“Gather strength from life's storms.” Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It's a bright sunny day today. Thank goodness! We have experienced a lot of rain lately and to be perfectly honest, it was beginning to take its toll on me in a very negative way. I am not normally prone to mood swings because of the weather. However, over the last few weeks, even I was starting to feel beaten down. For those who don't know, retail kind of sucks when the weather is bad. But yesterday and today brought bright sunny skies with that crisp autumn cool. Just what the doctor ordered! (At least for the time being)

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

“ Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” ― Golda Meir, A Land of Our Own: An Oral Autobiography

As I count off the days one after another, my thoughts turn to my mother who had a unique view of things. While always fully involved in the holiday that was up next, she had an uncanny awareness of the next holiday which was just around the corner. It never diminished her focus on the celebration at hand. Yet both mentally and physically she was engaged in what's next. For her, it was cyclical. On this 150 day journey, there are some intermediate milestones. Columbus Day is here, Day 12. My birthday will be here shortly, another 20days. Then Veteran's Day, followed by Thanksgiving, then Pearl Harbor Day, which also happens to be the first day of Chanukah. Shortly after that,18days, is Christmas, then New Years Eve and Becca's wedding. In early January we'll hit the 100 day milestone, then Valentines day. By St. Patties day, we will hit that 150 day milestone. Not an ending, just a mile marker. I think I will celebrate with a toast with my friend Jim as we both hit another milestone. Looking forward to that!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

“Our policy is simple. The Jewish state was set up to defend Jewish lives, and we always reserve the right to defend our selves." Benjamin Netanyahu

I woke up this morning with a clear, concise and positive message for myself. I texted a friend just to say good morning. His response was "turn on the news". It was then my day took a dramatic turn. There is an ugly cruelty that exists in this World. Today it is with us in full force. Evil must be destroyed, not just dealt with. And no, there is no "other side" of this debate! A very sad day.

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." Maria Robinson

This morning a friend asked me if I was enjoying writing again. Great question! My answer was, I don't know that I am enjoying it but I am appreciative of taking part in the exercise. There is a rhythm added to my day when I make (read take) the time to write. It grounds me. It brings focus to the chaos of the day. It's very familiar to me. I appreciate familiar. Familiar is like wearing a hoodie to me. And I love wearing hoodies!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." Maria Robinson

This morning a friend asked me if I was enjoying writing again. Great question! My answer was, I don't know that I am enjoying it but I am appreciative of taking part in the exercise. There is a rhythm added to my day when I make (read take) the time to write. It grounds me. It brings focus to the chaos of the day. It's very familiar to me. I appreciate familiar. Familiar is like wearing a hoodie to me. And I love wearing hoodies!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.” Keshavan Nair

Day 7: “Commitment is doing what you said you would, long after the mood you said it in has left.”  1 day has become 1 week!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

"The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best." Epictetus

A dear friend of mine shared a bit of wisdom on Facebook yesterday. If I pour myself a cup of coffee and someone bumps into me, I spill coffee all over myself. If I pour myself a cup of tea and someone bumps into me, I spill tea allover myself. When we bump into things we will ultimately spill whatever is in our cup. If we fill our cup with doubt, fear and anxiety, inevitably that is what will spill out. When we fill our cup with positive life affirming thoughts, that too becomes what eventually spills out. Seems like an easy choice if you ask me.

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

"Our lives are defined not by the challenges we encounter, but by how we respond to those challenges." Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The end of my day completely got away from me.It was just before 4 o'clock when I committed to writing before I left the shop. Next thing I knew, I was in our family room and getting ready for bed.I felt disappointed in myself for having missed the opportunity to keep my writing on a roll.Walking through the kitchen, Max's chrome book was sitting on the counter.Being the creature of habit that I am, writing on anything other than my computer is a kin to committing a federal offense. What's the old saying?Nothing ventured nothing gained.I was able to log in That's cool! I think I can do this.What would really help is if I had a cordless mouse.MAx found the next best thing,a plug in. Really cool! We're off and running.The mission of the day was nothing more than to get get through day 6 and prepare for day 7. Mission accomplished ......and very cool!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 "Our lives are defined not by the challenges we encounter, but by how we respond to those challenges."

Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When I look back to the start of my original 100 Day Journey, I remember how important it seemed to me to track the days. Day1,day2,day3, and so on. Like watching each footstep, counting the days was top of mind to me. And then all of a sudden, things shifted. I seemed less interested in the number of days and more interested in what was taking place around (and inside of) me. Day 5 and I am still counting. Day 5 and I so look forward to a time when I am not! Shavua Tov!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 “What comes easy won’t last long, and what lasts long won’t come easy.”

Unknown

"And the waters became exceedingly powerful upon the earth, and all the lofty mountains that were under the heavens were covered up." Genisis 7:19 Okay, so it hasn't been 40 days an 40 nights of rain, but it has been fairly intense. Yesterday, my day begin with water cascading into our bedroom from a roof leak. I wish I could say that was the low point of the day, however, you can probably guess that wasn't so. Weekend grooming cancellations starting coming one after another. A half a dozen or more before 10 a.m. Retail foot traffic just didn't exist. By 1 o'clock the northbound lane of the road in front of our store was closed due to flooding. By 2, both lanes were flooded. At around 3, the waters made there way over the curbs and up to the sidewalks. At first, the road directly in front of our store was closed. The the barricades were moved a few hundred feet in either direction. Then the perimeter was sealed of over a quarter of a mile further. Our last dog left at 5. His owner had to leave his car up the road and carry his dog back down the street. It was at that point we decided it was time to make our escape, praying that we hadn't waited to long. Driving Becca's flex EV through what was now a lake at the end of our lot was an uncertainty. We made it out, but not by much. Sitting at the traffic light a mile up the road, Becca said "well, now we have time to build the Sukkah!" Which we did when we got home. In a blink of an eye, we had the sukkah up and shortly there after we made our way into it to make Kiddush and Motzi (traditional Friday night prayers). Shabbat dinner was inside, however the day ended on a truly high note. A welcome rainbow at the end of the storm! Shabbat Shalom  "So long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." GenesisChapter 8:22

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”



Winston Churchill

Day 2...and I'll be brief today.

First I want to acknowledge all who reached out after Day 1. It was heartwarming to hear from old friends once again. Just knowing that you are well was so uplifting.

I have to say, this challenge will be significantly different than the one I faced 10 years ago.

One day at a a time!

One foot in front of the other.

Shabbat Shalom all!

 “A friend is someone who understands my past, believes in my future, and accepts me just the way I am.”

Anonymous

One of the tools I learned to use in coaching is to recreate the circumstances of a time when we experienced great success. For me that time of great success was way back in 2013 when I began what turned out to be one incredible journey. The first step of that journey was writing. I committed to writing for 100 days as a way to hold myself accountable as well as to monitor my achievements and in turn garner some support which I knew I would need. I find myself in a similar situation today, some 10 years later. Once again, I find myself needing to make a dramatic change in my life, every bit as challenging as the road I embarked down a decade ago. This time, the commitment I have made to myself is for a longer time period, 50 days longer than the original 100 days I had set as my goal way back then. Coincidentally, while sitting in shul on Yom Kippur, my mind wandered back to a time when I would write daily. As I sat mindfully thinking about the holiday and its meaning to me, I felt a sadness around the fact that I no longer write. I can not begin to share with you just how much I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you. It helped in so many unimaginable ways. Just being able to put my words out to the Universe, made each day a victory. So here I am again, starting out down another long and arduous path. 150 days. That seems like an eternity. Today is Day 1. "The Journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

Not Just Tikun

"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." Elie Wiesel in his Memoir "NIGHT"

On a daily basis, I see a plethora of Facebook post (more like rants) about this social injustice and that social injustice. For the most part, I find the majority of them off putting, divisive and unnecessary. What's that expression about opinions and a$$holes? Oh right, everybody has one and they all stink. This onslaught of posts and pseudo-op-eds has been one of the factors in my reluctance to share my thoughts over the last 2 years. However, today is not a day for me to remain silent. Tonight is Yom Hashoah, the day set aside for the remembrance of the Holocaust. I heard an interesting factoid yesterday. There are less than 30,000 Holocaust survivors alive in the NY metropolitan area today. I suppose that it is a remarkable thing that these individuals who survived the horrors and the atrocities of the camps, all in their late 80' or 90's, are still here to tell their stories. To remind us with first hand accounts that we must never forget. The sad but obvious truth is that in the very near future, they will all be gone. Holocaust denial will only grow stronger when there is no one left to remind the World of the evil that befell our people. Growing up, the idea of Tikun Olam, loosely understood as repairing the World, was often tied into the Holocaust. It was our responsibility to help not just our community , but all of Mankind, to move past that awful time in history. Not to forget, but to repair, to grow, to move beyond, to be better. Today, I don't see my responsibility the same way. It's not my job to repair this world. No, my responsibility is to make sure I ,and my generation, makes sure that future generations, never forgets. Soon, the survivors will all be gone. I, no we, can never allow for their stories to disappear. It is our obligation to Keep Telling their Stories!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023