29 Elul, 5774
I pray that the world will be blessed with genuine, enduring peace this eve of Rosh HaShana/Jewish New Year.
The classic Jewish custom is to bless people for a "Good, sweet, healthy" year, not a "happy" year. Happiness is fleeting, sometimes based on mistaken ideas. Focus on decency, compassion, patience, forgiveness. For YOURSELF, and for others. Progress happens when you are kind towards yourself.
So does happiness.
So does happiness.
I was offered employment suitable for a person under thirty this week. Puzzled by the phenomenon, I asked friends what they thought of the situation.
Several people remarked to me that I appear young and energetic, shocking as that may be when we consider the physical/emotional ordeal I faced with that long-ago benign-but-a-killer brain tumor.
My present appearance and behavior deceive onlookers unfamiliar with my realities.
Several people remarked to me that I appear young and energetic, shocking as that may be when we consider the physical/emotional ordeal I faced with that long-ago benign-but-a-killer brain tumor.
My present appearance and behavior deceive onlookers unfamiliar with my realities.
The secret is in the sauce, so to speak. I knew on the day I learned of the diagnosis that I had only one chance to remain alive and thriving. I seized it, indulging in compassion for my clumsy efforts to survive
I went on to make medical history, seeing again after having been blinded by a brain tumor and seeing ever-better over time, shocking the teaching doctors handling my case.
Had I indulged in bitterness, anger, hatred, vindictiveness (name the negativity), I'd have died a miserable death - inside and outside.
Heaven has rewarded me with astonishingly remarkable friends and achievements. I am wealthy in the truest sense. I feel the love lavished on me hour by hour.
Negativity destroys lives inside and out. I sweated and struggled my way to life, never knowing if my efforts would pay off. My self-respect grew. So did other true riches in my life.
I pray that my experiences can help other people to stop flailing and failing to meet difficult goals.
I pray that my experiences can help other people to stop flailing and failing to meet difficult goals.
I share this essay, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, with the wider world, and pray that each reader absorbs its universal lessons.
As I once taught when I used to be an EMETT leader, "You don't need to feel positive when you begin to improve your character and outlooks on life. You need to behave positively. Your actions will convince your mind that you are indeed happy. Then the universe opens to you. GOD fills your life with blessings. Learn to recognize them; they are specific to you and your needs."
Want to know how I achieved that life-giving mindset despite a dire diagnosis? Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. It teaches you the steps I took to stay alive emotionally and physically.
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.
Forgiveness begins with YOU. Forgive Yourself.
לחברינו ולקוחותינו היקרים!
שנה טובה ומתוקה
שנת בריאות, שנת אושר
שנת ברכה והצלחה
מתוקה מדבש!!!
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