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.

Please Follow Your Doctor's Orders

B'SD

9 Tishrei, 5778

Tonight begins the Yom Kipur fast, and with it many medical issues. They can be alleviated by speaking with your doctor and your rabbi.

We are NOT required to fast if that endangers our health.

Please. Follow Your Doctor's Orders.

Soothe your mind and heart 
by speaking with your rabbi.

Listen to the call of the Shofar. GOD does, and it echoes our cries for compassion in both directions.







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 prayers and actions with sensible decisions.

The Gratitude Challenge: How Happiness can be Achieved!

B'SD  

12 Tishrei

Whew! The 3-weeks-long High Holiday season takes up lots of energy on the Jewish calendar and in personal lives.

I fasted easily on Yom Kipur as usual, and felt more relaxed than I have in decades. Many important personal issues and perspectives are in satisfying order. 

But I prayed hard for many soothing miracles to embrace the earth. What with the Ebola, enterovirus plus other health and safety scares in the headlines, we mortals need those blessings.

Holidays are too often filled with anxiety, anger, misery; Inner and outer pain of any sort. Sometimes the worst comes out in angry, sad or vengeful people just when you want to feel content, safe and secure.

Maybe this can help you to deal with all that:

A real life friend tagged me for The Gratitude Challenge. It's a bit of a game in which a person is asked to name 3 things for which they're grateful, several days in a row.

My Gratitude Challenge schedule is going to be briefer than most due to the High Holiday season (Sukkot begins tomorrow night). 

But some of my thoughts illustrate how, and that, I persevered past some deeply upsetting and painful episodes in my life. I'm sharing a few of thoughts below.

Perhaps they'll help you, too. Please let me know.

Yocheved Golani

October 4 at 11:11pm · Edited ·

I've accepted a Gratitude Challenge (3X daily for 5 days - 2 days due to the Jewish holiday season) though I have a policy of not accepting ANY challenges. PUH-LEEZ don't challenge me with anything, fb friends. This exception to my rule is onl ybecause I have so much to be thankful for that I'm kinda bursting at the seams to let the public know about the bounty.

LikeLike ·  · Share

• Bracha Barbara Goldman, Chani Smith, Shainy Batshevah and 2 others like this.
• View 4 more comments
• 

  Bracha Barbara Goldman beautiful!

  Yesterday at 12:41am · Unlike · 1
• 

  Yocheved Golani Day 2 of the Gratitude Challenge:
  
  1. I find it easy to fall asleep due to the fact that I stick to my Early to Bed, Early to Rise habit. ...See More

  22 hrs · Like
• 

  Yocheved Golani I'm supposed to nominate 3 people per day for this thing but I cringe when people pressure me in public to do something or other. So, I nominate the first 3 fb friends who choose to join me in feeling thankful. TAG! You're it! (Esther I can officially nominate you on Day 3, per your request, OK? You can begin sharing your Attitude of Gratitude after Sukot))

  21 hrs · Edited · Like · 1
• 

  Yocheved Golani If you accept my "Your choice to share gratitude online" offer, please let me know below. TU!

  17 hrs · Like
• 

  Yocheved Golani My Gratitude Attitude, Day 3: 
  
  I'm thankful that this video confirmed a lot of my thoughts/beliefs. I've kept a happiness diary for ages. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M
  
  I'm grateful for opportunities to make things right, to understand things right, and to learn from other people that yes, what I did was "right."
  
  I'm grateful for giggles. I need outlets for my sense of happiness. Sharing a sense of relief or satisfaction makes it more fun.
  

  
  

  

  TEDxBloomington - Shawn Achor - "The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to...

  YOUTUBE.COM

  Just now · Like · Remove Preview
• 

  Yocheved Golani BTW, Shawn explains about gratitude being a Reality Check. I so agree! http://www.forbes.com/.../shawn-achor-what-you-need-to.../
  

  
  

  

  Shawn Achor: What You Need To Do Before Experiencing Happiness

  Shawn Achor I recently spoke to Shawn Achor, who is the...

  FORBES.COM|BY DAN SCHAWBEL

  Just now · Like · Remove Preview

Follow the conversation (join it, please!) until tomorrow.

You can even accept the Gratitude Challenge I gave to my Facebook friends/readers.



Grow your sense of gratitude. Read "Refining Silver" in the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. It can rev up your emotional life.

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

Feel happier, one step at a time. It's a process, not an immediate commodity. 


 

Yom Kipur INFOgraphic - and What to Do About the Fast

B'SD

9 Tishrei, 5774

Yes, you need to speak with your rabbi and doctor if you are concerned about fasting. Do it soon, Yom Kipur begins within hours.

Need to know more about Yom Kipur? Aish.com has that for you at http://www.aish.com/h/hh/yom-kippur/guide/Yom-Kippur-Infographic.html

May the world be inscribed for a healthy, 

peaceful future.

 

Make a healthful start to your new year: 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.

Feel better with sensible behavior.

Bunches of Good (and amusing!) Reasons to Care Better for Yourself

B'SD

7 Tishrei, 5774

Yom Kipur is coming and that's a time when hearts are filled with serious thoughts. 

The nifty thing about Judaism is that life IS a do-over. We can start with fresh slates by making changes in our beliefs and behaviors. Gradual improvement is the key, not killing yourself over "Instant Makeovers."

Attitude is what it's all about. 

Here's a great overview of Yom Kipur.

Okay, put your spiritual power to work on your physical realities.

Here's a colorized video of your heart's biscuspid valves and other nifty parts, hard at work. 

Click the links at 
http://www.smm.org/heart/heart/pumping.htm for a more in-depth understanding of your physical heart (you can nurture your emotional heart with good sense and uplifting activities).

Learn about blood pressure here (be sure to notice the food recommendations, towards the bottom, for healthy bodies).

Here's a kid-friendly video about the brain and nervous system. This one is kid-kosher too: KIDS' Health.

Want to know more about your marvelous, miraculous body? See http://mrfordsclass.net/, which holds lots of funny, interesting and educational videos about the rest of the human body. I suggest that anyone in high school or college-level anatomy and health courses look these over. Your teachers will appreciate that ;^D

When you're ready to resolve some sort of medical, mental health or disability issue (to the best of your ability), be sure to read  doctor-recommended E-book or print edition EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.  

I'm preparing for Yom Kipur with intropsection, studying relevant texts and a low-key lifestyle. I want to make it through the fast in my usual "No-problem" style despite rising heat and humidity. 

I pray for the ever-better health of my readers and the wider world daily.

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

Fire up your resolve to be better in body, mind and spirit.