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Showing posts with label Attitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attitude. Show all posts
December 7, 2025
The Jewish Cure for Anxiety
September 10, 2023
October 16, 2022
Israel, Warrior Nation
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(Source Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_Israel_Defense_Forces_-_Givati_Recon_Company_at_Training.jpg)
March 25, 2020
O - Change The World - O
October 19, 2019
Get Over It
"Sh*t Happens So Get Over It."There are no perfect lives out there.
I reminded again this week how everyone has something: Mark Herd, Co-CEO of Oracle, died at 62 and and Elijah Cummings, elected to 12 terms in the House of Representatives, died at 68.
All the success int he world on the surface doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of schlimazel (misfortune) under the surface.
Unfortunately, sh*t definitely happens in life and we can get all spun up over it or we can take everything in faith and stride.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
What does kill takes us to the next phase of existence.
All you can do is your best, the rest is in the hands of the Almighty above. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 29, 2019
Positively Jewish New Years
July 31, 2019
Be Happy, Have Fun
February 4, 2019
Monday Signs
November 17, 2017
A Future Beyond Fear
"The future is on the other side of fear."Sometimes we feel hemmed in or torn down by life.
And there is plenty of fear of failure and not being able to do what we need to do.
But the only way to get there is to get past the fear!
You need to look straight ahead into the future of what you want.
And you need to overcome your worst fear...that you're not good enough, you're not smart enough, you're not strong enough, and you're not beautiful enough.
...and the gnawing feeling inside that you can't do it.
This is precisely when you need to center yourself, strengthen yourself, and pray for G-d's help.
Whether to get over it, under it, or through it.
The future--your future--is on the other side of that fear--that fear that is holding you back.
No, you're not stupid, ugly, weak, or unworthy.
Yes, you're a child of the G-d on the most high.
So you can reach deep and reach high to accomplish your mission in life.
You can truly leap over mountains and even reach for the stars.
No, it's not beyond you.
It's right in front of you.
Take that deep breath, clench your fist, gird you sword, and ready yourself in every way.
The fear holding you back is yours to conquer.
And the future is yours to be had. ;-)
(Inspired by my wife, Dannielle Blumenthal)
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
November 10, 2017
Mechanisms for Coping With Stress
1. Teamwork - Remember you're not alone and you can rely on your colleagues/teammates at work and your family/friends at home to work with you, help you, and also be a support. Together, when you distribute the weight, the load is lighter and more manageable for everyone doing the lifting!
2. Work-Life Balance - Listen, all work and no play is good for no one. When you create a healthy balance in your own life--professional, emotional, intellectual, social, physical, and spiritual--then you will be more balanced, holistic, and better able to manage the ups and downs in any one or more areas of your life. The whole of you is larger than the sum of the parts!
3. Perspective - You've got to maintain a healthy perspective and attitude in life. All is not doom and gloom. Not every setback is catastrophic. There is good and bad in everything. And we need to use the challenges in life as learning and growth opportunities. Also, remember that there are many others in even worse shoes than us and their fortitude and seeing it through can be an inspiration to us. At the end of the day, look at the bright side--we all have so much to be grateful for, and every moment of life is a blessing!
4. Sense of Humor - When all else fails, a sense of humor can sometimes be the savings grace of the moment. When you're looking out over the abyss and you are seeing things dark and maybe quite ugly...perhaps, you can find in yourself, in others, or from a moment in time, something ridiculous or absurdly funny to think back on and laugh to yourself a good, strong, and healthy laugh!
5. Faith - No matter what...G-d is always there for you. Always watching. Always guiding. Always caring and loving you. You can have faith that whatever He does for you is ultimately for your best. The G-d of your forefathers/mothers, the G-d who created you, the G-d who sustains you every moment of every day will not abandon you in your time of need. If you have faith, He will protect and save you and after your amazing life's journey eventually comes to an end, He will bring you home to reunite with Him!
On my Bar-Mitzvah, now many years ago, my father gave a speech and he said to me from the prayers, be strong and remember:
"The L-rd is with me, I will not fear!" (or in Hebrew "Adonai li v'lo ira")
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 18, 2017
Character Building Day
A friend told me that when they have a really tough day, they call it:
"A Character Building Day!"
I thought that was pretty astute.
When people are up against the wall...
And they feel like they practically have their hands and legs tied...
And the world is spinning around them out of control...
And others are throwing tomatoes, darts, arrows, and all types of other sh*t their way...
- We can either just close our eyes, feel powerless, get upset and depressed, and basically give up
OR
- We can see the tough times as challenges--however great--to build our character.
Every situation is a learning and growth opportunity.
Don't give in--Get up and fight.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!
Yes, many days are character building days--it doesn't always feel good--often it feels horrible--but we can approach it with the right attitude and help shape our character and soul for the better. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 1, 2017
The Games People Play
People like to play games--the type you have fun at.
We learn to play when we are kids.
We get the attention of our parents and friends--and we have fun just being together, acting silly or even competing with each other.
Whether it's over a game of Life, Monopoly, Risk, or Connect Four, or even these days going online with a game of Minecraft or Crush.
Sports is another type of game--great to play and others like to watch and cheer for their favorite teams or athletes.
This week at work, someone said to come to his meeting because:
"...everyone would have fun."
Have you ever heard that at work--a fun meeting or for that matter anything being fun in an office setting?
The guy is a genius--people actually showed up in droves at the meeting.
They had to choose between various meetings going on at that time--and low and behold, people chose this one that was going to be fun!
In the meeting, there was a big bowl of candy and chocolate in the center of the conference table.
And the mood was relaxed as we got down to some business.
While we did the business, people felt free to be a little silly and laugh with each other too.
The tone had been set for some fun.
The person who hosted the meeting explained that he wanted people to have a good time coming to the meeting (and to work).
He called it "gamification."
The idea is why not make things into a type of game and have some fun with it instead of everything being so stuck up and nasty all the time.
Listen, it was still a meeting and work had to get done, but it was nice to see a different lighter perspective put on it.
People want to enjoy what they do--whether it's time with their family, friends, or why not even their work.
If we can make more things in life into a game of sorts and put "fun" into the equation of what we do--people smile, laugh, and let down their guards a little.
Why shouldn't adult play games and have fun too? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 12, 2017
Feeling Good Vibes
I'm talking with someone this week.
They're new, and so I tried to be generally nice and ask about them, show interest, and just be overall friendly and welcoming.
It was amazing--these little things, and they made someone else feel comfortable and happy.
They are smiling and go to me:
"I get good vibes from you!"
Wow, good vibes--awesome!
And now I was happy too.
I thought to myself, how often we goof and give off the wrong vibes and how easy it really is to just treat most people decently and sincerely, and get a good reaction.
Yes, not everyone is easy to get along with and not everyone is nice.
But generally, I think it's good to try to be the type of person that others feel good vibes from.
I'll take that and continue to try and spread the wealth. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 26, 2017
Look Down To Feel Up
Whoever I talk to has something bad and fairly serious to complain about, and there seems to be new things coming all the time.
Just today, I heard from one person who went to the dentist with a tooth pain only to discover it had been silently infected for over a year, and was so serious that it literally could've killed him.
Another person told be about having a child with special needs and moving to an area with a school that could more effectively deal and help them.
And a third person told me how they lost their husband many years ago at the age of just 39-years old and being left a widow.
But people make the best of it!
They have to.
I remember my father saying when my mother got so sick with Parkinson's Disease:
"We are part of the survivors club."
It wasn't easy to see her endless suffering while he selflessly tried to help her day-in and -out and cope with the physical and emotional pain of it all.
When I was younger my dad would teach me about not feeling bad whatever the situation, and to always be grateful for what you have, and he told the story:
"There was a poor man who had no shoes, and he felt very bad...that is, until he saw someone else who had no feet."
It doesn't take much for things to get really bad in life...sometimes it can seem like we're literally just holding on by a thin thread.
But as G-d tests us and teaches us, we need to try to look on the bright side and be grateful that things aren't worse....and yes, they can even get better again. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 21, 2017
Killer Organizational Sharks
And it's not just in the oceans.
There are plenty in your organizations.
They make for lots of dysfunction and conflict.
The organizational sharks see themselves as the bigger and more important fish in the sea.
They look for weakness in others---they smell blood and when they do, they usually follow it to the kill!
These sharks are the types of people that attack their colleagues when they should be assisting them.
Not only do they lack respect for others, but instead see them as the enemy and eat them as prey, when instead, they need to be chewing up the outside competition.
It's an attitude of us versus them misplaced within the organization, rather than external-facing.
These organizational sharks could be in leadership positions, in which case, their attitudes filter down infecting the rest of their staffs.
Instead of unity, cohesion, and working together to get the mission and job down, the sharks are selfishly worrying about and working to build their own power base.
It's a dysfunctional culture that allows these sharks to exist and swarm in their organizational waters.
Sharks for some reason fail to see that their boats are hitched to everyone else in the organization, and that all the organizational boats rise together or fill with polluted water and sink to the bottom.
As leaders, we need to focus and agree on supporting each other to achieve the success of all.
Even sharks should learn to be nice and play together with all the other fish in the organizational sea. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 20, 2017
Winning Attitude
One of the awesome brand stores was running a sale with 70% off!
Check, check--not a gimmick--we race over with the crowd already forming lined up outside the doors.
This salesperson was there to guide just a few people in at a time--I guess, so the mob wouldn't rip the joint to sale shreds!
This lady (pictured) had something awesome about her.
Working part time in retail, I'd imagine that it's not the job's salary and benefits that is perking her up or "getting her out of bed in the morning."
Yet, she had the most unbelievably great attitude.
She stopped to talk with us and tell us about her background studying and living in Israel during the year, and that she had a twin sister working in the same store for the Summer.
Her energy and enthusiasm was inspirational and I would imagine could even be contagious to many who let themselves revel in it rather than resist it.
As people waited on the line, this women offered them her umbrella to stay dry and cool.
Waiting on line is not the most fun thing, even when it's for a 70% off sale, but this lady kept everyone smiling and sort of stress free with frequent updates and walking and talking up/down the line.
Listen, we all know people who do the same or similar jobs: one is grouchy, sullen, and is for all intensive purposes miserable all or most of the time; the other is generally smiling and happy to be there learning and contributing, and have the job.
What a difference between these 2 types of people!
And what a enormous contrast between the positive and negative impacts they have on others and on the organization.
It's not just what you say and do, but how you go about doing it.
Yes, we all have various challenges and problems in our lives, but how do you deal with it.
This doesn't mean you should be a phony baloney head--you need to be genuine and real to be credible and a high-functioning human being--and of course, everyone has bad days.
But an overall winning attitude goes a long way in life and towards success--for yourself and how you can influence others. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 3, 2017
Satisfied and Bless G-d
It was about how we can learn to be happy with what we have in life.
The biggest marketing gimmick is to say to the guy, "Look at what your neighbor has next door!"
Jealousy, desire, greed, having more and better than the next guy/girl...
That's what many people live for and how they think.
Some can have as much as the founders of Apple, Google, and Facebook combined and still it's not enough.
If just one person has something more...it can drive that person crazy.
Like Haman on Purim, who had wealth, power, large family and everyone bowed down to him...
Except one person named Mordecai who wouldn't bow.
And despite having everything, but missing that one thing drove Haman so crazy--it was his downfall!
When we eat, we can be satisfied with one slice of pizza and say grace or we can have four slices and still not be satisfied.
How do we look at things?
We can be grateful for whatever we have and say that G-d gave us just what we needed at this time and place.
Or we can look at what we don't have, and forever be bitter and unsatisfied.
What joy we can experience in life when we realize the graciousness for what G-d has bestowed on us and we are thankful for what we have. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 22, 2016
Attitudinal Fix
For some people, the glass is half full, and for others it's half empty--it's of course, just how you look at it.
One colleague told me this week:
"Life is 10% what happens
and
90% how you react to it."
and
90% how you react to it."
I suppose we see that with so many people who have unbelievable daunting challenges in life, yet somehow they manage to put on a smile or give a thumbs up regardless, and just do what they need to do--they are troopers, survivors, and generally people of incredible character and caliber.
These are the heroes that we can look up to.
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going!"--and the going refers to doing what needs to get done, and not running away from your duty scared or not knowing what to do.
Need to be courageous, resourceful, loyal, and giving to others.
Stop the whining, the crying, the self pity, the questioning "why me"--what will any of that help?
Fight, fight, fight--that's what we're here for.
Until our last breath, we can still make a difference. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 20, 2015
It's The Way You Look At Things
You can be a positive Peter or a negative Nellie.
Your choice--or disposition, perhaps.
Last week one day when the weather was bad out and I was entering the indoor pool for my laps, someone said to me, "The worse it is out there, the better it is in here."
And he was right, you can complain about the weather or whatever, but you can appreciate having great indoor facilities or just a roof over your head.
If you look up, you can be inspired to reach for the next rung, and if you look down you can be grateful for how far you've already made it.
Also, however bad off you might be, there are always others who are worse off.
As a kid, I remember hearing about the person who was missing a hand and feeling bad about themselves, until they meet someone who was missing both arms.
I do recall in actuality riding the NYC subways and poor people would come through the end doors between the cars (not allowed on the DC Metro) to go begging from money through the train--the unbelievable thing was that they were just a stump of a body from the waste up (no lower body whatsoever!) getting around by sliding themselves on a skateboard inches of the ground--can you imagine that?
Perspective...my father used to say, "Smile and the whole world smiles with you."
Sometimes just the motion (even if it's just an act) of putting on that happy face can actually transform you to being happier.
No, not a placebo effect, but like the Jewish notion that from doing can actually come the feeling.
In other words, just try--there is so much to be positive about and thankful for--not just on Thanksgiving--coming up next week--but all year round.
Life is a journey full of learning and growing--not a destination. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 9, 2015
Dreams Can All Be Good
Basically it goes like this:
"If you have a good dream then your day is good, because you remember that good dream
And even if you have a bad dream then your day is still good, because you are no longer dreaming."
It's nice when you can come out a winner and have a good day no matter what happens in your dreams at night. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Nesster)
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