Change the world…by changing your attitude.
Life is Beautiful!
It’s a gift.
Every day is renewal and opportunity.
Everything is for the best.
Believe it. Live it. And share it.
A smile and a positive attitude is contagious in a good way!
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was a funny title for a book:
“Sh*t Happens So Get Over It.”
There are no perfect lives out there.
I reminded again this week how everyone has something: Mark Herd, Co-CEO of Oracle, died at 62 and and Elijah Cummings, elected to 12 terms in the House of Representatives, died at 68.
All the success int he world on the surface doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of schlimazel (misfortune) under the surface.
Unfortunately, sh*t definitely happens in life and we can get all spun up over it or we can take everything in faith and stride.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
What does kill takes us to the next phase of existence.
All you can do is your best, the rest is in the hands of the Almighty above. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was funny at work.
One person writes:
Be Happy. Have Fun.
Another chimes in:
Ok, I will!
And finally a 3rd person writes:
Me too.
Smiley faces and all.
Never take yourself too seriously.
It’s true–try to enjoy the ride! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Starting a new week…
Pick a sign for your desk:
– Good morning let the stress begin
– Step away from my desk and no one gets hurt
– I found your nose, it was in my business
– I’m pretty sure I have no idea
Which one would you pick?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This is my spin on a Jack Canfield saying, but I like it this way:
“The future is on the other side of fear.”
Sometimes we feel hemmed in or torn down by life.
And there is plenty of fear of failure and not being able to do what we need to do.
But the only way to get there is to get past the fear!
You need to look straight ahead into the future of what you want.
And you need to overcome your worst fear…that you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, you’re not strong enough, and you’re not beautiful enough.
…and the gnawing feeling inside that you can’t do it.
This is precisely when you need to center yourself, strengthen yourself, and pray for G-d’s help.
Whether to get over it, under it, or through it.
The future–your future–is on the other side of that fear–that fear that is holding you back.
No, you’re not stupid, ugly, weak, or unworthy.
Yes, you’re a child of the G-d on the most high.
So you can reach deep and reach high to accomplish your mission in life.
You can truly leap over mountains and even reach for the stars.
No, it’s not beyond you.
It’s right in front of you.
Take that deep breath, clench your fist, gird you sword, and ready yourself in every way.
The fear holding you back is yours to conquer.
And the future is yours to be had. 😉
(Inspired by my wife, Dannielle Blumenthal)
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Just reflecting on the day off today on helpful ways for being resilient and coping with day-to-day stress.
1. Teamwork – Remember you’re not alone and you can rely on your colleagues/teammates at work and your family/friends at home to work with you, help you, and also be a support. Together, when you distribute the weight, the load is lighter and more manageable for everyone doing the lifting!
2. Work-Life Balance – Listen, all work and no play is good for no one. When you create a healthy balance in your own life–professional, emotional, intellectual, social, physical, and spiritual–then you will be more balanced, holistic, and better able to manage the ups and downs in any one or more areas of your life. The whole of you is larger than the sum of the parts!
3. Perspective – You’ve got to maintain a healthy perspective and attitude in life. All is not doom and gloom. Not every setback is catastrophic. There is good and bad in everything. And we need to use the challenges in life as learning and growth opportunities. Also, remember that there are many others in even worse shoes than us and their fortitude and seeing it through can be an inspiration to us. At the end of the day, look at the bright side–we all have so much to be grateful for, and every moment of life is a blessing!
4. Sense of Humor – When all else fails, a sense of humor can sometimes be the savings grace of the moment. When you’re looking out over the abyss and you are seeing things dark and maybe quite ugly…perhaps, you can find in yourself, in others, or from a moment in time, something ridiculous or absurdly funny to think back on and laugh to yourself a good, strong, and healthy laugh!
5. Faith – No matter what…G-d is always there for you. Always watching. Always guiding. Always caring and loving you. You can have faith that whatever He does for you is ultimately for your best. The G-d of your forefathers/mothers, the G-d who created you, the G-d who sustains you every moment of every day will not abandon you in your time of need. If you have faith, He will protect and save you and after your amazing life’s journey eventually comes to an end, He will bring you home to reunite with Him!
On my Bar-Mitzvah, now many years ago, my father gave a speech and he said to me from the prayers, be strong and remember:
“The L-rd is with me, I will not fear!” (or in Hebrew “Adonai li v’lo ira”)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I really like this…
A friend told me that when they have a really tough day, they call it:
“A Character Building Day!”
I thought that was pretty astute.
When people are up against the wall…
And they feel like they practically have their hands and legs tied…
And the world is spinning around them out of control…
And others are throwing tomatoes, darts, arrows, and all types of other sh*t their way…
– We can either just close our eyes, feel powerless, get upset and depressed, and basically give up
OR
– We can see the tough times as challenges–however great–to build our character.
Every situation is a learning and growth opportunity.
Don’t give in–Get up and fight.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!
Yes, many days are character building days–it doesn’t always feel good–often it feels horrible–but we can approach it with the right attitude and help shape our character and soul for the better. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The title sounds ominous, but I mean it differently.
People like to play games–the type you have fun at.
We learn to play when we are kids.
We get the attention of our parents and friends–and we have fun just being together, acting silly or even competing with each other.
Whether it’s over a game of Life, Monopoly, Risk, or Connect Four, or even these days going online with a game of Minecraft or Crush.
Sports is another type of game–great to play and others like to watch and cheer for their favorite teams or athletes.
This week at work, someone said to come to his meeting because:
“…everyone would have fun.”
Have you ever heard that at work–a fun meeting or for that matter anything being fun in an office setting?
The guy is a genius–people actually showed up in droves at the meeting.
They had to choose between various meetings going on at that time–and low and behold, people chose this one that was going to be fun!
In the meeting, there was a big bowl of candy and chocolate in the center of the conference table.
And the mood was relaxed as we got down to some business.
While we did the business, people felt free to be a little silly and laugh with each other too.
The tone had been set for some fun.
The person who hosted the meeting explained that he wanted people to have a good time coming to the meeting (and to work).
He called it “gamification.”
The idea is why not make things into a type of game and have some fun with it instead of everything being so stuck up and nasty all the time.
Listen, it was still a meeting and work had to get done, but it was nice to see a different lighter perspective put on it.
People want to enjoy what they do–whether it’s time with their family, friends, or why not even their work.
If we can make more things in life into a game of sorts and put “fun” into the equation of what we do–people smile, laugh, and let down their guards a little.
Why shouldn’t adult play games and have fun too? 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So what a nice compliment…
I’m talking with someone this week.
They’re new, and so I tried to be generally nice and ask about them, show interest, and just be overall friendly and welcoming.
It was amazing–these little things, and they made someone else feel comfortable and happy.
They are smiling and go to me:
“I get good vibes from you!”
Wow, good vibes–awesome!
And now I was happy too.
I thought to myself, how often we goof and give off the wrong vibes and how easy it really is to just treat most people decently and sincerely, and get a good reaction.
Yes, not everyone is easy to get along with and not everyone is nice.
But generally, I think it’s good to try to be the type of person that others feel good vibes from.
I’ll take that and continue to try and spread the wealth. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
There are sharks out there.
And it’s not just in the oceans.
There are plenty in your organizations.
They make for lots of dysfunction and conflict.
The organizational sharks see themselves as the bigger and more important fish in the sea.
They look for weakness in others—they smell blood and when they do, they usually follow it to the kill!
These sharks are the types of people that attack their colleagues when they should be assisting them.
Not only do they lack respect for others, but instead see them as the enemy and eat them as prey, when instead, they need to be chewing up the outside competition.
It’s an attitude of us versus them misplaced within the organization, rather than external-facing.
These organizational sharks could be in leadership positions, in which case, their attitudes filter down infecting the rest of their staffs.
Instead of unity, cohesion, and working together to get the mission and job down, the sharks are selfishly worrying about and working to build their own power base.
It’s a dysfunctional culture that allows these sharks to exist and swarm in their organizational waters.
Sharks for some reason fail to see that their boats are hitched to everyone else in the organization, and that all the organizational boats rise together or fill with polluted water and sink to the bottom.
As leaders, we need to focus and agree on supporting each other to achieve the success of all.
Even sharks should learn to be nice and play together with all the other fish in the organizational sea. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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