There is an electronic billboard that I pass by 4 times every day. 
One of the messages that I see daily reads:
 " Do the right thing for the right reason" 

~Mathew 6 (1-4) (5-8)

The bill board ,sponsored by Holy Name Hospital, always has some quotes and motivations along with what ever services and programs they are running.
I am not big on scripture , particularity New Testament, however this verse has intrigued me for weeks now.
In its simple message it sums up exactly how I feel I want to live my life.
Today, I actually Googled this verse .
I could not find any site that interprets this section of Mathew quite as simplistically as our good friends at Holy Name Hospital have. However, I can see where and how they could derive this message from the writings.
In any case, it does speak to the core of what I believe.
I hope that in every instance,my motivation to do something is because it is the right thing to do.
Sounds simple enough. 
It's takes the Nike slogan to a completely different level. 
Just Do It is not enough.
Do it because it's the right thing to do. 
Don't expect a reward.
Don't expect praise.
Don't look for financial gains or "what's in it for me?"
Do it because it's the right thing to do. 
It's just that simple!


Ho Ho Ho!

After my morning bus run I did as I always do. Upon returning home, I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee and retired to my desk to check emails and messages before getting on with the rest of me day.
Much to my surprise I was greeted by what I can only describe as a most exciting ,completely unexpected email from a dear friend.
It was actually exciting in 2 ways. First, I have not spoken to or heard from my friend in a very very (okay 1 more) very long time. I had no idea this friend was still reading my emails.
I am always tickled pink when I hear from some one and this was certainly no exception. 
It truly made my day and brought a huge smile to my face. 
As if that wasn't enough, it seems that she had read my email yesterday and as luck would have it, her community was looking for some one to be Santa at their community breakfast.
I was elated!
It happens to fall on a day when I am completely free. 
I have reached back out to her to let her know that if in fact they still need a Santa they can count me in.
1 email......2 great gifts! 
Wow!
I can't even begin to tell you how these 2 blessings changed my day around.
After a rough start to my day with heavier than normal volume on the roads,coupled with fighting off an oncoming cold, I was less than energetic this morning.
Now, I am actually giddy with happy!
I had mentioned to some of my bus riders that it might be time for me to break out my black Santa hat with Bah Humbug inscribed on it.
That ain't gonna happen!
At least not today.
How great is my life!
Amazingly it just keeps getting better and better.

"T'is the season to find out your reason!"

In my message from The Universe yesterday I was asked"Be honest David....hasn't it been more rewarding being Santa than waiting for Santa ?'
My first thought was "How did The Universe know how much I enjoyed the years that I worked as a Santa?"
Then I realized that The Universe knows everything so it shouldn't be surprising at all.
It did make me think though.
I love being Santa,and not just during the holiday season.
I love when wishes come true.
I love the smiles that I see on people's faces.
I love the magic!
Life on a daily basis is mundane.
Mundane does not mean boring or uneventful.
The dictionary defines mundane as:
1.common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative.

2.of or relating to this world or earth as contrasted with heaven;worldly; earthly:

mundane affairs.

3.of or relating to the world, universe, or earth.

We live each day this way.

Days all kind of run together. 

Nothing seems all that special or memorable about them.

That truly is life.

Then there are those exceptional days, those profane and profound days that stand out. We remember every detail about them. We remember the where's and the when's and the what's of the day. Where we were,who we were with what we were doing, even what we were wearing.

Some of these memories are fond and some are down right frightening.

We all remember where we were on 9/11 or if you are old enough where we were when Kennedy was shot.

We remember awful days like being fired or learning of a death of a loved one. 

We remember every little detail of days like that.

And then there are those special day that exhilarate and electrify us.

We remember surprise parties and bar and bat mitzvahs.

We remember our wedding days and maybe even our first dates or that first kiss.
We remember the births of our children.
These are all special moments.
I for one cherish every opportunity I have to create or facilitate one of these special moments.
I love recalling these special moments. 
Not as pinnacles or high points in my life but as stepping stones to the next opportunity to create another special moment.
They are few and far between.
They are unpredictable. 
Things don't always happen according to script. 
Then there are those special times when the stars and The Universe all seem to come into alignment . Those moments that seem to stand frozen in time in our memories to be cherished for eternity.
These are all Santa moments.
And as The Universe reminded me, I do love being Santa!

Ho Ho Ho!

November is coming to a close.
I have spent a great deal of time with this month's word of the month:
FORGIVENESS.
The one take away from this is that I now understand that FORGIVENESS is an internal not an externally thing.
It, like many other things, is all about me.
Learning to show myself forgiveness has been a valuable lesson.
Last week,in the throws of my CDL dilemma, the women who heads up transportation affectionately kidded "get over yourself!" when I told her how stressed I was feeling over not being able to be as effective in my job.
What she said and what she meant were 2 different things. 
Her message was clear. 
I had to forgive (let go) of the guilt I was feeling.
I had to move on.
It took me a few days,but in the end I was able to"get over" myself and move on.
It is quite liberating.
Trust me, I can probably find at least 1 if not a dozen things in the course of a day to beat myself up over.
Heck, I spent the better part of 63 years doing just that.
It's this whole forgiveness thing that allows me to let go of those insecurities and self doubts that ultimately serves as a vehicle to move forward.
And when I am moving forward, when I am being productive, I am a better servant to myself and those around me.
In the end, that's all I want to do. 
Serve as many as possible as well as possible.

Back to the real World!
It's the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving. 
Black Friday and all of its hype and nonsense is a thing of the past.
Now comes the sprint to the end of the year.
Basically there are no days off until Christmas morning on my calendar.
Technically , there are 4 Saturdays that I have "off" however, I don't believe that they will actually be non-working days.
It wasn't all that long ago that I wrote about finishing strong.
To be exact it was 19 days ago. 
At that point there were 55 days left in 2017.
55 opportunities to add to my success story. 
55 days to put in the win column for myself.
We're 36 days away from 2018.
That's double Chai!
What is Chai?
"Chai, which means "Life" is one of the most recognizable symbols of Judaism. Comprised of the letters Chet and Yud, together they form the word "Chai" - a word that reflects the importance of life in Judaism. According to the Gematria, a Jewish mystical tradition that assigns a numerological value to Hebrew letters, the Chet has a value of 8 and the Yud has a value of 10, adding up to the number 18 (Hebrew is read from right to left). Because of this, the number 18 represents good luck and gifts are often given in multiples of Chai, or 18. It symbolizes giving the recipient the gift of "life" or luck."As I said,36 days....double Chai!
The Universe in its uncanny wisdom has once again taken the opportunity to point out to me how significant each and every day is.
It wasn't until I started typing away that I became aware of the day count left in 2017.
Even then it took a minute for me to recognize that there was a special reason for this to come to light today.
Just now, another aha moment.
I said come to light.
Tonight I will light a candle for my maternal Grandmother.
That also means that 3 days later I will light a candle in my mother's memory.
Once again, I gotta believe there is a meaning to all of this. There is some message from The Universe for me to pay attention.
36 days left.
Double Chai.

Life.

To Life!

L'Chaim!

Shavua Tov!

 

Wow! 
An actual day off!
Really...I have a sum total of zero commitments today and I plan to take full advantage of that.
As I left the house this morning to drop Susan at the shop, I glanced back to peruse the living space behind me. 
After serving over 50 meals in the last 2 days and entertaining from morning to late at night,our home is actually in really great shape. Susan did a fantastic job of keeping up with the clean up as I moved from dish preparation to dish preparation and from meal to meal.
We also took full advantage when any of our guests said "how can I help?", something that quite honestly is a new experience for us.
Max is dealing with some really painful back and neck issues so he was not going to be available to help out.
I gladly accepted ,and even asked for, some help , believe it or not, and in very short order after dinner last night, our home was back to normal ,that is as normal as the Spiegel household can possibly be.
After dropping my car at the garage for some long over due maintenance, I have completely cleared my calendar for the day.
Other than dropping Susan off and delivering bagels to Sara, I have nothing left on my to do list for the day.
Trust me , I can probably find plenty to add to that list.
Instead, my plan is to regroup a bit.
I will crack open the CDL Drivers Manual Through out the day.
I will also prepare dinner, using up some more of the leftovers from Thursday.
I may take a run to Staples , although leaving that for a week work day may make more sense than dealing with Saturday shoppers traffic.
I am cleaning out my desk draws and rearranging my work space surfaces today.
A little feng shui goes a long way.
All in all, I am taking a me day.
Not exactly a spa day or a down time day.
Just a get my self ready day.
I commented to Susan as I sat at my computer before we left this morning that I am ready.
She asked "ready for what?"
I replied "whatever is next!"
I am ready.
Did you catch that Universe?
I am ready!

Shabbat Shalom!

Happy Day after Thanksgiving!
I can't believe that it has been 5 days since I the last time I took the time to write to you.
It has been one hell of a 5 day period.
All good....just unbelievably busy.
The whole bus driving license thing has taken up a lot more time than any one imagined.
Coupled with the short work week and preparing for Thanksgiving, I have not had any down time or me time.
Before I pull out the driver's manual to study, I decided to take the opportunity to reach out and catch up with you.
It kind of makes sense to let you know how I am doing since after all today is another How Am I Doin' Friday.
Well as I said, it has been one hell of a 5 day period of non-stop action.
Starting with 4  separate trips to motor vehicle which accomplished very little, a morning on line at Social Security (don't ask) along with my daily bus runs, I had the added challenges of preparing for a full day of Thanksgiving festivities which included both  180 mile round trips picking up and returning my in laws to their residence.
No complaining, just acknowledging how wildly busy things have been.
Once again, our Thanksgiving meal was a feast of extraordinary proportions.
Proudly I share with you that at one point mid meal, my brother commented that a person who chooses not to eat meat would have been overwhelmed by the number of fantastic vegetarian options on the table.
It was very impressive (and really delicious!)
We don't do left overs at the Spiegel house.
We re-purpose and re-introduce things. 
So tonight for Shabbat dinner, I will use all of the things that I put away last night.
My guess is that by some time around mid week next week I may have to shop for some things. Until then, my cache of dishes to be re-purposed should serve me well.
The furniture is still in i's rearranged state that we use for large meals. 
Tonight our Shabbat dinner will be 16 or 17 people, on top of the 22 people who ate here yesterday.
By tomorrow morning, things will be back to normal.
The furniture will be as it normally is and our every day routines will be back in order.
It has been another wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations. Different than in the past, however in the end memorable once again.
I do have one more thing I want to share with you before I hit the books and get back to preparing for Shabbat dinner tonight.
The other day I had a guest passenger on my bus. she works as the director of outreach for the Seniors program and accompanied me on my morning run.
We connected immediately and my hope is that we will stay connected in the future. We seem to speak the same language!
She shared with me that she considers herself an INDY woman.
Okay I couldn't resist and took the well set bait.
"What's an INDY woman" I asked.
"Siple she replied, it's an acronym which means 
"I'm Not Done Yet!"
Like I said.....we speak the same language and I am sure that I will be coming back to this really soon.
 That you can count on!
Shabbat Shalom!