If time is money, then how rich are we really? Our time is a currency that we can choose to spend any way we please. In this day and age, we spend so much time running that we have no time for ourselves, and when we do have a second to stop and breathe, the last thing we want to do is spend it listening to someone else's problems. The problem with that is that we get so caught up in our own day-to-day that we forget that others around us have problems and emotions that we probably could aid.
We think,"I have bills to pay, I am having relationship problems, I have health problems, I don't have time to think about your problems."
So in this dog-eat-dog world, is it any wonder that divorce rates are as high as they are; we can't sleep at night; or that obesity is rampant? No.
We all have a case of the 'me first and the gimme gimmes'.
The real mystery is how we have survived so misguided, thus far. How have we not resounded ourselves to being self-pitying recluses who only come out of our homes because we have to?
The answer is undeniably because of those who don't live through their own egos.
They are the nurses who work 50 hours a week on their feet to help people heal, even though they might themselves have hurts and pain.
They are the single parents who work multiple jobs just so they can support their children, sacrificing quality time with their families to do so.
They are the parents, spouses, and complete strangers who put their own worries aside momentarily to hear the troubles of people around them; listening with intently with compassion. They may have just worked 13 hours and they might be feeling the burdens of a high pressure job; they might be staring a deadline in the face, but the truth remains: they ignore their own troubles to hear yours.
They are the parents who commute hundreds of miles to jobs that pay better and provide better benefits for their families, and never ask for anything in return.
They are the volunteers of soup kitchens, distributors of donations at halfway houses, workers of women's clinics, and hotline operators of crisis helplines.
There are innumerable narratives depicting individuals displaying the same level of self-sacrifice for the betterment of those around them.
This is for those people who work everyday because it's in their heart to do so, but once in awhile, would like to hear, "Thank you for all that you do."
So in the spirit of Mother's day and in the interest of tipping my hat to those hard workers and selfless givers, I'd like to say thank you.
The point is that it is so easy for us to wallow in our own miseries, rather than realizing that there are others who have it so much worse than ourselves. Without those selfless people working their little hearts away, we would have no light in the world. If we all just succumbed to our own disgruntled meanderings, there would be no happiness or love in the world. So today, when you're picking out your Mother's day cards and grumbling about the inconvenience of doing so, stop. Just stop. Take a second and think about all that you have been blessed with, and ask yourself how you can help someone else.
We are not all Richard Branson, with billions of dollars and just as many opportunities to fight poverty; nor are we Mother Teresa, with nothing but selflessness and compassion for the dying and contagious sufferers around us. But we do have the chance everyday to stop boo-hooing about how busy we are and try to help someone else who is worse off than ourselves.
We have the chance to call our friend to say, "I was thinking about you. I know you've been having a hard time and I wanted to see how you were doing," regardless of whether we think they have any room for complaint. They may be suffering more than you know.
We have the opportunity to call our mothers, grandmothers, uncles, godparents, mentors, and any other elder or peer that we have been blessed with but often squander the ability to say thank you, and do just that: say, "Thank you."
So the next time your phone is ringing and you think to yourself, "Oh, I am way too busy to deal with this call right now," ask yourself, "Am I really?"
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Numbers
11-20-09. That's the date of my last blog. 11 from 20 leaves nine. 11 is the year we're in now. 20 is the number of sales I made on my website last month. Nine is the number of life and death. Its fitting because in the last 13 months (thirteen being the number for friendship and love in Jewish lore) and 21 days (which is 3 times 7..you get the drift) there has been much of both in my life. If big moves, big changes, and monumental miracles are just a compounding of small moments, then its no wonder that my life has changes so much in those 417 days.
In six months, I will be moving across the country. I will find myself in Chicago by August 1st, which is fittingly ••Lughnasadh. Hmm. But before that happens, there are many small choices and small moves that have to be made.
In the day in age when politicians pay thousands of dollars for one night in some ritzy hotel room, on the other side of this societal paradigm, we've begun our meager budgeting. So then the spiral of small movements that will eventually find us in our cultural Valhalla is brought into sharp notice.
Even still, when the small events that eventually snowball into life-changing experiences are happening, we rarely recognize them.
This algorithm can be applied to any situation, allowing you to see that things had to fall perfectly into place in order for things to happen the way they have. So much more relevant and sharply so than the idea that everything happens for a reason, without coincidence, is the idea that each little perfectly defined moment is constructed with many small moments.
Another manifestation of this belief is when things go horribly wrong. My peer was watching the news recently when he witnessed the standard news story play out on the television in front of him. It was then that he thought to himself, "How do you get to the point in your life where your freedom has been revoked and the SWAT team has invaded your home?"
My answer for him was the same as the rest of these instances: by a series of small decisions.
So if life is but a series of moments that compound to create a John Hughes era style montage, then the same would be true for those 417 days.
Life is compiled of numbers, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. Each one of those seconds is imbued with its own essence, its own message. Each day counts for one, maybe two, depending on the value of the day's monumental effects on you..although there are also those seemingly irrelevant days that you wouldn't think to include in the ledger of your life. But the thing is, when you really look at it, how many of those huge moments were created by many of those irrelevant moments?
There's a reason why esoteric and gnostic practitioners revere numbers. (Other than being mono-maniacal). They recognized that each number represents possibility. It is the mere building block for something bigger. Jewish mysticism dictates an entire sect of astrology and horoscopes purely based on numbers. And the paths intersect, for even mathematicians recognize that there are numbers in nature. For example, the golden ration is everywhere that life is. If we can find one set of numbers everywhere, then just like large numbers, large moments can be broken down into smaller components. As our move draws nearer and life has many more of these impeccable little moments that provide building blocks for the tower of life, I will share.
"Life is a painting, and your face is smashed up against it. Each moment provides a step back so you can see what you've been looking at all along." AWO
**Lughnasadh is the festival that celebrates harvest, and is when the ancients would begin to finalize plans for winter housing, and many other domestic arrangements were made. (IE marriage.)
In six months, I will be moving across the country. I will find myself in Chicago by August 1st, which is fittingly ••Lughnasadh. Hmm. But before that happens, there are many small choices and small moves that have to be made.
In the day in age when politicians pay thousands of dollars for one night in some ritzy hotel room, on the other side of this societal paradigm, we've begun our meager budgeting. So then the spiral of small movements that will eventually find us in our cultural Valhalla is brought into sharp notice.
Even still, when the small events that eventually snowball into life-changing experiences are happening, we rarely recognize them.
This algorithm can be applied to any situation, allowing you to see that things had to fall perfectly into place in order for things to happen the way they have. So much more relevant and sharply so than the idea that everything happens for a reason, without coincidence, is the idea that each little perfectly defined moment is constructed with many small moments.
Another manifestation of this belief is when things go horribly wrong. My peer was watching the news recently when he witnessed the standard news story play out on the television in front of him. It was then that he thought to himself, "How do you get to the point in your life where your freedom has been revoked and the SWAT team has invaded your home?"
My answer for him was the same as the rest of these instances: by a series of small decisions.
So if life is but a series of moments that compound to create a John Hughes era style montage, then the same would be true for those 417 days.
Life is compiled of numbers, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. Each one of those seconds is imbued with its own essence, its own message. Each day counts for one, maybe two, depending on the value of the day's monumental effects on you..although there are also those seemingly irrelevant days that you wouldn't think to include in the ledger of your life. But the thing is, when you really look at it, how many of those huge moments were created by many of those irrelevant moments?
There's a reason why esoteric and gnostic practitioners revere numbers. (Other than being mono-maniacal). They recognized that each number represents possibility. It is the mere building block for something bigger. Jewish mysticism dictates an entire sect of astrology and horoscopes purely based on numbers. And the paths intersect, for even mathematicians recognize that there are numbers in nature. For example, the golden ration is everywhere that life is. If we can find one set of numbers everywhere, then just like large numbers, large moments can be broken down into smaller components. As our move draws nearer and life has many more of these impeccable little moments that provide building blocks for the tower of life, I will share.
"Life is a painting, and your face is smashed up against it. Each moment provides a step back so you can see what you've been looking at all along." AWO
**Lughnasadh is the festival that celebrates harvest, and is when the ancients would begin to finalize plans for winter housing, and many other domestic arrangements were made. (IE marriage.)
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