The Humanity of Routine

People are creatures of habit. 

They form routines and function with relative comfort and efficiency within that. 

And for the most part, we can recognize our own patterns in life. 

Get up, brush our teeth, dress, daven (pray), go to work and so on. 

After a while, you can do it mostly in your sleep. 

We sort of become like automatons. 

Flip the switch and we go.

When routine and structure become so rigid that we can no longer improvise or innovate then we have a big problem in higher order functioning. 

But also when we break people’s structures and habits, we find that they can quickly lose their sh*t. 

People need to control their time and maintain their patterns of life. 

Therein lies a certain safety and comfort in that repetitive doing.

You know what you’re doing–you’ve done it before, so you can do it again.

If you strip a person of their control over their time and the structure of their behavior, they are truly naked and in much more than a physical sense.  (They articulated this in The Punisher, Season One, on Netflix)

All of a sudden they don’t know what to do or how to do it. 

Do they go crazy, breakdown, or tell you everything you want to know. 

Torture is not just physical, but also mental and emotional. 

It is not hard to take away something so simple and a person is no longer a full person anymore. 

People need solid coping as well as survival skills to deal with the unknown.

Finally, appreciate when everything is more or less under control, because that’s truly a blessing.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Everyone Loves A Good Massage Chair

What can you say, when you see these luxurious, zero gravity, massage chairs?

Yes, ah, that feels so good!

Seriously, you know you want to try it.

Yes, you do. 

And you even want to take one home. 

Costco’s got these. 

You’ve seen others at Sharper Image at the Mall. 

They’re not cheap.

This one was like $4,299. 

Can you resist the urge to splurge on the ultimate in comfort and relaxation?

Take off your shoes. close your eyes, let yourself drift away. 

It’s a better place. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Problems Are Earthly

This was a saying that I really liked. 

“G-d is greater than you problem”

– Problems may seem like the end.

But G-d is the root of all BEGINNINGS!

– Problems may be overwhelming. 

But G-d is your HEAVENLY FATHER AND MOTHER!

– Problems may be big.

But G-d is INFINITE!

– Problems may be tough.

But G-d is ALL POWERFUL!

– Problems may be challenging.

But G-d has all the ANSWERS!

– Don’t let your problems get you down. 

See the bigger picture. 

Know you are not alone in the universe. 

Have faith that everything is in G-d’s hands and will be alright. 😉

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)

Beautiful Flowers

I just wanted to share these beautiful flowers. 

The colors and shapes are so amazing. 

It’s like you can see G-d’s amazing hand in creating these so intricately, delicately and with so much brilliance. 

There is comfort in His work and the life He has given.

I am grateful for each day to serve His purpose. 

Hope you enjoy the gorgeous flowers. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Ergonomics Ah!

So today I went for an ergonomic training and assessment. 

Never did this before. 

It was pretty awesome. 

The person had 4 degrees in ergonomics and really seemed to know what they were talking about. 

They got me set up in a special ergonomic chair with a footrest, bio-design mouse, and task lighting.

I tell you that I never sat so straight, perfectly contoured, and completely comfortable. 

They almost had to pry my butt out of that chair after I test drove it for over an hour in training. 

OMG, there is a difference. 

Don’t need carpal tunnel.

Don’t need sciatica. 

Don’t need neck, shoulder, and back pain. 

I even learned that the standing desks can be BAD for you–they put undue stress on your musculature and may actually result in a notable DECREASE in concentration and productivity. 

Anyway, from the stupid chairs that I’ve seen most people have–and the lousy posture they sit with–I’d recommend seeing the ergonomist. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Until My Last Breath

The Shema Yisrael.

Hear O’ Israel. The L-rd our G-d. The L-rd is one.

The most sacred and fundamental of prayers in Judaism. 

Declaring our monotheistic belief and faith in the One Above who has created and sustains us daily. 

These are words we call out from the depths of our heart and soul–in joy, in suffering, in life, and ultimately as we leave this world.

No one can take this from us. 

Only G-d decrees who shall live and who shall die…who shall be exalted and who shall be made low. 

Hear O’ Israel.
The L-rd our G-d.
The L-rd is one. 

Everything is life is given true perspective by this.

People may rise against us and situations may look dire.

But in the realm of G-d, these are all fleeting like the dust that blows in the wind. 

So too shall G-d remove our troubles and bring us comfort. 

It is a test; it is all a test–remember, Hear O’ Israel–and pass it with flying colors. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Blessing Each Other

Today in synagogue, we did not have any Kohanim (members of the priestly class) to do the ritual blessing of the people. 

So Rabbi Haim Ovadia did something really creative and beautiful.

He had each of us turn to our neighbor and put our hands over each other’s heads and recite the blessing from the Torah:

“May G-d bless and guide you.

May G-d shine his countenance on you and be gracious to you.

May G-d turn his countenance toward you and grant you peace.”

The gesture of brotherhood and caring for each other was very, very nice, and I got to meet someone new in synagogue today.

People need people…and we need G-d. 

Somehow it makes everything better. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Homesick or Heresick

It’s funny, my dad used to tell a joke about not being homesick, but being heresick (wherever that “here” may be for somebody–they just want to get out of there)

Recently, at work though, I have found there are many people that don’t want to go home at the end of the day–and it’s not because they always still have so much work to do (although sometimes certainly they do). 

Yesterday, I asked someone at work–on New Years eve–what they were still doing there late in the day.

Someone with a fairly new baby at home, jokingly winced at me, and said something about it sometimes being better to stay a little later at work, because when he/she gets home, they start all over again with the spouse and kid(s)–like so many of us. 

It’s strange to me, because I love and value home. 

And it’s like the old rhetorical question about do you work to live or live to work. 

Just yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, there was a book review about someone who opined about how home is where the heart is–and in anthropological terms–it’s always been that way!

Home is our sanctuary, for ourselves and our beloved family, it is where we are “king of the castle,” and where we do everything from shelter, comfort, reproduce, share, and generally love and care for each other. 

Yet, back to work, many people these days don’t want to go home to crying babies and dirty diapers, nagging spouses and the evening fights, encroachment on private spaces, and errands galore (it’s a 2nd job almost)–cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, and bills–or even just plain loneliness there. 

So people hang out at work–they schmooze, they snack, they Internet, they may go to workout, or they dilly and dally–just so they don’t have to go home. 

As someone recently said to me, “It’s quiet. I like it there. Nobody bothers me there.”

They are homesick–not missing and yearning to be home, but some almost to the point of sick at the thought of going home. 

Work or anywhere else then becomes a refuge from the home that home is supposed to be. 

Sometimes it’s just a temporary thing at home, sometimes it’s more ongoing or permanent.

Everyone has a different home–for everyone it should be a true home. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Light Up The Night

This was a beautiful piece in the New York Times today.

It was about how two sons handled the final hours with their father after he was removed from off life support.

With the prodding of one son, the father reluctantly agrees to see a Rabbi before his death, and this Rabbi describes to the dying man the meaning of his (and our) life:

“Imagine your whole life now, and for each [and every] time you did something good, imagine it as a little glow you left behind that lights a dark road stretching back in time. It’s a long, long row of lights now, isn’t it?”

Remembering over time, the father nods, smiles and is obviously comforted in this final hour as he sees in his mind’s eye all the shinning lights for the acts of kindness that he was leaving behind. 

Isn’t this what life is all about?

Every choice we make, everything we do, can have an amazing impact and leave light when before there was just darkness. 

Imitating G-d in creation, we create light separating it from the darkness out there, good from evil…we create the future. 

Our goal…light up the night. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Doll For Every Worry

Some kids put their baby teeth under their pillow for the tooth fairy.

But in Guatemala they make Worry Dolls that children can put under their pillows, so they can be released from their worries and sleep better. 

If those were my worry dolls, I wouldn’t put them under my pillow and have a lumpy sleep and wake up to them once again, but rather I would throw them out the window, so hopefully they would be gone for good. 

Man, if only we could really get rid of our worries and problems that easily–I think they call it transference! 😉

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)