The Power of Optimism

B'SD

8 Adar, 5778

Whew, the happiness of Purim  culminates next week (Wednesday night and Thursday for most people this year, Thursday night and Friday for Jews in Jerusalem). I'm hanging on to that as sad headlines fill newscasts.

About feeling down... Plato had something to say about that.

Let's look at life from a different angle, to cheer up a bit, OK?


​  I want to share some nice news. This past summer, the neuro-ophthalmologist following my case (recovery from total blindness due to crushed optic nerves, and very compromised health) made an announcement dictated into my official medical records. He indicated that none of the staff members had had a clue how to help me to see again once the BENIGN brain tumor had been removed after crushing my optic and other nerves. However, "full credit goes to the patient who invested in alternative healing techniques" and recovered her vision and strength (I do aerobics, swim, bike, work, and have a social life). She had faith in herself and her future, and figured out how to restore her sight. 

Read about what I'd done to heal, how and why other ill people can mimic those actions and mindsets to heal as well as they can, too. 


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Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your efforts with a can-do attitude. Heal your heart and mind, maybe your body.

Happiness Heals Inside, and that Helps the Outside!

B'SD

4 Adar, 5778

Here I am, pondering an important thought:

 "Adar is the month of joy."

Israelis celebrate the fun, festive holiday of Purim for the two weeks leading to the celebration. Here's some silliness that all of us can share, and feel better for enjoying the presentation:

Now I want to remind you of a life lesson that can promote inner and outer healing.

Nurture Your Inner Giggle!

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.  

Read it to find out what a sense of humor can do to promote health!

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your plate with feel-good efforts and rewards.

Power Up Your Positive Emotions. Here's How!

B'SD

29 Shvat, 5778

A positive mindset is critical for anyone's health.

I completely appreciate the frustration, pain and efforts that anyone must invest in developing that attitude as life hits us with an onslaught of problems and unexpected complications. 

No, I'm not in some ivory tower. I have felt problems and unexpected complications, even heartache, too. I made firm, repeated decisions to overcome them. According to the people around me, that focus seems to have paid off.

If you need a reminder of how to promote a sense of optimism No Matter What, please read the thought-provoking, inspirational, and sometimes Laugh Out Loud content in doctor-recommended

Need some instant inspiration? This might help.

Ponder those thoughts awhile. They're powerful, with a potential for endless healing.

Need something else to motivate your emotional strength progress? Seek it out.




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Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your soul with happiness. Work on the project as necessary.

Lower Your Fear (and chances!) of Catching a Cold 1-2-3!

B'SD

20 Tevet, 6778

WOW: Hospitals worldwide run out of flu treatment options here, here, and here! It's a global phenom!

Winter weather makes life inconvenient as it is, but catching a cold or flu seems to leave you feeling worse inside and out.

Read How to Prevent the Common Cold.  The information can minimize your chances of catching a flu, too. I hope that you'll follow the instructions and feel better long after.

Er, I recommend the use of cotton handkerchiefs to prevent chapped lips and noses. Paper tissues tend to be rough. They're made from wood fiber, after ll.

Need to know the differences between 
viruses and bacteria? 

Click here.

For what it's worth, the doctors who cared for me during that December shingles attack (pure misery) predicted that I would need until late February to recover vigor. I beat their timing by two months. 

I've  been back to my usual physical activities and exercise regimen since the start of January. I highly recommend that you go organic and support your health from the cellular level outward. My organic diet and intentional optimism beat medical predictions again and again.

And yes, I wash my hands often, using soap and water. That "anti-bacterial" goo doesn't seem to work much.

 

Buy the E-book or print edition of  

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your plate and soul with true nourishment.

Disability is a State of Mind

B'SD

1 Tevet, 5778

I'm delighted to share the almost-last day of Chanuka and a heartwarming video with you.

I've had a painful recovery process regarding the shingles, and chose to rely on some guided imagery, anticipated fun and excellent nutrition to support my psyche plus to heal from the trauma to my neurological system. That let me enjoy a party last night.

I'm almost pain-free, too, far ahead of the medical curve anticipated by my doctors.

The EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book and my life coaching for ill people are all about personal empowerment.

This video captures the essence of my message: USE the skills you have, reach for your potential and thrill to the accomplishments you make.

Disability is only a state of mind, in many respects. 

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your heart with determination and happiness!

It was a Report not a Sentence.

B'SD

14 Sivan, 5777

The video I'd posted yesterday has been viewed at other sites, too. As you know, the speaker brought his live audience to their feet!

There's more to his story, and I happen to know it, being from Michigan. He was not a shining star in school. He'd been rejected by a few colleges due to his low grade point average.

He persevered. And rose above the problems.

What's the difference between a person who rises above their circumstances, and someone who doesn't?

Perspective.

Add the vocabulary you desire to answer my above question: Courage, insight, tenacity, the refusal to sit out on life, etc.

It all comes down to one thing: Refusal to be a victim.

Judge Bernstein interpreted his reality as a report, not as a sentence.

All of us can do the same thing.

Make it a new mantra when thinking about your situation: "It was a report not a sentence."

Live life to the fullest.

WITH your circumstances, not despite them.

Get it?

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Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your mind with awareness and opportunities to rise to your challenge.

What the Audience Heard

B'SD

5 Sivan, 5777

I look forward to the Shavuot holiday which begins this evening. I'll be offline for the next 36 hours or so once it begins.

Meanwhile, some of you have been curious about the presentation remarks I made yesterday.

Here's an excerpt from the start of an interesting dialogue with the audience:

Fostering Medical Miracles

... Let’s gloss over the emergency brain surgery that saved my life but left me weak and blind in 2005. Regular doctors had no idea how to help me to see again, nor how to become strong and healthy. I tended to the problem by consulting only with alternative healing professionals. They and GOD helped me to become strong and sighted as I became an organic, raw foods eater who progressed to organic veganism as I became stronger, and then to organic vegan macrobiotics due to its focus on alkalinity. The prescription on my glasses keeps dropping. Hold that thought. We’ll resume that subject soon... 

... A friend observed that “HaShem (GOD) is telling you that He will provide your needs... And you see that you heal in shocking ways. Your life is a spiritual example for others. I happen to believe that your mission in life is to inspire people. You do it all the time, without trying. Look back at all the miracles you’ve witnessed or helped to happen, the people you’ve helped, and the people who love you.”

He’s a wonder, that man. He gets me to address ideas that otherwise never pass through my mind. I’m not keen on opening myself up to the public. I work hard to publicize my book on Facebook and my blog as I resist a tendency to remain quiet. Only my closest friends know my inner thoughts. Social media users don’t.

My friend and I launched into a discussion that I’m going to summarize in one sentence for you: The universe is full of miracles and the supply of them keeps growing. I’d been a reluctant student of that life lesson. I’ll spare you the details of how and why. Let’s skip to the Life Lesson and share the wealth: Happiness is an option and so are astounding healing plus coping opportunities. The miraculous is the default setting on the universe. Use it. But don’t try to control it. Invite miracles into your life, then allow them to happen.

Still not getting my point? I understand. Let’s travel through time from that January conversation, to this past Purim. You’ll get the point pretty soon.

A patient representative of the hospital following my post-surgical progress called me in the middle of Purim day. We discussed the findings of the hospital’s extensive testing of my sight, optic nerves, ocular muscles and more from November through February. The purpose of the tests was to assess my suitability for corrective surgery to end my constant double vision. I’ve had so many other vision problems caused by the benign brain tumor and the life-saving surgery to remove it that they filled two pages without margins in 2009. The margins have grown since then, I’m relieved to say. Now we only need one page to describe my ability to see.

OK, back to the hospital representative who’d called me in the middle of Purim. I was trying to speak medicalese in an impartial way, dressed head-to-toe in purple and fake jewelry as I swallowed the goodies that had been in my mouth before I answered the phone. I fake calm and sophistication very well, sometimes.

The hospital’s representative was about to let me know the conclusions, the findings of my large medical team. Had they approved the desperately needed surgery to end my double vision? Would I be permitted to drive a car, have a normal life? His astonishing statement stunned me. I’ll summarize it for you:

“Instability. Her vision changes rapidly. By the time Yocheved is fitted with new lenses, her vision needs have changed since the prescription was made 10 days to two weeks earlier. The patient sees ever-better without therapeutic treatment, not that the team knows how to heal many aspects of Yocheved’s distorted sight. Scar tissue which precluded previous plans for corrective surgery six years ago has simply disappeared. No evidence of it is on scans or other tests. This is the reason that surgery has been considered again. However, surgery is not recommended at this time. It might cause a setback for the patient who heals spontaneously. The doctors fear that they will damage Yocheved by trying to repair her double vision.”

HOWEVER, the decision was not final. One member of the medical team believes that it is possible to end my double vision without harming me. He was abroad when the other examining doctors met to make a conclusion regarding possible surgery. He had been unable to participate in the conclusion-making process. The patient representative who called me Purim day informed me that I will be updated after that researcher returns to Israel.

Meanwhile, I was left to conclude that “Instability” is a beautiful word. The Rofeh Holim (GOD the Healer) heals me without doctors. My “instability” is an astonishing blessing. If I could figure out what I've done to deserve that, I'd do it more often.

My eagerness for the corrective surgery has abated. Perhaps I do not need it because GOD will end the double vision.

I still needed new glasses after hearing the above remarks, though. The world had become quite blurry in the past few months. The medical team had advised me to wait until after surgery to know the best prescription to make for my "Maybe she won't need them" lenses. My private eye doctor, who helped me to see better with innovative exercises over the years, prescribed those new lenses in March. She is convinced that my organic foods, macrobiotic discipline, and refusal to use synthetic fabrics in my clothing or bedding have nothing to do with my recovered health and sight. She is convinced, as are the other doctors, that my will power alone, and GOD’s blessings, heal me. As I teach in the EMPOWER Yourself book, “Keep the door to GOD’s blessings open. Don’t slam it on GOD or the future. That prevents sweet possibilities from becoming part of your life.”

Stand by. Life remains miraculous. I’m living proof of that. I refused to give up. Failure was not my option. I coach ill people, helping them to identify their priorities and to develop plans for meeting their goals. People come to me after learning of my healing adventure, or after finding out that I have a tendency to calm down distraught people with a wealth of healing information and a sense of humor. 

Certified in Counseling Skills and in Spiritual Chaplaincy (end of life issues) plus as a Rescuer by Pikud HaOref, I write about mental health at the E-Counseling website (http://www.e-counseling.com/). I write about physical health elsewhere. The employers sought me out after reading some of my other writing. I earned my counseling and Health Information Management credentials while I was regaining vision and physical strength. I took on goals even as I limped to the finish lines. Goals motivated me to achieve, to thrive. It’s much more fun to be active than inactive, part of life rather than a recluse. I’ve made a choice not to be bitter about my background, but better for it.

Mimic me. Dare the universe to help you to heal. Invite miracles. Use the natural healing strategies that are known to work. Take chances on newer ones. Bless yourself by fostering medical miracles. Open the door to GOD, to the universe, and to a healthier you.

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your time and actions with productivity. Relax as necessary, then resume your responsibilities.

Hot Off the Keyboard!

B'SD

4 Shvat, 5777

My self-help coaching and journalistic efforts focus on coping with setbacks. Here's a look at some of my recent writings (you may leave comments under each article at the e-counseling site): Dealing with Depression in Chat Rooms, Getting Relationship Advice on the Internet and Why Millions have Moved Over to Online Therapy.

Continuing the topic of facing setbacks and keeping life in perspective, here's another excerpt from The Formula for Joy book by Sheldon Rice, as promised:

"... A Formula for Joy is a given now. I no longer binge and starve, count calories or worry about vitamins and minerals. My only interest is to create balance in my food patterns and lifestyle, a habit I have adopted as second nature by now.

Mentally, I have undergone extensive improvement in my ability to concentrate, organize my thoughts, create order and recall facts. I can handle many problems simultaneously without confusion. Unexpected problems are met with comfort and composure.

The most dramatic emotional change was the improvement in my self-confidence. I procrastinate less in making decisions and don’t look back. I have become a better listener, more sympathetic and compassionate toward others. I experience joy and peace of mind that I had never known, a result of physical stability.

Most importantly, I developed a spiritual connection to God in reflecting on the accidents that I survived, the gift of macrobiotics, my wonderful family and restored health. All the amazing events in my life suddenly fit together as I reflected and understood their true meaning. I had developed faith in a universal order that enabled me to understand that everything is for the best. I forgive everyone in my life who had ever caused me pain and affirmed that those experiences were products of my own thoughts and actions. All is well in my world.

Penniless at Disney World–Almost 

When we moved to the US in 1980 we wanted to compensate the disruption in our kids’ lives with a visit to Disney World in Florida. It took a leap of faith to fulfill this promise as I hadn’t yet found a job, and we expected the trip to be quite expensive. Lacking a credit record or a job, we had to rely entirely on cash for all our expenses. After we bought twoday family passes to Disney World I gave our money to Dalia for safe keeping.

The heat was oppressive with high humidity that left us limp and gasping for air from the moment we stepped out of the car. The kids were cranky a good part of the time and our patience quickly wore thin. When Dalia reached for her purse that evening we stared at each other in wide eyed shock when she discovered her wallet was missing with all our cash. We were dumbfounded. The wallet had evidently slipped out of her open purse when she went to the ladies room and placed her handbag on the floor of the toilet stall.

I insisted that we go back and enjoy ourselves the next day since we still had our two-day passes. At the park entrance Dalia called the lost and found. Incredibly, the wallet was there! Inside was a note which read, “I have your money. Please call to identify yourself.” Miraculously, a lovely Puerto Rican family had found the wallet and subsequently returned every dollar to us. Their honesty allowed us to complete our holiday and my faith in humanity was restored.

Mugged in Queens 

As a Shaklee distributor I spent many evenings at the homes of clients and downline distributors. One clear, cold February night I left one of my distributor’s homes in Queens for the 45 minute drive back to Larchmont, NY, where we lived. As I unlocked my car door I heard another car screech to a stop next to me. Four wild looking young men burst out and quickly surrounded me. One grabbed my shirt and pulled me face-to-face with him. He Page 14 of 29 A Formula for Joy flung my eyeglasses to the ground while his friend took my car keys. I was stunned, realizing I was in big trouble. A frenzied youth who appeared to be drug deprived, like his other friends, shoved me face down into the back seat and searched my back pockets for a wallet, while his friend drove us to a side street. My assailant held a long knife under my ear, close enough for me to feel its cold steel. Frustrated, he slashed my down jacket in a panic till feathers flew in all directions, covering everything. The driver pointed a pistol at my head and screamed incoherent four letter obscenities to his friend holding the knife. They began a shouting match whether to cut me up or blow my brains out. I tried to imagine a knife entering my back, wondering how the blade might feel passing through my flesh. I couldn’t visualize a bullet entering my body and speeding out the other side. I blurted out that my wallet was in my front pocket and raised myself up enough for them to have access to it.

Miraculously I had about two hundred dollars in cash, enough to satisfy their needs. They took the wallet, my wedding band and cheap Rolex watch. Leaving the car keys, they shouted for me not to look up until they were gone. I was stunned to be unharmed except for three or four drops of blood where the knife had nicked my ear. A good Samaritan neighbor let me into her house to call the police. She was horrified by the way I looked with feathers flying out of my jacket.

I had two immediate problems: how to drive without glasses and how to cross the toll bridge without money to get home. I couldn’t believe my luck! My glasses were lying unharmed on the ground where they had been thrown, and I had bought bridge tokens that evening on the way to my distributor. I left my coat in the garbage before I entered the house.

The police officer taking my report told me how fortunate I was to have had ample cash. A man he interviewed under similar circumstances had been cut open from groin to his chest for lack of money. Once again I had escaped danger without injury. I wondered why my life had been spared while others have suffered so much.

Thankfully Fired

I worked for the White Plains NY Parking Authority from 1980 to 1990, fortunate to be associated with Roy Flynt, as nice a man as I could have imagined. The mayor of White Plains, on the other hand, was a ruthless individual who I avoided as much as possible.

In the late 1980s the mayor pressed Roy to take early retirement so he could replace him with someone else of his choosing. As Roy resisted this pressure, the mayor behaved so badly toward him in public and private that Roy eventually succumbed and left the Parking Authority.

Shortly thereafter, the mayor called me to inquire about some technical issue. A strong impulse overtook me and I blurted out my unsolicited feelings about his mistreatment of Roy. That was the last conversation I ever had with the Mayor. He summarily fired me, agreeing only to let me complete the few months missing for an early retirement pension.

At first I was shocked to learn that I had been fired, but that feeling quickly changed to euphoria as I realized what a great opportunity this was to return to Israel. I had been planning to leave Dalia and realized that this was my opportunity to return to the place where I truly felt at home and be close to my two soldier daughters there. The Page 15 of 29 A Formula for Joy spontaneous conversation with the mayor was one more example of divine intervention leading me to my higher good..."






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Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your mind and heart with productive thoughts that keep life in perspective.

Fixing Your Focus, One Tile at a Time

B'SD

12 Av, 5776

As I listened to this video, I heard the voices of many people I've coached through illness or some other pressing matter. And I heard the life lesson that has been taught in so many ways, by so many famous heroes and heroines, but not articulated this succinctly.

Need to learn more lessons about how to minimize your stress or someone else's, during illness?

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Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your thoughts with happiness. On purpose.

How to Know that You've Grown

B'SD

6 Tevet, 5776

I do 1:1 coaching with ill people, sometimes with perfectly healthy people. And they tend to come up with the same questions: "How will I know when I'm making progress?" and "How can I have a relationship with GOD, Who let this happen to me?"

My answer is to trust your heart.

​

Spirituality, and a relationship, are multifaceted experiences. Both are about transcending your limitations and becoming a better you.

You know you're on the right track when you feel joy, a sense of satisfaction and the certainty of emotional growth, all at different times but sometimes all at once.

Friends, family and colleagues might even give you some delightful feedback about the positive changes they notice in you.

​

Keep a journal (as suggested in the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book). Note the times that you feel pain, agonized, uncertain, and when you feel the positive emotions.

Talk to GOD out loud.  Even a sigh will do.

Life is a matter of balance. Do what you can to keep yours, and cherish the pleasant parts of life. They can keep us going past indescribable pain. Be sure to focus on what's going right, and especially on when it seems that GOD gave you a hug of some sort.

Go on. Buy a notebook or use one sitting around somewhere in your home. 

Record your accomplishments. 

And enjoy them.





Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your mind and heart with optimism. On purpose.

Eyesight, Hindsight and Foresight: Putting Life into Sweet Perspective

B'SD

1 Tamuz, 5775

Today begins a new Jewish month. That means lots of potential for goodness. 

There are related spiritual lessons too long to present here, but here's a summary of a few important points for non-Jewish and Jewish readers of this blog and the EMPOWER Yourself book: Tamuz is an opportunity to heal the way we look at life, to heal our physical and spiritual eyes.

Let's continue that line of thought with a message I shared on facebook yesterday:

Yocheved Golani shared Project Happiness's photo.

Just now ·

If you know me in real life, then you can just about hear me repeating my maxim: "When life goes kerflooey in ways I could not have imagined nor controlled, then I know that GOD has a BIG ace up that heavenly sleeve. I'll get what I need by hanging on with all my might and without 'losing it.' BIG blessings are heading my way. I look forward to finding out what they'll be."

Project Happiness

‪#‎MondayMotivation‬: "Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success." ~Arianna Huffington

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Look back in time.

Putting life into perspective 

can prevent a lot of unnecessary grief.

And that lets you 
envision a better
future.

Let it unfold.

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism. 

Figure out what you can do to see life more sweetly.