Praying for a Year of Health, Healing, and Happiness

BS'D

8 Tishrei, 5779

I am mourning the murder of an acquaintance yesterday, and recovering from the fact that on Saturday/Shabbat afternoon, my neighbors and I were evacuated to safety by police while sappers dealt with a potentially explosive situation literally outside the entrance of where I live. 

Someone had placed a suspicious object there, and disappeared. Bullhorned police requests to claim the item were not answered. That indicated a dangerous situation for everyone on my street.

Jews usually spend the 10 days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kipur in deep, spiritual contemplation and restorative behavior. Our lifelong goal is to become refined, compassionate beings who improve the world at large. However, Jews around the world are facing rising hatred. Here in Israel we've dealt with months, literally months, of arson. Our farms, forests, and other properties have been set ablaze, thousands of acres burned. 

Other acts of visceral hatred have happened around the globe this past year.

We've literally spent our year in life and death situations.

I pray that humanity will lose its hatred for anything. The 10 Commandments tell us not to commit specific crimes, though they have been perpetrated daily since that momentous day at Sinai.

Our lives are supposed to be worth living.

May GOD bless the world with serenity, safety, healing, and security.

I will be offline the next few days. Yom Kipur begins tomorrow night and ends the following night. 

I will spend time from now until then in prayer, meditation, and relaxation (so that I can better withstand the 25-hour fast from food and drink coming up).





May your year be filled with health and healing inside and out. 

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 actions with peaceful purpose.

Hoping to Hear From YOU!

B'SD

29 Tishrei, 5778

It's been a hard week for many people struggling to cope with all the bad news and soul-searing junk online. So, my readers, I want to share  a message from my heart with you.

In many respects, the blog world is slowing down.

People have been inundated with updates about this or that until they simply can't absorb the shocks anymore. Overwhelmed with too much information, they tend to forget details and wonder what they read online the other day. 

Worse, the ugly news of crimes and agony leave a person needing time off from the 'Net and the news. Emotions need support with upbeat realities. Brains and blood pressures need rest from turmoil.

Some bloggers do their best (me included) to share happiness and empowering updates that leave our readers stronger for the experience. But it's hard to overcome the negativity created by other people.

Statistics from some research organizations indicate that good-hearted people are spending more and more time away from the Internet and broadcast media. The toll of learning which innocents were shot, molested, bombed or betrayed is too much to bear day after day.

Some of us wonder how to live in a world without social media and its mind-numbing, soul-crushing negativity. Pornography, mass casualty events and fear-mongering is not the stuff of a happy life. It bothers normal people..

Meanwhile, some Internet and broadcast media content builds strong minds and positive emotions, even if flamers and reputation-ruiners flail away trying to damage someone.

I spend considerable amounts of time interviewing mental health professionals and clergy of different faiths, or reading relevant materials (part of my research efforts) so I can prepare articles that support public mental health. I long to spend less and less time preparing blogposts, though. Being online is a time-consuming task.

I know that my scribbles help some of my readers. I've read responses to my blogposts from Anna in India, Netivot Girl and Batya in Israel, several men who prefer that I not name them, and a few kids here and there. Still and all, I would appreciate more feedback to my blogposts here and under my individual articles at  http://www.e-counseling.com/..

I want to know that you consider my efforts helpful, and why. I want to know that I spent my time well, not in futility.

Let me know that you find your reading time under my aegis to be worthwhile. 

Do you feel better off from my efforts? Did you gain knowledge that helped you? Do you need something else that perhaps I can provide?

Let me know.

And let your acquaintances know if you recommend that they read my writings. 

Need to feel better fast and forever about that medical or mental health issue before 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 with things that build you, not things which destroy you.

Why ME, GOD?

B'SD

21 Iyar, 5777

If you're experiencing physical, medical and/or mental/emotional setbacks, you've probably wondered silently or asked "Why ME, GOD?" or asked it out loud.

The question is a cry of intense pain.

The question is normal. 

If your clergy people insist that your question is not appropriate, they've overlooked the need to comfort you, to share the burden, to offer insights and comfort as much as reasonably possible.

Some people just don't get it.

You may accept or reject my effort to share some insight

into the question and your inner agony:

When GOD/The Universe wants us to change direction, things will happen that we can't expect or prevent. Our efforts seem to go unrewarded with the achievements we're pursuing.

That's the time to reassess what you're doing, and why.

Look for a pattern. When do roadblocks to your efforts tend to happen? What do the roadblocks tend to be?

What sort of pressure or life lesson are you resisting?

What have you got to lose by cooperating with the signals to make different efforts, to set different goals, to let go of old behavior patterns?

Can you assert your self control to at least experiment with new methods of thinking and behavior?

Think about that a bit.

I'll be back tomorrow. I hope to have some responses to my questions. You can send them to me via the response mechanism below or send them to mailto:giveretgolani@gmail.com.

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

And keep asking yourself the questions above.

I'm looking forward to a clearer, happier future with you.




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

Fill your heart and mind with upbeat efforts and thoughts. You need them.

Exciting News!

B'SD

13 Nisan, 5777

While I'm enjoying the freshness and fun of my fully functional Passover/Pesakh Mode kitchen, I'm taking time to respond to editors seeking my input for future online and print articles.

I have exciting book reviews coming up and I'll be responding to Questions for Life Coaches. You can be sure that I'll share relevant publication news with you. Who knows? You might come across something that suits you, too!

No matter which holiday you celebrate this season, spend time thinking over the significance of spirituality. It's purpose is to make us more compassionate, more willing to share our resources, and more resilient when we face hardships. Spirituality practiced correctly helps us to rise above our limitations. We can become wonderful, accomplished, insightful, nicer than we have been.

My frequently used tool for helping someone is the Enneagram, a method for understanding the quirks of human personalities and the tools for working with them in productive ways.

Here's a bit of insight on how I help people to deal with unhappiness, disappointment, pain and life in general:

 I had an amusing conversation with a therapist who asked me to help her to write a thesis about the wisdom of using the Enneagram. I replied "But I can do that in one sentence: You will learn that a person's characteristics are 'givens,' not a matter of good or bad, just 'givens' that can be dealt with in specific ways." After she gulped, I added "I am not advocating that personality, thought or mood disorders are acceptable. They are exceptions to the rule."

Certified in counseling skills and in spiritual chaplaincy (the ability to discuss end-of-life issues), I write for a mental health site at http://www.e-counseling.com/

I'm a life coach for ill people, helping them to identify the goals they need to reach, then to prepare a plan for achieving those goals.

A former medical coder/Health Information Management professional, I'm well-versed in the medical world's ins and outs, acquainted with astonishing people and cutting-edge treatments. 

Certified in Counseling Skills, and one of the first certified EMETT leaders (I no longer lead EMETT groups), I have studied psychology throughout my adult life.

Medical and mental health professionals have endorsed the EMPOWER Yourself book on and off the covers. 

I maintain a database of ever-updated medical information to help people to connect with the medical professionals and medical care, appliances, medication, etc. that they need. I even clue people in on cost-cutting programs that pay all or some of their specific medical bills. The book's Global Resources section holds much of that information.

Ready to figure out your health-oriented goals, and to set a plan for achieving them? Contact me at giveretgolani @ gmail.com.





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 with meaningful thought and efforts.

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.

How Do YOU Want to Spend Eternity?

B'SD

6 Av, 5775

I'm busy finessing the start of new employment, my social life and my thoughts about a very sad day on the calendar, Tisha B'Av, aka the 9th of Av, which begins in a few days.

Headlines are enough to give any sensible person nightmares. And summertime heat seems to provoke more bickering than usual about that. 

So, rather than share medical news or other thoughts, I want to share two thought-provoking and calming posters I've found online:

Spirituality is about becoming a more refined,

better person than you were before;

A person who helps to build the world,

not destroy it.

Please let me know what you think of the ideas above in the comments section below.





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 life with meaning. As the book advises, the alternative to coping is worse.

I'm Where I Need to Be, I Just Didn't Know it.

B'SD

3 Sivan, 5775

I'm mentally and emotionally preparing for the holiday of Shavuot, and thought of an interesting slice of life story to share with you. It happened the day before yesterday in the late afternoon/early evening.

I was rushing to meet a friend giving me a ride to a distant city so I could run necessary errands there in a short span of time. 

Somehow I had not thought of taking my street map with me, and lost my way. 

Eventually I received a message on my cellphone. It indicated that the gentleman doing the driving would be leaving earlier than we'd planned. I needed to arrive to his office faster than I'd thought.

I began to feel frustrated with myself, frantic at the thought of missing the ride (it would have led to several disappointed and inconvenienced people depending on me to arrive in a timely manner) and quite foolish.

A friend tried to guide me via cellphone to the meeting point I sought, and managed to misdirect me into the opposite direction that I needed. We shared an uncomfortable silence as we realized that.

I was unhappy in the 104-degree heat, tired of carrying a heavy bag, and desperate for a quick solution.

My friend begged forgiveness for having misguided a very pressed-for-time me and then berated herself. 

I interrupted her self-flagellation by saying "Stop. I know what's going on I've been through this sort of situation before. Several things are going kerflooey in rapid succession, I have few to zero options and I need to stop what I'm doing to realize that GOD is controlling the situation. I'm not supposed to freak out. 

"I need to keep things in perspective. GOD is running the show. If I can manage to keep my mood in control, He'll pull some nifty trick out of His heavenly sleeves. Who knows? Maybe I'll win the lottery," I laughed. "I'm going to trust my instincts and head in the direction I believe I need. You did your best and I appreciate that."

We ended our cellphone call, I walked a bit, then I hailed a taxi in the hope that I'd quickly meet the guy giving me a ride before he headed out of town. And I wondered "Which blessing is heading my way?"

I entered the taxi and calmly told the driver where I needed to be and in a BIG hurry. He turned around and asked "Are you kidding? It's down the street."

We drove to the juncture I needed within a minute, as I realized that an essential street sign had been missing from its designated spot. No wonder I'd felt lost and confused. But as things turned out, I had been right where I needed to be.

I laugh to think back to yesterday's mad dash to the meet-up, that I'd used a life lesson well instead of condemning myself or my friend, and realized that "I'm where I need to be, I just didn't know it." 

Life's full of such situations. They can help us to grow, or to appreciate the growth we've made.

Growing past your limits is a spiritual activity. I'm sure that you have "I'm where I need to be, I just didn't know it," life lessons to heed, too. Enjoy the moments when you get things right. They're wonderful.

If you wish, let me know the blessings that come your way.

Happy Shavuot (it begins Saturday night). I call it the international bar and bat mitzva party of the Jewish People.

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 life with self-confidence, one step at a time.

Book Week Celebration!

B'SD

10/11 Sivan,  5774

Israel has a fun annual tradition: Book Week!

Celebrate book week - with an Israeli author who helps the world at large. 

Doctors recomend It's MY Crisis and I'l Cry if I Need to: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.  (you're gonna  the humor plus Jewish references here and there throughout the text! You'll appreciate the cost-cutting info for 1st-quality medical care, too!)

Did you know that a Methodist minister praised the book on its cover?

You don't have to be Jewish to benefit from 

The fun-filled, informative text if filled with information to help you to "Get your grin back" - even with that mental health or medical challenge before you.

Find out why medical and mental health professionals - and clergy of different faiths - recommend that you read it.

Learn how to cut your medical costs - all around the world. 

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. 

Fight fear with humor, confidence and whole new attitude that serves you well.

PS - I'm still studying hard for my ICD9 and ICD10 exams. Coursework increased after April 2nd, when the US changed the law about implementing ICD10 this coming fall. Graduation date has been delayed. I apologize that my homework load has interfered with my ability to post to this blog more often.

 

How to Inspire Yourself and Others - Scars and All

B'SD

15 Elul, 5773

Grab the tissues. The Jane Handly Childhood Story is going to have you sobbing with happiness and standing taller for the experience.

One of the key points in 

is that 

"The alternative to coping is worse." 

It means that if you have a medical, mental health or disability situation, you have lots of unpleasant, tedious and tiring work to do. 

If you don't do your work, you will suffer more than you do now. That additional suffering, which can possibly take you very backwards in unanticipated ways, is much worse than the discomforts facing you now.

It pays to focus on what can be done. It pays to focus on the uplifting things you can do in life.

I salute Jane Handly's mom, who cherished her child's soul - not her superficial appearance.

Some of the most wonderful people in the world are not going to win beauty contests. Their souls ennoble us let alone those people themselves.

You have struggles to master? 

So do superficial people. 

But they hardly know it.

Get on with your life. Grab the gusto. Live to ennoble your soul, perhaps those of other people.

You're gonna LUV the Refining Silver story on page 41 in EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

Buy the E-book or print edition today.




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

Feel your soul grow, and grow, and grow.


 

The EZ Shmeezy Way to Know More about the Medication You Take

B'SD

7 Elul, 5773

From time to time I share URLs, aka websites, for empowering you to learn more about your health. 

I sympathize with you if you do not know why you take some sort of medication or feel reluctant to ask medical professionals about it. 

It's frightening to take medication and to wonder what it does for you, what the unplanned ramifications (consequences) of taking the medication might be and what else you need to know.

Here's an FYI on the citrus fruits with medication issue Beware of Dangerous Medication Interactions with Citrus Fruits!

Educate yourself at these sites and take notes. Memories tend to be faulty at inconvenient times.

healthsquare.com

drugs.com

drugdigest.org

Drugs are one thing. 

How about improving your sense of resolve? 

What about resolving your troubling spiritual issues about your illness - or someone else's? 

Can you or they afford the treatments, transportation or medical appliances you need?

Solutions exist! Many of them are in 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. 

Focus on solutions. The EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book can help you with that in many ways.