- Life is not meaningless, but it is an opportunity for us to make it meaningful by trusting G-d and knowing that He has a plan for us and everything He does is for our action and benefit.
- What we think, say, and do isn't irrelevant but is, in fact, very important since we have the G-d-given power to sanctify our lives and positively impact ourselves, others, and the world through ever-present opportunities for giving and righteousness.
March 24, 2024
Finding Strength in Difficult Times
December 7, 2023
March 31, 2023
This Is One of Those Days
Need some calming Shabbat relief. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This Is One of Those Days
November 29, 2022
Brain Overload
My brain has too many tabs open
How do you shut it off to get some rest?
Then again, maybe you need a better microprocessor! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Brain Overload
September 29, 2022
Wanted Nice Customers
And everyone else for that matter.
Nice, nice, I said it twice! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Wanted Nice Customers
May 12, 2022
Sounds Refreshing
If you have too much, do you feel like the guy pictured here?
Maybe people need to feel this way sometimes (especially when the world looks like it's going to hell). ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Sounds Refreshing
July 19, 2020
PTSD Gets Around
The Jewish people are a nation recovering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), where memories of trauma flood our national psyche and can trigger emotional (and even physical) symptoms. Whether fear of the next “evil decree” against the Jews, to another pogrom of crazed rapists and killers rampaging through a Jewish town, or even of genocide itself, the Jewish people have known plenty of deep-seated persecution and have to deal with the accompanying fear and anxiety of being the quintessential “strangers in a strange land,” almost everywhere in the world and over a very long period of history.
PTSD is very real not only for our suffering veterans, and for individual people that have been sexually abused or experienced physical violence, but it can also be a national psychiatric disorder based on collective trauma that affects our mood, anxiety levels, and behavioral reactions to events. Suffering from exile, persecution, and helplessness from thousands of years does not go away in a generation or even a century. It is a long road for our national recovery where we can learn to once again live healthy and productive lives absent from the fear and anxiety of another bad Tisha B’Av.
PTSD Gets Around
June 7, 2020
Prickly Like The People
Say or do something that rubs them the wrong way and you got a sharp aching thorn in your side.
Hence the saying about handling them with "kid gloves" made from fine soft kid leather.
Handle tactfully and with special consideration or else get stung badly and suffer the pain and consequences. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Prickly Like The People
August 20, 2019
Shopping Vs Psychiatrist
"Shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist."
Plus it's more fun and you get to take the junk home that you buy.
For many, shopping truly is a form of mental/stress relief--almost like medicine.
Unfortunately, if you think about it, things don't really make a person happy...rather people do and doing good does.
But industry wants you to think a lot more superficially and materialistically than that.
Hence the notion that if you take your daily dose of shopping, maybe you can skip the shrink! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Shopping Vs Psychiatrist
August 11, 2019
The Humanity of Routine
They form routines and function with relative comfort and efficiency within that.
And for the most part, we can recognize our own patterns in life.
Get up, brush our teeth, dress, daven (pray), go to work and so on.
After a while, you can do it mostly in your sleep.
We sort of become like automatons.
Flip the switch and we go.
When routine and structure become so rigid that we can no longer improvise or innovate then we have a big problem in higher order functioning.
But also when we break people's structures and habits, we find that they can quickly lose their sh*t.
People need to control their time and maintain their patterns of life.
Therein lies a certain safety and comfort in that repetitive doing.
You know what you're doing--you've done it before, so you can do it again.
If you strip a person of their control over their time and the structure of their behavior, they are truly naked and in much more than a physical sense. (They articulated this in The Punisher, Season One, on Netflix)
All of a sudden they don't know what to do or how to do it.
Do they go crazy, breakdown, or tell you everything you want to know.
Torture is not just physical, but also mental and emotional.
It is not hard to take away something so simple and a person is no longer a full person anymore.
People need solid coping as well as survival skills to deal with the unknown.
Finally, appreciate when everything is more or less under control, because that's truly a blessing. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Humanity of Routine
February 14, 2019
Diamonds Under Pressure
They said:
Pressure makes diamonds.
Diamonds are of the most beautiful and precious items in the world that we give to our loved ones as a symbol of our tremendous love for them.
Diamonds are crystals made of pure carbon that formed under high temperature and extreme pressure.
People too are often under extreme pressure in life from all sorts of demands and challenges whether it be work, family, threats, or illness.
But just like from pressure comes diamonds, so too can pressure make us from rough and imperfect human beings into smooth, polished, and spectacular people.
Rather than crack under pressure, we need to cope with it and let it strengthen us and shape us to be the gems we can be. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Diamonds Under Pressure
January 29, 2019
How Some People Cope With Stress
Thought this was incredible.
Someone opened up a "Rage Room" in Maryland.
I know the atmosphere in D.C. is polarized and sort of toxic lately, and there is lot's of identity politics, obstruction, and even people hating on each other, but this really shows how things have degenerated.
And let's face it, it's not just the politics that people are stressed out about--how about stress from family, work, and bills. We're on 24/7 these days and a lot of stress can build up in people that way.
But now, people can actually pay money to go to into a room, wrap themselves in safety clothing, and spend their time smashing things.
Almost like when they put crazy people in a padded room in a straight jacket and let them hit their heads against the wall for a while.
In the Rage Room:
You can break 10 glass items for just $25!
Or throw in a medium printer in the starter pack and it's $35.
You can even BYOB (Bring Your Own Breakables) and have at it for $15.
Group packages and even gift cards are available.
Fun maybe, a little crazy for sure. ;-)
How Some People Cope With Stress
November 7, 2018
Bills, Health, and Purpose
He was telling me about some of life's stresses at work, home, etc., and he said even though every looks forward to retirement "one day," the problems don't go away.
He mentioned some examples of people he knows that retired relatively young and with a pension.
Nevertheless, he said:
They still worry about bills, about health, and mostly about purpose!
And even though they don't have the day-to-day grind in the office, he said:
Their own stress is as real to them as mine is to me.
I couldn't help reflecting on his words and thinking how smart this was.
No one has it all!
Everyone is this world has fears, worries, and problems.
And you know what? It's okay.
Life is about us confronting what seems unconfrontable and becoming better human beings because we did. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Bills, Health, and Purpose
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)
Mechanisms for Coping With Stress
September 29, 2017
Party With Cookies Like It's The End Of The Fiscal Year
That means that this time of year is a lot of stress on a lot of people.
So what do they do?
Well, while a lot of people are reaching for the do-re-mi ($$$) to earn and to spend before the books close, others are reaching for the plain old (cookie) dough.
This week for example, there was a big cookie party!
So much stress, so little time.
That seems to translate into cookie days, and carbohydrate weeks.
This isn't just the end of the fiscal year, but a potentially fatty, dangerous time too.
The timing is also weird because of the juxtaposition to Yom Kippur tomorrow which is a fasting day with NO food or water for 25 hours.
Better eat some more cookies now (or not). ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Party With Cookies Like It's The End Of The Fiscal Year
June 29, 2017
It's Not (Always) Easy
But there is definitely another reality out there, and that is that everyone has problems:
- Family
- Health
- Finances
- Work
- School
- Conflict
- Spiritual
Like Helen Keller said:
"I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet."
I remember as a child, if I felt sad about something, my dad at times would remind me about the children in the hospital, and to think about how we can help others less fortunate--and he was right!
What I see in life is a lot of people trying, but also so many challenges, failures, and suffering along the way...unfortunately, it's part of the learning and growth equation, and in why we're here.
In college, I always remember one (English) professor who taught me from Henry David Thoreau:
"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation."
Sometimes, in our solitude or when we speak quietly from our heart with our closest loved ones, we feel and express some of those deep feelings of hurt, pain, and suffering from our lives.
Those experiences, memories, and feelings are not all that there is of us, but it is certainly a part of all of us--although maybe only the brave will admit theirs.
It's not shameful to feel, to cry, and to be human.
It's certainly not what Facebook and Twitter are all about.
But it's a genuine and critical part of us which recognizes as my dad also taught me that--life is not easy--and that we have to fight every day to do our best and to help others to do theirs. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
It's Not (Always) Easy
April 21, 2017
Breaking The Bounds Of This World Thinking
"Changing the human mind to infinite universe mind"
"Human is incomplete because human are living inside human mind world which is one's lived life and thoughts."
"One can live forever and [when] he has escaped pain, burden, stress, and the countless kinds of agonies; his old self has disappeared and so it is great freedom."Through mindfulness, centered and balanced thinking, we can go above the "false world" and enter the "true world."
Doesn't this ring fundamental and true?
What an amazing approach to thinking that we can use elevate ourselves above what we live and see every day. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal via Rockville Meditation)
Breaking The Bounds Of This World Thinking
February 10, 2017
Overcoming Resistance To Change
20% of the people are open and friendly to change--they are your early adopters.
50% are fence sitters--and they hold a wait and see attitude.
30% are resisters--these are the people that will be the roadblocks to change.
_____
Total 100%
Some will resist openly and loudly. Other will disguise their resistance in a politically correct way. And finally some may work subversively to block change.
The keys to overcoming the resistance is by working through the head, heart, and hands model, helping people to understand the following:
Head (Intellectual) - What is changing.
Heart (Emotional) - Why it's changing (and what's in it for me--WIIFM).
Hands (Behavioral) - How is it changing.
This means changing the mindset, motivating people, and shaping behavior to effect change.
Change and resistance to change are facts of life, but how we approach it can either mean failure or amazing transformation. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Overcoming Resistance To Change
January 2, 2017
Can You Do No Right?
That whatever you do or choose, you are opening yourself up to criticism by others or more importantly from yourself.
That's because in life every moment is a choice and each selection of what you do with your time and efforts means by definition that you are not doing something else important then.
- Take the mother or father who chooses to spend time raising their children, but then are not focused as much on their career.
- Take the student who is working really hard on getting those good grades and SAT scores, but then are not doing as much or well with extracurricular activities like sports or socializing.
- Take the spiritual or religious person or clergy who chooses to focuses their life studying and performing holy speech and deeds but not so much other earthly and material matters.
- Take the athlete who works out and eats right focusing on toning and honing their body and physical skills but doesn't spend as much time and effort on intellectual interests or more standard career pursuits.
- Take the extrovert who focuses on building and maintaining relationships and networks--family, friends, community, colleagues, others--but are not putting the same time and attention to enhancing their other knowledge, skills, and abilities.
So you say, but why can't we just do everything we're supposed to do, and simply balance?
Well, that is what we all try to do in our own way, but still each time and every moment you are doing one thing, you are not at that moment doing something else or being somewhere else.
So that causes tension, perhaps a tug-of-war within ourselves, stress, and even guilt.
The impact is that we often run from one thing to another or we get distracted in what we are doing--"Honey can you answer the phone?"
Some classic examples are when we race home from the office to pick the kids up from school or while playing with sweet little Johny or Suzie, the phone rings and and we have to pick up that call from the boss at work.
As they say, you can't be--physically or mentally--in two places at the same time!
Hence, now the movement for mindfulness, being in the moment and focused.
But as the demands in life forever ask more of us--even amidst ever greater technology and automation to assist us--somehow we can never do enough because of course, the bar gets raised for ourselves and the competition gets tougher from those who make choices to focus on specific areas that we are not as much.
So say that you are splitting your time between work and family, but someone else is single or doesn't have kids and they are full in with work, staying late, going in weekends, getting those extra credentials, and just putting in every extra effort there...well, how do you think you will stack up?
Yes, some of us recognize the importance of work-life balance and even focusing incrementally across the many important areas of our life: physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and socially.
Never-the-less every moment, in a time- and space-bound world, we are forced to choose this or that.
There is no one right answer for everyone!
And every choice in every moment is the opportunity for you to criticize yourself or for others to criticize you that you weren't paying attention, focused, doing your best, etc.
But who cares--it's our life to live and we can live it as we want?
True, however as inevitably important things or relationships break down or fail, have mistakes or errors, or aren't going as we would ultimately want or dream they should--we ask ourselves, could we have done things differently or somehow managed our time, efforts, and focus better.
(Source Photo: Online Advertisement provided by Dannielle Blumenthal)
Can You Do No Right?
October 23, 2016
Your Score Is Your Life
Your Score Is Your Life