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Showing posts with label Overcome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Overcome. Show all posts
October 28, 2024
April 18, 2024
December 11, 2022
Facing Hardship, Finding Humility
Like Celine Dion, no matter how much fame, fortune, or power any of us amass in our lifetimes, none of these things make an iota of difference in the time of G-d's eternal judgment of us. The only thing that matters and carries on are our good deeds!
When we are young and vibrant and the world seems so small in a way, we can tend to think we are invincible, but as we get older and more mature, we learn that everything we do in life that strays from the Almighty's path for us has a price to be paid and a humbling before our Maker.
(Credit Photo: Anirudh Koul via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celine_Dion#/media/File:Celine_Dion_Concert_Singing_Taking_Chances_2008.jpg)
February 12, 2022
Overcoming The Inquisitor
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "Overcoming The Inquisitor."
While anti-Semitism and persecution for being Jews is horrible and should never happen, in a sort of obscene and ironic way, it ends up making us stronger as Jews. In short, testing our faith, ends up solidifying our faith!No one likes adversity, suffering, or persecution, and G-d only knows that we as Jews have known our deeply painful share. Yet whether from Egyptian slavery to the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and more, it’s our test as Jews to survive, and to learn and grow from it our faith in Hashem.
Yes, these things are far easier said than done, but when we face these terrible events, we must try with all our might to overcome them, heroically and faithfully.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 16, 2022
A Trust Beyond Faith
When we have faith in G-d, it generally means that we believe that He created us and that He is the Master of the Universe. However, faith does not necessarily imply trust. Trust in G-d means that we believe that He not only created us, but that He sustains us and that there is Divine Providence in this world. When we trust in G-d, we believe that G-d is close to us and has a personal relationship with each and every one of us, and actually to everything in the world.We all need to leave our egos at the door! No matter how strong or smart that we think we are, even the little grass above us (or above our graves) is greater than us. Certainly, G-d Almighty who is our creator and our sustainer, all-knowing and all-powerful, He is over us and watches over us in better times as well as those that are perhaps more challenging, but always we trust, for the good!
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 28, 2021
The Plan Amidst The Pain
In life, not only do we have to be determined and work hard, but G-d throws us curveballs and challenges all along the way that can often make us drop to our knees or throw our arms up in despair. However, we need to be faithful like Jacob and Joseph, knowing that it’s all a part of G-d’s plan and mission for us, and through these we learn and grow and become better versions of ourselves.Moreover, if we but open our eyes to the miracle of our creation and our sustainment every moment of every day by Hashem, and remember that He put us all here for a purpose, then we can pay the daily price for what G-d puts in front of us and how we choose to handle it.We can do this knowing that it’s all really just a small price to pay in the end for so much that we gain in this world and that we will carry forward to the hereafter. In the end, nothing is free, but the price and the reason is always just what G-d wants it to be.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 22, 2021
G-d Doesn't Ask Us
Truly, in whatever situations we find ourselves in life, and the pain and suffering that we may have to endure, we really don’t have a choice of our circumstance, but only in how we choose to respond to it. In life, G-d puts us right where he wants us and in situations that are personalized and best for us, whether it feels that way at the moment or not. G-d tries us, and we have to respond with the “right” thoughts, words, and deeds—always remaining a mensch and choosing holiness and righteousness, no matter how difficult it may be. That’s our ultimate challenge, to find holiness even in the depths of despair.Everyone is confronted with levels of pain and suffering, as I heard said that: “there aren’t enough people for all the pain in the world!” The challenge is to resist hopelessness and the loss of one’s integrity, and nevertheless to choose to do good. As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we have the opportunity to do teshuva and to try to influence G-d’s decree for us for the new year, but in the end, G-d is the ultimate Judge. He doesn’t ask us; He tells us what will be for us. Of course, we have the opportunity to answer G-d’s call to us and the responsibility to choose righteousness even in a distressed world and in trying times. In essence, the underlying test of it all is not only to survive the challenges we must face, but also to emerge from them as better people with purified souls.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 5, 2020
We Have To Pray Just To Make It One Day
May 3, 2020
We Impact Each Other's Souls
And I rarely write twice on a book or movie, but this was so impactful.
First on our souls, Sharansky writes:
The law of attraction, interconnection, and interdependence of human souls...there is a universal gravitational pull of souls, of the bond between them and influence of one soul on the other.
Wow, Sharansky understood the deeper meaning of the soul and how they all emanate and are pieces from G-d and they are all connected to their source and each other, and what one person says or does impacts all the others (and thereby G-d himself).
Literally, I experienced this the other day...when I personally made amends on something I felt that I had done wrong, and I could literally feel somehow righting a wrong in the universe and G-d, Himself, smiling down on me.
It was the best feeling I think I have ever had in my life.
Second on fear, Sharansky writes:
My inner freedom [is] more powerful than the external bondage...[and] fear of the L-rd...is a necessary prerequisite for man's achieving inner freedom, and is also the prerequisite for spiritual resolve, the fear of the L-rd is the only thing that can conquer human fear.
Wow again. Sharansky through his nine years of suffering and hardships in Soviet prisons and labor camps found his deep inner strength to resist the tyranny of the KGB worldly masters and overcame them with his finding his fear and faith in G-d and was able to overcome.
These are two amazing heavenly lessons that Sharansky shares with us from enduring and overcoming his incredible worldly hardships.
I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this and am with G-d's help continuing to quench my thirst for this type of wisdom and true enlightenment. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
March 27, 2020
You Can Overcome It!
It says:
Courage is endurance for one moment more.
Just when you feel that you cannot go on for another moment.
Just when you are at your very limit.
Just when you've reached your total breaking point.
Then...
You take that deep breath and focus your mind intently.
You disassociate yourself from the pain and struggle.
You see the challenge in front of you for what it really is and you raise yourself above and beyond it.
Your inner spirit is so much greater than its power over you.
You have the inner faith and can endure whatever it is.
You can overcome it! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 7, 2019
Faith Chases Out The Fear
It’s interesting that faith and fear are incompatible and they cannot coexist. Where one is, the other is not. Just like the light chases away the darkness, so too does faith expel fear from our lives. When we believe that G-d is in charge of everything that happens, and that he loves us and ultimately wants what is good of us then what is there for us to fear?
No matter in what danger we find ourselves and no matter how scared we feel, we are not alone. The Master of the Universe is watching over us, waiting for us to raise our eyes to the heavens in faith, and to take a stand and do what’s right. If we do, then G-d will manifest himself to us and indeed “will carry, and will deliver” us.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 28, 2019
November 17, 2019
OPTIMISM vs pessimism
As Joel Rosenberg put it in his book The Ezekiel Option, "In the long run everything would turn out fine...but tomorrow could be a disaster."
In short, this equates to:
I'm a strategic optimist, but a tactical pessimist.
My mom used to say, "If I am pessimistic, I'll never be disappointed." LOL
I think though when we have faith then we know that truly, in the end everything is for the best and will be okay.
In the short term though, there are challenges to face and these can be tough indeed.
- Strategically an optimist.
- Tactically a pessimist.
Plan for the worst, hope for the best. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 9, 2019
Making The Impossible, Possible
Even though the Jewish people are a tiny minority in the world, through our faith, determination, and the help of G-d, we are able to survive against all odds, contribute to the world far beyond our mere numbers, and succeed in truly incredible ways. From Einstein, Freud, and Marx to Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison, we are a people that punches way above our weight.
I believe the lessons of faith and determination is one that we can all take away from the tests of our forefathers in the Bible to the flourishing modern State of Israel and to how we live our own lives today. G-d tests all of us, and if we go forward and answer His calling with a full heart and perseverance, G-d will help us to succeed above our wildest of dreams and even beyond the very laws of nature.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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)
October 7, 2019
It Spills Over
But rather is spills over entirely.
There is nothing, nothing left inside.
Worse even is when the glass completely shatters.
Then there isn't even a vessel anymore.
All that's left is to pick up the pieces.
As humans, we try to fill up the water, stop the water inside from spilling out, and to save the glass.
The rest is in G-d's hands.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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)
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 30, 2019
Win Rocky Win
And it arrived, all wrapped up nicely, in the mail yesterday.
Rocky working out and training.
His shirt says:
Win Rocky Win
I posed him with his arms up in the air like after a fight in the ring.
Love his fighting spirit, determination, and integrity.
Overcoming against all odds.
Great inspiration.
Some say we actually look alike. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 24, 2019
Excellence Vs. Mediocrity
The long hours, hard work, and grueling repetition to try to reach near-perfection.
Even then, of course, we need G-d's mercy and blessings and a measure of good luck to succeed.
Also, by definition, not everyone can be "the best" at everything.
I suppose the expectation for most people is that they try at least to excel at the things that they need to do or are most important to them, as well as maintain work-life balance.
In this light, it was interesting to hear a story recently about mediocrity (and not excellence).
When asked to step up on the job, one person responded in the negative saying:
C's get degrees (too)!
Of course, this must have sounded pretty shocking and off-putting.
In other words, they weren't going for the "A" or even a "B". A "C" grade was fine for them--as long as they didn't completely fail with a big "F".
Who knows what circumstances may have led this person to settle for mediocrity--just wanting to pass.
Perhaps they had serious personal or family issues--and had good reason to be taking a step back (for a while).
But I think there could also be more tactful ways to say it too--like explaining if there were mitigating or challenging circumstances in their life right now.
If there really wasn't mitigating circumstances and the person was just "slacking off" or didn't care, one has to wonder why--are they just "milking the system" or is there something more fundamentally wrong?
C's get degrees, but to me the real question is: Are you doing your best given your particular life circumstances? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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