Beautiful sunflowers for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Showing posts with label Growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Growth. Show all posts
November 25, 2020
October 24, 2020
The Elections: Perfecting Our Imperfections
Clearly, from the President on down to each and every one of us, we can be certain that none of us is perfect. However, G-d put us here, precisely, to have the opportunity to repair our imperfections. In this earthly world, our soul is tested, and we thereby have the opportunity to come out stronger and better because of it. The challenges in this world provide the "purification by fire" that our souls need to elevate themselves from past mistakes or imperfections. In essence, G-d in his ultimate benevolence — of love, kindness, and giving — bestows on us, His children, the chance to learn and grow and to realize our potential!
In short, while our elections leave us a lot to be desired in terms of the candidates for the highest office of this great land, we can see from the presidential candidates on down to the citizens of this country and to those around the world that there is both shortcomings and the potential for becoming the people that G-d knows we can really be.
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
September 16, 2020
Take Me To Your Leader
Anyone, anyone a leader here...
I need to find a leader.
Someone who I can look up to.
Who feels deeply, compassionately, and honestly cares about others.
With faith and integrity, and who does the right thing, regardless.
They inspire, rarely tire, and seek to make us all more than we otherwise are.
Imbued with discerning insight and an ageless wisdom.
Carrying forth a great vision, and a path and passion to get us there.
They bring unity, and stand alongside each and every one of us.
Never an autocrat, a bureaucrat, or a stinkin' rat.
Just someone who is a genuine leader. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 14, 2020
30,000 Chances To Get It Right
Teshuvah (Repentance) is really not just a yearly process, it is a daily one. And 80 years is almost 30,000 days, with every day that we wake up, get up, and start up the process of another day again, we have the opportunity to get it right this day, this time around!
Every day that we awake and arise is a great opportunity to try again where we failed in prior days and we can potentially think holier thoughts, say kinder words, and treat each other better, more compassionately and righteously.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 27, 2020
The Nail That Stands Out
It gets hammered down!
Deviation from the norm or the groupthink is met with a resounding klop on the head.
You conform or you face the guillotine.
Way too dystopian.
Freedom, individuality, diversity, self-expression—these are the engines of innovation and growth.
If every nail gets hammered down, you have a society that implodes with inbreeders and Stone Age stale ideas.
Tradition is one thing, a closed mind is something that is an extinction level event. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 12, 2020
Anger, Faith, and Growth
We live in an unpredictable world and I have made more than one bad decision recently. Fortunately, it was nothing too terrible, but I was still angry about it, and my gut reaction was to somehow blame G-d, and to feel angry at Him, because I thought somehow I didn't deserve what had happened. However, I asked myself how can you be angry at G-d if you believe that everything he does is for your ultimate good? It took me a little time, but I realized that I wasn't really angry at G-d, but at myself; It was my fault, I did deserve what happened, and my mistakes aren't G-d's.
Maybe this is what life is really all about--searching and finding G-d even among all the multitude of mistakes we make in life. We have to own our mistakes, learn from them, and thereby become stronger and better people.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 4, 2020
From Hate To Love
Important to me.
It's about who I thought I was and...
Who I became.
Truly, I went full circle from a child's hate to an adult's love relationship with:
- Reading
- Writing
- Swimming
- Hebrew
As a kid, I tried to avoid these like the plague, and as an adult I like to practice these every single day of my life.
I wonder to myself is it that I strove to become good (or decent) at what I have previously been bad at or was somehow afraid of.
Yet now, they are integral to my life, learning, and growth.
Like the hands of a clock that circle and tick the hours and minutes.
My life takes me full circle and brings me home to who I am and what I really love spending time at. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 28, 2019
September 28, 2019
The Good Things In Life Are Challenging
"Everything truly pleasurable in life starts with considerable pain." More colloquially in working out, we usually say: “No pain, no gain!” And there really is a lot of truth to this. If you think about it, this concept really applies to everything meaningful and ultimately valuable in life.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 14, 2019
Facing Facts on Rosh Hashanah
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, "Facing Facts on Rosh Hashanah."
In a sense, we all live at least two lives–represented by the two faces we wear: The first is the happy face, where we portray ourselves as if everything is going so well, almost near-perfect in our lives (our vacations, accomplishments, celebrations, and so on), and this is the face that we routinely show to the world. Then, there is the second face, which is essentially where everything is not (always) quite so rosy, where life’s challenges, troubles, and hardships take their tangible toll, and this is the face that we learn to keep private and regularly hide from the world. Usually, it comes down to a rationale that goes something like this: just imagine what would people think of us if they really knew us for who we are and what we were actually going through? Yet the funny thing is that everyone is going through something–that’s life!In a couple of weeks, when we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, we come knowing that there is no mask to be worn in front of our Maker, and truly, we are naked before Him in all our thoughts and deeds. We can’t pretend anymore that our lives or ourselves are perfect, but rather this is the time for true and earnest reflection, repentance, as well as judgment for the New Year based on what each of us is really all about. May each of us have the courage and conviction to face our real selves, to learn, grow, improve, and ultimately to self-actualize, and may we receive G-d’s mercy and blessings for a happy and healthy New Year!
September 11, 2019
Family and Friends
Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off.
I looked it up and saw that it is actually from Proverbs 27:10.
Thinking about it a little, I understand that obviously people that are close by can more easily be there and help one another than someone else who is far away.
At the same time, I always learned growing up that:
Blood is thicker than water.Family is family, and friends are friends. Family is forever, but friends can come and go.
Yet you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.
There are some friends that go back decades to childhood and they are almost like family.
Also, there are sometimes family that are disassociated or even "black sheep" of the family.
I guess in the end what's most important is how we feel about each other, treat each other, and are there for each other.
Whatever the designation--family or friends--we need each other. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 4, 2019
Open Your Eyes
G-d has a plan and a reason for everything–not only for them, but for all of us. We are all on a journey, and even if we don’t always readily see G-d, it’s part of our core faith that He is always there, He is guiding us, and that everything is for the best. Yet despite our best efforts to have faith, at times, we may feel that we don’t know what we’re doing here–why we’re at this place, at this time, or even how we got here–we may actually feel a little lost. Maybe we just can rattle off a list of “Well I did this and then that and then this other thing happened.” But exactly how we got to where we are, regardless of our best laid plans, is often a mystery to us as human beings. As I often tell students and colleagues in the planning discipline of enterprise architecture, “Man plans, and G-d laughs.”
While we may think we are going about fulfilling our plans and accomplishing our life dreams, the truth is that everything ultimately comes from G-d. He gives you the strength, the health, the family and friends as support, the talent, the opportunity, and the right thoughts in your head and the right words in your mouth to do what you do. Of course, we must do our part and the hard work to find and fulfill our mission in life and to overcome the challenges we face, but we are flesh and blood and in the bigger realm of things, messengers of G-d in fulfilling his bigger plan for all of us. If we open our eyes, we realize that wherever we end up and whatever happens to us is by His merciful decree.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 16, 2019
We're Part of a Much Larger Script
Why do bad things happen to good people?
G-d answers by showing Job the incredible elements of creation and the universe.
Why?
1) Complexity and Interrelationship of the Universe:
As isolated individuals, we might expect to be judged solely by our individual deeds of good and bad (2-dimensional), but also we are cogs in the larger universe (the 3rd dimension).
Therefore, what happens to us is not just a result of what we do, but also is a part of G-d's larger overall plan for the world.
Even small acts can have large impacts.
For example, you sneeze and somewhere down the line it causes a tsunami.
Similarly, like actors in a cosmic play of a billion pages, we may not see or understand why our individual role may be what it is, but if you would see and understand the context of the overall drama (what came before us, after us, and how it all interrelates) then from a G-d's eye view, it makes sense.
Every act of destruction can lead to a higher divine purpose.
Like the grass that is mowed over and uprooted to plants crops or the wheat that is harvested and ground up to make bread.
So, we can have faith that there is a reason and purpose for everything even if it is a mystery or unanswered question to us.
And even in our suffering, G-d, the master of the Universe, is saying that "I'm here with you thru it all." You are not alone!
2) By challenging us, G-d gives us the "tough gift" to cope, grow, and become better people.
Even though things that happen may look bad to you, they can lead to good for you.
You don't always get what you want, but you get what you need.
You have choice: you can be bitter, resentful, cynical, and angry or can look at life with hope, optimism and resilience.
Thus, suffering can be a vehicle of self-transformation and elevation. The challenges you face can help you become a different person--a greater person.
You can learn to feel not just your own pain and disappointment, but that of others.
You have the opportunity to grow yourself and the opportunity to help others.
(Thank you to Rebecca Ochayon for sending me this awesome video!)
July 15, 2019
OMG, What A Beautiful Song
By Yaakov Shwekey & Kobi Peretz
Even though I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death
I fear no evil
Because you are with me
Even behind the difficult things you are going through
I stand...I stand...I stand
Even in the place which is hidden, within that which is hidden
Surely, the blessed Hashem is found there too
My heart and soul are uplifted by this beautiful song. ;-)
July 11, 2019
OOOC...Order Out Of Chaos
That's why G-d created a natural order and rules of nature.
From the laws of physics to repeatable mathematical formulations, the universe may be infinitely large and complex, but it is not without standards of function.
According to the Law of Causality, the world is a pattern of action and reaction (or effect), where everything is a consequence of something prior.
Even in Chaos Theory, we find that in apparent randomness, there are underlying patterns.
Absent a miracle, the sun rises every morning and sets every evening.
Yet, nature and man can also bring catastrophe whereby the world seems like one big chaotic mess.
Whether from illness, natural disaster, or conflict, our world, can in a moment be turned on it's head.
Moreover, it's all predictably unpredictable.
And it's up to us to make Order Out Of Chaos (OOOC).
This is where many of us either sink or swim.
When the chips are down, and all the world seems to be imploding with dysfunction, this is where we need to find and make sense and order.
Bad things happen even to good people.
Good people need to find the faith and the strength, and with G-d's help, rise to the challenge.
Easier said than done, for sure.
In the chaos of things, time may stop and everything becomes a blur.
We may become like a deer in the headlights--frozen with panic and truly not knowing what to do.
But if we can just find which way is up.
Then we can redirect ourselves--rising from the depths of despair to the surface, where the sun is shining and we can gasp a breath again.
Even around our dysfunction is function to be had.
Solve a problem, do something constructive, and help others...it's all part of making order out of chaos. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 9, 2019
Smell The Flowers
June 25, 2019
Life = Growth
It says behind the cash registers:
People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. - Eleanor Roosevelt
The background has this serene river flow--along with some obvious whitewater.
But in front of it, the cash register area is hopping crazy and messy.
It's a contradiction--not unlike life itself which is full of it's own ups and downs that challenge us routinely.
Life is where we get the experience that shapes us and strengthens us, as long as it does not break us.
Life = Growth
Why else would we be here?
G-d is the best teacher. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 14, 2019
Leading Change
Some highlights I really liked:
- U.S. Army War College in developing high performance leaders seeks to develop competency to operate in an "VUCA" environment:
Volatile
Uncertain
Complex
Ambigious
- The key is NOT to get "emotionally/amygdala hijacked" where our "reptilian brain" in response to threats jumps to:
Fight, Flight, or Freeze
- Instead, we need to manage change methodically as "transitions" (which are personal and emotional) so that we understand that:
Every Ending is a New Beginning
(G-d does not close one door without opening a new one for us.)
- When one thing in life comes to an end, this is where there is enormous potential for growth in:
The Reinvention of Ourselves
Release the emotions and be ready to move on!
- In short, it can be difficult to accept change unless we realize that:
Problems = Opportunities
And this is the critical place where we can try new things and learn and grow.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 16, 2019
(Maybe) Stop Complaining
He was a very lively speaker and with a lot of worthy teachings for his lucky audience.
One thing he said that really stuck with me is about people that complain.
People have hard lives!
As he said, "I don't know what each of you has been through."
But one thing that can help us cope with our challenges is our perspective.
And then he said the following:
We need to be glad that we have something to complain about!
Huh, what does that mean?
Well, think about it...
- If you complain about your spouse, thank G-d that you are married (and have a life partner) to complain about.
- If you complain about your job, thank G-d that you have a job (and income) that you can complain about.
- If you complain about your food, thank G-d that you have food to eat (and sustenance for your body) to complain about.
And so on and so forth.
Whatever we complain about, think about what you actually have (the big picture) and what you are complaining about (usually the little picture).
Really, we have so much to be grateful for that we can easily just forget or take for granted.
So next time your complaining, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE that you are complaining about--you might stop yourself from complaining. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 1, 2019
Victory Or Defeat
And there is this quote that I really like attributed to Kipling in it:
Victory or defeat: learn to accept both with equanimity since both are deceptions.I just thought this is profound.
We never really fully win or lose.
Everything is on a spectrum.
And where we think we are on that spectrum is often not even nearly correct.
You think you won that one, but guess what someone else has outsmarted you and you don't even know it yet.
Also, wins can be easily followed by loses and vice versa.
Things can turn on a dime and who's up becomes who's down--as the wheel of life turns and turns again.
Recognize that you don't control everything--actually, the only thing you do control is how you react and behave.
Everything else is a test to teach you and help you grow.
And as I heard from a speaker yesterday, "you can't make up in space, what you have lost in time."
Victory or defeat, both are deceptions.
Only how you choose to act is the real win or lose.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
