Gear Up For Change
If you would find it pleasurable to make positive changes, what changes would enhance your life the most?
Think of the inner resources that would help you make one of those changes.
As you work on making that change, feel a sense of joy and empowerment that you are gaining greater self-mastery.
Love Yehuda Lave
I used to visit the Rehab Unit where people are recovering from hip and knee replacements. Often they are in great pain. It is painful to see their pain.
I tell the patient: I wish I could take away your pain, but I can't. Besides praying for your full and speedy recovery, I could -- if you are interested -- teach you how to minimize the intensity of your pain. Nine out of ten patients are fascinated and anxious to learn; one out of ten thanks me for my visit and asks me to leave.
I then continue: There are two types of pain -- meaningful pain and meaningless pain. If one takes a beating, it is painful; if one takes a beating to protect his child or instead of his child being hit, it is less painful. Why? Making a choice to receive the pain rather than have your child receive the pain gives meaning to the suffering.
Pain after an operation is meaningful. It means that you are alive. It means that your body works and hopefully is healing. There is a syndrome where a child is born without the ability to feel pain. Unfortunately, these children do not usually live long because they don't know when they are bleeding, if they are too close to a fire or are injured.
There are other benefits of pain. Pain can be a wake-up call from the Almighty to look into your deeds and your life. Is there anything that you should change or could do better? There is a Torah concept that the Almighty deals with us "mida k'neged mida" measure for measure. If one stubs his toe, he should not only think about the advisability of wearing shoes, but also on a metaphysical level "Who have I been kicking around?" Even if you don't figure out the reason, you can benefit from the introspection and improve your character and actions.
On a spiritual level, pain also serves as an atonement. When I am in pain, I ask the Almighty, "Please, accept this pain as an atonement for anything I have done wrong." One is certainly better off accepting the pain with love and appreciation rather than with anger and resentment.
If the Almighty gives a person pain as a wake-up call or as an atonement and the person ignores it, he has taken something that is meaningful and could benefit him and relegates it to the level of randomness and meaninglessness -- which is not only sad, but more painful.
If you know someone in pain, perhaps you can help them by sharing some of these ideas. May them help you have a meaningful period of retrospection before the new Year.
> History Exam......................... > Everyone over 50 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are > under 45 you can claim a handicap. > > This is a History Exam for those who don't mind seeing how much they > really remember about what went on in their life. > > *** Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20. > ****Write the letter of each answer & score at the end. > > Then before you pass this test on, put your score in the subject line. > > > 1. In the 1940's, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches > located? > a. On the floor shift knob. > b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch. > c. Next to the horn. > > 2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what > was it used? > a. Capture lightning bugs. > b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing. > c. Large salt shaker. > > 3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters? > a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk. > b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled. > c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, > expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top. > > 4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance? > a. Blackjack > b. Gin > c. Craps > > 5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings > when none were available due to rationing during WW II. > a. Suntan > b. Leg painting > c. Wearing slacks > > 6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you > couldn't tell whether it was coming or going? > a. Studebaker > b. Nash Metro > c. Tucker > > 7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid? > a Strips of dried peanut butter. > b. Chocolate licorice bars. > c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside. > > 8. How was Butch wax used? > a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up. > b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing. > c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust. > > 9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to > your shoes? > a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key. > b. Woven straps that crossed the foot. > c. Long pieces of twine. > > 10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision? > a. Consider all the facts. > b. Ask Mom. > c. Eeny-meeny-miney-mo. > > 11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s? > a. Smallpox > b. AIDS > c. Polio > > 12. 'I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey' > a. SUV > b. Taxi > c. Streetcar > > 13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony? > a. Old Blue > b. Paint > c. Macaroni > > 14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill? > a Part of the game of hide and seek. > b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores. > c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an > A-bomb drill. > > 15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show? > a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring > b. Princess Sacajawea > c. Princess Moonshadow > > 16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests > were handed out in school? > a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you > high. > b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window. > c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure. > > 17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with > purchases? > a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like > bubble gum. > b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household > items. > c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos. > > 18. Praise the Lord, & pass the _________? > a. Meatballs > b. D ames > c. Ammunition > > 19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song > 'Cabdriver' a hit? > a. The Ink Spots > b. The Supremes > c. The Esquires > > 20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ? > a. Tony Bennett > b. Xavier Cugat > c. George Gershwin > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ANSWERS > > 1. (b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular > in Europe , took till the late '60's to catch on. > > 2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron? > > 3. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the > bottle top. > > 4 . (a) Blackjack Gum. > > 5. (b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the > back of the leg with eyebrow pencil. > > 6. (a) 1946 Studebaker. > > 7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water. > > 8 (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut. > > 9. (a) With clamps , tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a > shoestring around your neck. > > > 10. (c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo. > > 11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, > movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent > spread of the disease. > > 12. (b) Taxi Better be ready by half-past eight! > > 13. (c) Macaroni. > > 14. (c) Hiding under your desk and covering your head with your arms in > an A-bomb drill. > > 15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet. > > 16. (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high. > > 17. (b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household > items at the Green Stamp store. > > 18. (c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free. > > 19. (a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots. > > > 20. (a) Tony Bennett and he sounds just as good today. > > SCORING > > 17- 20 correct: You are older than dirt and obviously gifted with mental > abilities. Now if you could only find your glasses. Definitely someone > who should share your wisdom! > > > 12 -16 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you're getting there. > > 0 -11 correct: You are not old enough to share the wisdom of your > experiences. > > Send this to your friends with your score in the subject line. > > > > > |
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or http://www.yehudalave.com/
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Visit my Blog: http://yehudalave.blogspot.com
or http://www.yehudalave.com/
