Do I really need this?

"Every day stand guard at the door of your mind."

~ Jim Rohn

I have never been accused of being a self indulgent kind of guy.

Spending money on myself is a rarity.

Why buy a cup of coffee when I can go home and make one?

New sneakers?

What's wrong with my old ones?

They're not falling apart yet.

Treating myself to things is just not what I do.

In today's climate, I find myself being even more vigilant around this than ever.

Can I make a meal out of what's here in the house now?

Sure.

Would it be a better meal if I had this or that to add to it?

Probably. But that would mean going to the store.

Do I really need to do that?

Or can I get by with what I have?

Almost always, the answer is I can.

Take tonight's dinner for instance.

A can of cranberry sauce would be the perfect piece to tie tonight's meal together.

Am I really going to go out there and expose myself or expose others who I may come in contact with for a freakin' can of cranberry sauce?

Kind of dumb.

These are the choices I find myself making more often than I would like to.

If times were different, trust me, Ocean Spray would be $1.29 richer right now.

This is just the way it is for now.

And by now, I am pretty sure I mean for the foreseeable future.

If everyone would learn to be more responsible when it comes to "do I really need this" maybe,just maybe , life could become more normalized once again.

Do we really need to order take-out 3 times a day?

How about a little planning for the week?

I still haven't figured out the whole toilet paper crisis.

The only answer I keep coming back to is people are just inherently bad and inconsiderate.

Can I use a haircut?

Definitely.

Do I need a haircut?

No, not really.

Do I really need to go to the dry cleaners?

Not really. I am sure there is something in my closet to wear.

There are dozens of these choices to be made daily.

99% of them will probably be answered with no not really.

This will not last forever.

For now, a little planning and a little sacrifice will go a long way towards getting back to saying why not sooner than later.

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIiUqfxFttM

Alternate Reality

"How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most”

Stephen R. Covey

Another day and another opportunity for me to scratch my head.

As one who has always found it difficult to fit in,these times are even more challenging for me.

I have always questioned why it is that I seem to view things so much differently than

the majority of those around me.

Over the years, I have come to accept that,oftentimes smiling as if I knew a secret that others didn't get. More often than not however, I have been perplexed by how little light people see and how they choose to succumb to the darkness.

Oh heck, let's call it as I see it, there are way to many Chicken Littles and not enough Don Quixote's.

Sadly this trend seems to be continuing.

All of the little chickens (hah...like the way I did that!) are electing to huddle in the corners of their self made coops,fearing the big bad wolf, with absolutely no desire or will to sick their scawny little chicken necks out for fear of having their heads cut off.

Bullshit to that!

I keep hearing terms like "Heroes" and "those on the frontlines".

It's as if the rest of the world, the rest of you, the rest of us,are waiting for someone to save them. Ain't gonna happen.

You want saving?

Get off your ass.

Get mad.

Get to work.

Stop cowering .

Do something. Do anything.

Just don't sit there.

Stay at home,stay away,stay secluded?

Until when?

Until someone TELLS you it's safe?

Nope.

None of that will make any of us great again.

It's time to stop putting those who are making the most of their opportunity to be vital on a pedestal by showing up to work and start questioning ourselves as to why we aren't taking steps to regain what we have so willingly let go of.

It's time to join them.

It's time everyone got in the game instead of sitting under the bleachers.

If I had cancer, I wouldn't wait for advice from an oncologist. I would hunt him down until I couldn't hunt anymore.

Sitting around waiting for someone to tell me "all's clear,you can come out now", is not the answer.

The only question to be answered at this point is what can I (we) do now to move forward.

Someone had to be the first to step into the Red Sea.

Someone had to believe against everything their eyes were telling them, that it would be all right.

It's time to either build a bridge to cross that sea or take a chance that We might just have to get a little wet!

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rau8iyXakdw

Here,have a trophy

"Then give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you."

Madeline Bridges

I realize that I come from a different generation than the one that controls the social narrative these days.I grew up on a quiet little street in the heart of the suburbs,which at the time was the American dream for the generation that preceded mine.A home, in a good neighborhood was the standard that my parents and their friends who had grown up in apartment buildings in cities like NYC, Paterson,Philadelphia or Newark aimed for.

In our neighborhood, we had an electrician,a steel worker, a dock worker,a graphic artist, a mechanic, a gas station manager, some factory workers and a salesman (my dad). More than half of the dads in the neighborhood worked part time jobs as well.

It's just what people did in those days to afford the life style they wanted for their families.

A few of the moms worked,mostly part time jobs, just to help out.

Yes, it was a different time and a different world.

One other thing that the parents in our neighborhood had in common was that most of them had come to this place after experiencing life during WW11.

Just about every branch of the armed services was represented in our little corner of the world.

Here's the thing.None of them called them selves heroes.As a matter of fact,rarely was their service a subject that came up.It was their job,their duty, in response to a global experience that threatened the dreams they had for their future.

And none of us called them heroes. We called them,Mr. and Mrs.

Mr. Mac, Mr. O'keefe, Mr. Deluca,Mr. Lembo, Mr. Bascelice,Mr. Hambel.

If we had called them heroe, we probably would have been shut down pretty darn quickly.

They had a humility about them. Their pride was not in the selfie they took holding up a sign saying "I'm a hero".

They cut their grass,and raked their lawns. That well manicured yard was as close to a selfie as they ever had.

No one gave them anything and they were just fine with that.No selfies.

No signs with hearts on them.

They didn't pat themselves on the back for doing what they believed they were supposed to do and quite frankly signed up to do,their jobs!

Nowadays, everyone is a hero. Not just in the eyes of the community at large, but in their own eyes. Selfies of healthcare workers holding up signs saying "I'm a hero" abound.

The clerk at the grocery store believes I owe him or her a debt of gratitude for doing their job.

Moms sitting around a kitchen table helping their kids with homework feel the need to give each other and themselves a shout out for being moms.

Everyone gets a trophy.

Everyone gets a prize.

Everyone gets recognition and an award.

It's awful!

Personally, I find it humiliating.

When we were kids and you bragged about something you did you were met with "what do you want,a medal or a chest to pin it on".

That's the world I grew up in. A world where humility was more important than collecting a phone full of selfies or a shelf full of awards.

I kind of liked that world a lot better.

But that's just me and what do I know.

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVxX3RtyhQ

Slowed to a snail's pace

“He who spends time regretting the past, loses the present and risks the future.”

Quevedo

As someone who spends his days accomplishing lots of stuff, I am perplexed at how much energy it is taking to get done so much less than I normally do.

During more normal times, I am up by 6,out the door before 7 and my day doesn't quiet down until well into Jeopardy if I a lucky ,more like late into Wheel of Fortune!

In that almost 14 hours , I have made multiple bus runs, shopped, prepared lunches and dinners,as well as having handled all sorts of email and phone conversations dealing with any and all of the projects I have on my plate at that time.

In the midst of all of this activity, I find myself capable of extraordinary amounts of creativity as well.

I will be dealing with any one of a number of tasks when all of a sudden,whammo!, a flash of creative brilliance pops into my head. Before long I have a new seed planted. And we all know that once you plant a seed,it's a simple matter of farming,water, fertilize and sunlight!

(Yes Mike Bloomberg, it is just that simple!).

Nowadays,I find that just about everything takes great effort.

Life has slowed to a snail's pace.

While I don't have a scale or chart to measure these things, it just feels like I am accomplishing less while expending more energy.

My mornings are starting well after 8 on days when I am not driving.

Moving from task to task, is a monumental effort.

And the river of creativity that normally swells coinciding with the energy I am putting out has slowed to a barely trickling stream.

My fear is what happens when life returns to normal?

Will I be able to flip some sort of internal switch and get back up to speed?

What if I can't?

What if I don't?

What happens then?

Scary stuff!

I don't want to dwell on this so I am choosing not to.

Still, one has to wonder......?

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emdaIJeVoTQ

He has risen

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."

Confucius

He has risen!

Okay, maybe that He, but still.

A very close friend of mine, has been down for the last 2 weeks with this virus.

First his wife had it and then he got it.

In his case it came on with a fury.

For 2 weeks,it kicked the crap out of him.

Running fevers of 101 and 102 daily,the ride was not a lot of fun.

Yesterday was the worst.

He was certain today would bring a trip to the emergency room.

Wouldn't you know it?

On Easter Sunday, his fever broke.

This friend who has been my savior on countless occasions throughout the years , seems to have made it out the other end of this thing. The wheezing is gone.The fever is gone and he feels closer to normal than he has in weeks.

An Easter miracle!

Not the first Jewish guy to experience this!

Happy Easter folks!

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbLlCxK0pHY

Best $5 I Ever Spent!

"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return.

We will be with our friends again.

We will be with our families again.

We will meet again."

~ Queen Elizabeth II

Quite some time ago, I remember writing about my 2 favorite Broadway heroes,Tevye from Fiddler and Don quixote from Man of La Mancha. I shared with you that all my life, I had identified with Tevye,schlepping his milk cart through the village of Anetvka, struggling with the weight of both the cart and life itself.

I knew that burden. I felt that weight.I shared his tired existence.

At the time, I announced that I would be choosing to be more like Don Quixote,more quixotic on my Journey. I wanted to tilt at windmills with my squire and lady by my side. I wanted to pursue the impossible dream.

Yesterday,Susan wanted to watch a movie. I chose to rent (something I never do!) the documentary Miracle of Miracles, the story behind the making of Fiddler on the Roof.

Unequivocally, I can say, this was the best $5 I ever spent.

Watching this magnificent story,I now understood that I was so close to Tevye,so much a part of who he was, that I did not and could not see what everyone else sees in him.

All I saw was the burden. All I saw was the struggle.

All I knew was the weight of being him(read me).

I could not see all of the wonderful attributes that makes Tevye,Tevye.

I also realized that it was at the same time when I made the choice to turn my back on Tevye (again read David) and try to become more like the fanciful Man of La Mancha, I turned away from that relationship that may be Tevye's strongest one. His relationship with God.

Tevye has this very unique relationship with God. It is not one based on prayer. It's truly a one on one dialogue.It is the only place Tevye knows he can turn to, that he can count on, when he needs to air his concerns,feelings and dirty laundry.

Don Quixote seeks monumental adventures as he desires to change the world. Tevye's understands the world is a very big place and he is just a simple milk man,trying to eek out a living for his family. He is concerned with the welfare of his family, his village, his friends and neighbors,knowing that his energies are best spent taking care of that than tilting at windmills and slaying dragons.

Yesterday,the Tevye in me was reborn.

Only buy seeing him (again read me) through the eyes of others,could I come to know who he (I) am.

Sorry sancho.....I'll have to say goodbye.

My milk cart is waiting and unfortunately, my horse needs my help today!

More thoughts coming on this for sure!

Best $5 I ever spent!

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-pP_dCenJA

It is what it is

“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.”

Robert Collier

Things don't always happen the way we would like or believe they will.

What's the old adage,man plans and God laughs?

Lately that seems to be the case more often than not.

It seems on a daily basis, the news I get is not what I was hoping for.

A back to work date?

Not exactly what we once anticipated.

Income for some of us?

Not exactly what we had planned on.

Access to basic necessities?

A bit more challenging than anticipated.

Susan's biopsy results?

Not exactly the clean bill of health we were hoping for.

Course of action around this?

Again, altered given the current climate.

In the end,it is what it is.

Doris Day popularized a song in 1956 Que Sera Sera,.....whatever will be will be.

To me, that's just a little to lais se faire for me.

It's just not in me to let things just happen.

It is what it is affords me the opportunity to deal with whatever "it" is.

There is a huge difference. I can be proactive to it is what it is as opposed to que sera sera.

Being proactive affords me the opportunity to have an impact on my life instead of being impacted by life.

E.R.O.- Event- Response-Outcome

You can't control the events of your life.

You can control your response to those events which then changes the outcome.

It is what it is...as it will always be.

Here's today's Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL0dfzK3Aqs