of all.
May we cherish, be grateful for, and protect those freedoms for many, many more years.
May we use our freedom to fulfill our greatest human potential.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
G-d Bless America
Your Comfort Zone
We often stay in our comfort zone no matter how uncomfortable it may really be.
Here’s a favorite quote that’s a reminder to push ourselves through challenges to bring a desired change.
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. – Neale Donald Walsch
In order to accomplish anything important and of value requires making changes. Those changes require getting out of what has become our comfort zone. Those changes come with some struggle. Diamonds are not found lying on the ground.
The desired change(s) begin with your decision and commitment to make those changes.
Let’s say you want to get in better shape. You hire a personal trainer to help you do it. The trainer will put you through drills and exercises that you might not like and might not want to do. Those drills will cause some pain and discomfort. When you are done, you are stronger, healthier and better. Could you have gotten those results without all the blood, sweat, and tears?
“All things are difficult before they are easy.” – Thomas Fuller
All the above applies to our choice to get out of our comfort zone in order to grow in some way.
This pandemic has taken us way out of our comfort zone and not by our choice. Although it has been forced upon you, you can choose to use it as a catalyst and an opportunity to grow and reach new personal heights. Being forced out of your comfort zone, rather than choosing, could be the most significantly meaningful opportunity to make the most significant and meaningful changes for yourself and by extension for the world.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor E. Frankl
Are there changes you could/should make?
Hopefully, you have used this time to think about what your priorities have been. What they are and/or what should they be? What is truly valuable to you? What will really bring you joy, not just happiness? What gives your life purpose and meaning, or what could?
Now having been forced out of your comfort zone, make those changes for now and going forward. Commit to them and you will come out of this stronger, healthier, better, and more joyful.
Warning
Do not let this “Shelter In Place” become your new comfort zone!!
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Healthy
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 