Body of Armor

So had some disappointments recently.

Nothing terrible (and for that I am so grateful). 

Just life happening. 

Have to fail and fail and fail {more}...in order to get to that single success. 

Along the way, sometimes it feels like arrows going through your body.

Or as someone said to Tina Fey in a movie we watched yesterday:

"Hearts and minds, the two best places to shoot someone."

Is that funny? 

Ok, now I know that I am feeling a little down, because even that made me smirk but not fully smile. 

It's okay.

Life is a series of peaks and valleys. 

Time to climb that next peak. 

I will do it with body armor on and solid. 

Won't let those arrows pierce me, while I ascend.

I am trying, and learning and growing along the way.

If I am to fall, Hashem, in mercy, pick me up that I may keep doing my mission you have for me in life, so that I may ultimately prevail toward the destiny only that You know and have planned for me, for the good. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Body of Armor

Beautiful DC Flowers

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Beautiful DC Flowers

Outskirts City Life

Liked this piece of art, which I am calling Outskirts City Life. 

In the background, under cloudy skies, the tall city buildings--sort of wobbly with all the people and goings-on, which in a way we want to leave behind for some peace and quiet. 

In the foreground is a bridge and park with some sun and trees and people talking, sitting and laying in the grass and a lonesome car driving by.

The colors are vibrant, the shapes are almost like three-dimensional cut-outs making a sort of fairy tale feeling to the whole landscape. 

The picture is overall one where we balance hectic life in the city with the restfulness and tranquility of surrounding nature. 

It's a life where harmony is made by conscious choice and actions to promote a healthy body and mind amidst what we seek to do and accomplish and all that which we are asked to bear for it. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Outskirts City Life

All The Frogs From Egypt

So what happened to all the swarms of frogs from the Bible when in Exodus, G-d struck the Egyptians with the 2nd plague of frogs (reminds me of the children's song: "Frogs here! Frogs there! Frogs are jumping everywhere!")? 

I saw this sticker on a pole in downtown D.C. advertising for this Frog called the Rabb's Fringe Limbed Tree Frog, where there is just 1 left in the entire world. 

Talking about facing extinction!

And this interesting website called PhotoArk by National Geographic freelance photgrapher, Joel Sartore (noted at the bottom of the sticker) sells all sorts of amazing photos of endangered animal species to promote conservation. 

One of them has his "greatest hits" featured with 90 favorite images and sells for $225--what awesome creatures G-d has created.

I remember reading in the Wall Street Journal how since1970 the world's wildlife numbers have dropped by more than half (52%)--"in rivers, on land, and in the seas." 

That is crazy!

Surely, we need to preserve life and create a sustainable future--my G-d, what are we doing to world and these beautiful creatures? ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

All The Frogs From Egypt

G-d Gave Us So Many Gifts

Today, I just wanted to share the words of this beautiful Israeli song that a friend shared with me in Synagogue. 

It is called (in Hebrew) "Elohin Natan Lecha Bematana,"which means G-d gave you as a present.

It's about everything wonderful that G-d has given us, and we just ask for one more gift...peace. 

Hope you enjoy (it brought tears to my eyes)! 

****************************

Chorus:
God gave you as a gift
Something great, something wonderful
God gave you as a gift
The life on earth

Gave you the night and the day
Love, hope and dream
Summer, winter, autumn, spring
Good soul to look around

Gave you green fields
Flowers and blooming trees
Rivers, streams and seas
Sky, moon, stars

Chorus

Gave you feasts and Sabbaths
Israel, the fathers' land
Hands and head to fulfill dreams
Gave you all the wonders

Gave you such nice things
To bring kids to this world
Listen to songs, see colors
Oh, so many are your deeds, God

Chorus

God, oh, please give me just one more gift
A small gift but a wonderful one
God, please give me just one more gift
The peace on earth

***************************

G-d Gave Us So Many Gifts

Tree Transplant

Getting a little tree transplant in cold, grey Washington, D.C. today. 

Sadly, the new trees, without any leaves, look more dead than alive. 

Sort of funny (-sad) how we pour infinite amounts of concrete and build up our cities, until there is little to no natural green spaces anymore (unless you get yourself to the neighborhood park or run on weekends to the burbs). 

We call in the tree transplant folks to line that narrow stip around our sidewalks with a few trees and we call it a day.

Urban sprawl is leaving us with stoic concrete and steel, but very little natural warmth and beauty. 

A few sad looking sapplings can't make up for the lush forests and living landscape that we're destroying. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Tree Transplant

A Prayer Of Thanks

My sister-in-law sent over this beautiful prayer.

It is a prayer of thanks to the Almighty.

We thank G-d for:

- Being with us and supporting us with his loving kindness.

- Challenges that teach us, help us appreciate all that we have, and are ultimately for our benefit.

- The wonderful life bestowed upon us and for always listening to to our prayers. 

If we concentrate on all that we have and not on what we don't and recognize that everything G-d does is ultimately for the good, then we can gain strength, persist, and reach ever new heights! 

Hope you find hope and strength in this too. ;-)

(Special thanks to Sarah Herbsman for sharing this beautiful prayer.)

A Prayer Of Thanks

Cure Cancer B4 It Kills Again

Nice seeing these signs and slogans against cancer posted today in Washington, D.C.

Looking at the 2014 statistics, there were almost 1.7 million new cases and almost 687 thousand deaths in the U.S. alone for cancer including of the brain/nervous system, female breast, colon/rectum, Leukemia, liver, lung/bronchus, non-hodgkin lymphoma, ovary, pancreas, and prostate.

Way too much suffering and death from cancer...we must fight this killer. 

Whatever we can do to raise money, caring, and empathy...we should do. 

Run, walk, give, support, remember...even just hold someone's hand. 

Thank you American Cancer Society and everyone out there helping to find the cure. 

"14 million cancer survivors are celebrating birthdays this year."

Won't it be miraculous when everyone is a survivor in a world without cancer anymore. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Cure Cancer B4 It Kills Again

A WOW Wheelchair

Absolutely loved the article and video in Bloomberg Businessweek on the Tankchair.

Brad Soden makes these amazing ruggedized wheelchairs for wounded veterans and other disabled people in need of getting around some rougher terrain. 

They are customized for each user and cost about $15,000 each. 

They are built on tank-like treads and can go up stairs, through fields, across streams, and over snow.

"Basically, it's get off the couch and go enjoy life!"

They are tough and can last 15-20 years!

He first made one for his wife who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident and was having difficulty keeping up on a family camping trip. 

Soden is truly inspirational--he produces these not too make money, but too help people. 

"The body can't keep up, so we're gonna fix it."

This is an awesome man making an extreme machine. ;-)

(Source Photo: Tankchair)

A WOW Wheelchair

Crisp Yellow Flowers

My daughter, Rebecca, sent me this photo that she took of these yellow flowers.

I love how crisp and alive the flowers look, and the more subdued contrasting background of nature's green with more yellow flowers all around. 

So beautiful and amazing G-d's creations. 

And thank you so much for the get well wishes.

Crisp Yellow Flowers

Walking Tall Again

CNN has a video out today on this amazing new technology for paraplegics. 

It is a miraculous robotic exoskeleton called the ReWalk by Argo Medical Technologies in Israel. 

The inventor, Dr. Amit Goffer, is himself quadriplegic and asked a simple question, "Why is a wheelchair the only answer for those with spinal injuries?"

He challenged the status quo and now there is a way for paralyzed people to stand and walk again. 

I choose this video for the blog, because I found it so immensely inspiring to see someone previously wheelchair-bound participating in a marathon in Tel Aviv this year. 

The ReWalk is strapped on and has motorized joints and sensors and a battery pack. 

When combined with some braces, a person has mobility again on their feet!

I cried when I saw the patient, Radi Kaiuf go over the finish line after walking 10 kilometers with the ReWalk and everyone, including the children on the sidelines, cheering for him.

Congratulation to all the researchers from the Technion University who helped make this a reality--hopefully people around the world, who are in are in need, will be able to benefit in the future and walk again. 

Truly, mobility is life! ;-)

Walking Tall Again

Six Dimensions of Personal Health

There was a wonderful interview in the Washington Post with leadership expert, Bob Rosen. 

One of the things that Rosen says is that there are six dimensions of personal and professional health that are vital to leadership.

These six dimensions of the person can also be associated with one's own personal architecture to ensure continuous health and maturity in each of these areas. 

I have taken these and created with my own photos, a little graphic to remind me of them. 

The six dimensions (with my definitions) are:

1. Spiritual - Serving G-d and doing what is right.
2. Emotional - Your feelings and ability to manage your state of mind, especially in trying situations.
3. Social - Interacting with other people in loving, caring, and sharing ways.
4. Physical - Taking care of your body through good nutrition, exercise, and healthcare.
5. Professional - Working and contributing to the world by serving a purposeful mission.
6. Intellectual - Learning and growing mentally by gaining knowledge and the ability to apply it.

I like how each of these is a a distinct contributing element of one's overall health, but also come together to form a coherent whole of human health. 

When all six dimensions are in good health, then a person has the foundations to live and excel. 

However, when one or more elements are not being properly taken care of or are out of balance with the others, then a person will not have the ability to maintain or advance themselves.  

Self-awareness and a commitment to doing your best in all six areas will help you grow as a person and leader. 

Together, these six areas can be associated with one's own personal architecture, whereby one plans and strives for health and maturity in each of them over time. 

(Source Graphic and Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Six Dimensions of Personal Health

For Yom Kippur

For Yom Kippur

Simple Sticks Showing Complex Feelings

I came across these funny YouTube videos (beware though a little racy) with millions of views.

They are done using stick figures (or the more provocative term the creators use).

The focus is on 2 friends--"Red" and "Blue" and their interactions with other varied colored figures.

I think the stick figures are a brilliant way to tell about them and their exploits, so that you focus on their inner characters and their message and not on their superficial body looks.

Also, the notion of "color" for the different people is one hand a easy way to differentiate them, but also seems to have implications for the varied cultures and colors of people throughout the world.

Apparently, there is a YouTube Channel with a whole series of these 2 minute + skits, and now I understand that this stick figure theme is being made into a full length movie.

What I like about these is the simplicity of using these colorful stick figure characters to show life's ups and downs, relationships, and feelings in a very direct straightforward (and also raw) way.

Sort of like seeing and experiencing the complexities of life boiled down in simple and unfiltered way.

While 2 minutes is entertaining, I think 2 hours of this "in your face" would have me wanting to throw these sticks in a great big bon fire, yep. ;-)

Simple Sticks Showing Complex Feelings

Mayim Chaim

You can only live about 3 days without water--that's why protecting our water is so critical.

Emergency Management (May/June 2013) says, "There are numerous ongoing threats to our water supply. Some of them [natural or man made] could be catastrophic."

- Water poisoning: Already in the 1st century, Roman Emperor Nero poisoned the wells of his enemies.  These days you'd need a large supply, like "several dump trucks of cyanide or arsenic to poison a reservoir.  Plus the water system is monitored and has purification protections such as chlorine, so it's not that simple. We can also issue "boil alerts" for people to boil the water before drinking it. Then again, we saw what some radiation did to the Japanese water supplies after Fukushima.

- Blowing it up: The water system infrastructure can be disrupted using explosives, so keeping intruders far away from it is important to keeping it safe.

- Earthquakes/Hurricanes: Much of the water system pipes are old--some built during the Civil War--and these can be destroyed by natural disasters or even a construction crew jackhammer hitting in the wrong place. 

- Electrical outage: If you shut down the electricity, you shut down the water pumps...and even with generators taking over for a while, your up against the clock, if you don't get the juice flowing again soon. 

- Cyber Attack: Our water systems, like other industrial control systems are vulnerable to cyber attack. A hacker that gets control of the systems could overheat it, overtreat it, flood it, or otherwise break it and shut it down. 

Keeping our water infrastructure secure, the water supply safe and potable, the transport pipes intact, the electricity working, and the systems under control--are not little matters--they are the difference between life and death for millions. 

As in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, when the ship gets blown off course into unchartered waters and the crew is thirsty for water and desperate to survive, the poet states, "Water, Water. Everywhere. And All The Boards Did Shrink; Water, Water, Everywhere. Nor Any Drop To Drink."

In Hebrew, there is a short saying that sums up this topic, "Mayim Chaim"--water is life. ;-)

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)

Mayim Chaim

Feeling Groovy

It was interesting, I was reading about how humans have six universal emotions.

These emotions are considered largely involuntary responses to stimuli, and they are:

• Anger
• Happiness
• Fear
• Sadness
• Disgust
• Surprise

As I thought about these out of the six emotions, only happiness is the straight out good one. Hey, who doesn't want to be happy (maybe only an ascetic, but that's because they parodoxically get a type of happiness out of being unhappy)? 

Then, I thought about surprise and that is sort of a toss up--it can be a good surprise or a bad one. Most of the time, people don't like surprises and would rather have an element of control over what is coming, when, and how. So I would throw surprises in the you can keep it pile. 

And while the other four emotions--anger, fear, sadness, and disgust--may be helpful at times (in protecting us physically and emotionally), they all have negative connotations and implications. 

Anger usually means someone has hurt or slighted us. Fear impies that that there is something dangerous or scary to be feared out there. Sadness is the opposite of happiness, so it's a non-starter. And disgust is attributed to something vile or revolting and is usually something we want to get away from as quickly as possible. 

So, six primary human emotions and only one--happiness--makes us feel--happy!

Thinking about emotions as colors, we can feel blue (sad) or fiery red (anger), what about green (with envy)?  Uh, wonder why this emotion was missing from the list, but I would add it as number seven for universal emotions. 

Unfortunately, envy means we feel less than or jealous of the next person, so this is another one that doesn't make us feel very good. 

Maybe then expectations for how much happiness in life we should or can have should be tempered knowling there are six others to keep us busy and feeling--other things. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Feeling Groovy

Survival x 3

So today I learned from Bear Grylls how survival comes in 3s.

That basically, the rule of thumb is that you can live: 

- 3 minutes without air. 

- 3 days without water.

- 3 weeks without food. 

No, I don't intend to test these assumptions--but thanks. ;-)

This "Rule of Three" reminded me on these three kayaks I saw--Red, White, and Blue--navigating the Shenandoah River.

They are together, like three legs of a stool--strong, upright, and moving forward.  

I like this rule of thumb and wanted to share with others with might benefit. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Survival x 3

2 Eggs Are Better Than One

Aside from the cholesterol, generally speaking two eggs are better than one.

Two eggs here, as you can see, are two friends--in it together, working together, putting their heads together, sharing life together.

My father always told me that with that special someone the joys in life are twice the joy, and the sorrow in life is half the sorry--he is a smart man!

When it comes to friendships though, I have learned there are many types of friends and we have different names or references for them:

- Childhood friends--"We go way back."

- Best friends forever--or BFF; often you'll see this on bracelet charms, necklaces, or even t-shirts--this is reserved for your closest buds. 

- High school sweethearts--"first comes friends, then comes marriage, and then comes a baby in the baby carriage."

- Confidant friend(s)--these are people we feel we can talk to, connect with, and trust with our personal and emotional secrets. Ummm, don't tell, but...

- Neighbor friends--you live near or next to each other, so might as well bring over some welcome muffins or borrow some sugar--then again, "tall fences, make good neighbors." 

- Casual friends--these are friends you keep in touch with "every so often" and share some laughs or have a "cold one" with.

- On again off again friends--people you are friends with one minute and alienated from the next--often an endless cycle--you like somethings about the person and other things drive you mad!

- Work friends --these are associates that you work with day in and out--40, 50, 60 hours a week or more--and who you share work experiences, challenges, projects, and sometimes frustrations with--and don't forget "happy hour".

- Friends with benefits--this is a naughty friendship and is what it sounds like--at your own foolhardy risk!  

- Marriage partner and best friends--the most fortunate people are those who find their "beshert"--the one true one that they are destined to be with--and who is not only their life partner, but their soulmate and best friend.

Good luck finding and keeping your friends of all types--these are precious and make life worth living. 

(Source Photo: Meme shared with me)

2 Eggs Are Better Than One

Putting Children Above Ourselves

What a distorted editorial this morning in the Wall Street Journal called "What's Really Behind the Entitlement Crisis."

Oh, thank goodness (NOT) that we have these pundit-types to tell us what's "really" happening and feed us their self-serving "proofs."

Anyway, the author, Ben Wattenberg, contends that we all are suffering a decline in standard of living because we don't have enough children. 

He actually advocates that we have more children to bear the burden of our waste, fraud, and abuse and inability to live within our means.

The author writes: "Never-born babies are the root cause of the 'social deficit' that plagues nations across the world and threaten to break the bank in many."

Never mind that current world population of over 7 billion people is anticipated to rise above 9 billion by 2050, and we continue to spoil and deplete our world's limited resources already.

The author selfishly contends that "Declining birth rates mean there are not enough workers to support retirees."

Unfortunately, the author ignores that if current and prior workers and politicians did not spend down the balances in social security to finance other pork-barrel political initiatives, then each workers savings would still be there to support their retirement, and we would not have to rely on future generations to make up the difference by spending their savings to support our prior excesses and waste. 

Wattenberg ends by saying that "The real danger for the future is too few births."

Like a glutton, he advocates that we eat more in order to keep trying to satiate our insatiable spending needs. 

When I was a kid, my father used to joke about eating too much and say we should do some push-ups--push the the table (with all the food) away from us!

No, like teenagers on day time TV shows, who contend that they want to have children because they feel it is their "way out" of their problems and only then they will be loved and be able to love, and the TV show host puts them in a program with a fake baby that cries and makes at all the inconvenient hours of the day and night, does the teenager realize that having (more) children is not the answer to their problems, but actually may only increase their problems. 

Having more children as a nation--we already average about 2 per family--in order to finance our retirements and entitlements through the development of another generation of a slave labor pool is completely misguided. 

Have children for the right reasons--out of genuine love and a commitment to give--not to receive. 

Mr. Wattenberg does not seem to care if children are brought into the world of broken families, poverty, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, molestation and incest, homelessness, and separation and divorce, because Wattenberg's standard of living is at stake. 

Bring children into a world that is giving, loving, and sustainable.

Safeguard life, but don't recklessly encourage birth. 

Birth is a privilege of the young, not an entitlement for the elderly.

(Source Photo: Michelle Blumenthal)

Putting Children Above Ourselves

L'Chaim--Live It Well!

I found an article on the consolation of death "buried" in my papers from a couple of months ago--and I'm glad I did. 

The Wall Street Journal (10 April 2012) has a very interesting book review of "Death" by Shelly Kagan.

The book is about how do we live knowing that some day we will die--how do we console ourselves?

Here are a combination of the the ideas reviewed and my thoughts on them:

- The Hard Stop--Since life and death, for each of us, cannot coexist, we are either alive or dead--"no one will ever encounter their own death"--so there is nothing to worry about.  

- Not Me--We live life never really believing that we will die--instead, "death is something that happens to other people."

- Live Without Attachments--As Buddhism teaches that we should cast off attachments, self-concern, and suffering--hence, the loss of own self is a "nonevent."

- Live The Moment-- We should live in the present and enjoy life, rather than mourn the past or worry about the future.

- Live a Full Life--Live a full and meaningful life, and then perhaps, we "don't cry because it's over, [but rather] smile because it happened."

- Leave a Legacy--If we leave a legacy of our children and good deeds, then we live on even once we are physically gone. 

I was always taught that since no one ever really came back from the other side to tell us what happens to us when we die, we should not be overly focused on it.

I remember overhearing some old men in synagogue debating what happens to us when we die--one taking the position that we go heaven and the other stating that death was the end (he put it more crudely though-something about us being dead no different than a dead dog!)

In the end, since it doesn't pay to worry about what we don't know and perhaps can't even really fathom, I think all we can do is our best every moment that we are alive--and leave the rest to sort out to G-d, afterward.

The consolation then is if you tried your best, what more can anyone ask of themselves or others?

In terms of the picture, the L'Chaim candy bar is a little reminder not to take everything in life so seriously either--live life and live it well. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Uberculture, Jeremy Noble)

L'Chaim--Live It Well!