Merry-go-round and round.
Bobbing up and down, up and down.
Faster and faster and slower and slower.
Animal figures, colorful props, mirrors that reflect it all up.
Children smiling, children happy, what can be more satisfactory. 😉
(Credit Video: Andy Blumenthal)
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)
(Credit Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
So the same things don’t seem to drive happiness for everyone.
Some like big jobs and lots of power.
Others are happier with more work-life balance.
Some like to pursue lots of degrees and certifications.
Others like to learn on their own and through life experience.
Some like to travel the world.
Others like a day in nature or at the museum.
Some like big families and lots of people around them.
Others like smaller families, close friends, intimacy, or even being more on their own.
Some like lots of money.
Other are happy with having what they need.
Some like to be tremendous athletes.
Other like to just stay fit or maybe are more comfy as “couch potatoes.”
Some like to be very religious and follow all the laws.
Others prefer mindfulness, a sense of spirituality and being a “good person.”
Some like lots of activities and to always do different things.
Others are more comfortable with routine and incremental change.
We all have basic needs, but we also have different values, priorities and comfort zones.
Happiness isn’t a yes or no answer, but what makes us feel on track and doing good. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This is just a great picture!
I have to call this out as the best baby carrier ever.
What a combination between a kangaroo pouch and a cozy snugli.
Anyway, it’s comfortable, fun, and good-looking.
Can’t you just see your baby in this?
(Thank you to my son-in-law for sharing this with me)
I just had to share this photo.
Took this in South Florida this week.
These two guys from Sweden sitting at the pool wearing these Christmas tree hats.
This was just too great to pass up.
As I took the photo, one guy gave me the thumbs up and this was just perfect.
I don’t know about you, but they cheered me up even when it seems that the world is otherwise going crazy–in so many ways.
– Politics
– Divisiveness
– Hate
– Fighting
– Injustices
– Suffering
But at the end of the day, it’s about the people–and G-d gives us the power to do good and make happy (or vice versa).
This one made me happy! 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Really liked this sign on my colleague’s desk.
It says:
Start With Yes
I remember an old boss who used to say:
Don’t make me get through no to get to yes.
The idea as another colleague put it is to:
Keep a smile on your face and your focus on the customer; everything else takes care of itself.
Basically, it’s all our jobs to make sure that the customer’s needs are being met.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t need to differentiate between requirements and desirements or that we need to deliver the yacht in the first go around.
As a 4th colleague put it:
The customer is in the water. They want the yacht. But I can give them a boat. It gets them to where they want to go, and they no longer need to swim. We can work our way up to a yacht.
Good analogy analogy and good things to keep in mind for customer service excellence! 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Just loved these adorable comic book characters.
They are originals put together by the comic creator.
The characters are made from colored Perler Beads.
Once the beads are laid out into these awesome characters, they are iron-melted together.
Each of these was advertised for $20 (not the $15 listed at the top of the picture), but we got a deal.
Together as a set, they are very cool, colorful, and fun to liven up any environment.
I have them on a display at home and it’s nice to not be so serious all the time, and instead let loose with some creative juice. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Why all the phonies, users, shysters, and scammers out there?
It starts perhaps with that big, warm smile.
Maybe a handshake and hug.
Perhaps, you even get a kiss or two (it’s cultural, I think, LOL).
Colleagues, friends, you’re just like family.
Sometimes it’s real and you truly found something valuable in your life.
There are good people of soul and conscience out there.
But other times it’s an act, a sham, deception, you’re the fool.
The other person wants something–cash, control, connections.
Oh by the way, can I ask you for just a “little” favor?
You wouldn’t mind if…?
Just do XYZ for me, I got your back.
I see you know so and so, would you introduce me?
I have a great investment opportunity for you, let me tell you all about it.
Sure it’s okay and actually wonderful in a real relationship for people to be there for each other and help each others…“that’s what [real] friends are for!”
The problem is where the friendship is only about the ask for the benefit of the other and no care for you as a person.
Then the smile isn’t a genuine collegial or friendship one of happiness and outreach. but rather it’s upside down to get you to do something legit or illegit for the person pressing their lips up and out into that smile you already know is all about the ask. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought these are some beautiful sentiments about breaking the cycle of trauma in our lives:
“Hurt people hurt people.
That’s how pain patterns get passed on, generation after generation after generation.
Break the chain today.
Meet anger with sympathy, contempt with compassion, cruelty with kindness.
Greet grimaces with smiles.
Forgive and forget about finding fault.
Love is the weapon of the future.”
– Yehuda Berg, The Kabbalah Center
This is powerful–it should only be that we can have a complete healing, betterment, and a renewal of peace for all.
One other thing that I heard that was so plain and simple, yet so smart was that:
Our job in this world is to do the most good that we can do!
Thank you to Minna Blumenthal for sharing all this.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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