Happy New Year Shanah Tovah

Another year, another shot at redemption, another chance to get it right, another stolen golden moment to count my blessings, and another opportunity to savor the sweetness of living everyday.

Living with or without leukemia is still living and cause enough for celebration.

Shana Tovah.

I wish there were shofar blasts every morning. Clear the mind and lift the soul.

To all those I have failed over the last year, please find it in your hearts to forgive me.

To all those who have been so kind and generous to me over the last year, I am more thankful than you know. You light up my road and make it all so worthwhile.

I move forward, my first year as an orphan, the family patriarch now that my dad is gone. I miss him so much.

But I have a big and growing family of my own, full of love and joy and surprises, and dear friends, old and new, near and far, and rewarding work with good people.

Again I reminded of the words of that tormented master, Reb Nachman of Bratslov. Life is a very narrow bridge. The most important thing is not to be afraid.

Across that very narrow bridge, across the universe. One step at time, one day at a time. Slowly slowly slowly healing the brokenness in me and all the world.

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abe Lincoln

Rabbi Telushkin talked today on practical ways to be happy.

Cultivate gratitude. Count your blessings.

Forgive. Holding a grudge is like letting someone you hate take up residence in your brain rent free. Let it go.

And remember to forgive yourself.

Stay connected. It is not good to be alone.

Go on a 24 or 48 hour complaint fast. Nothing but kind words for a day or two. See if it detoxifies you,

Charitable acts are our only assets that can never be taken from you, so let them grow. Jesus was right when he preached that is really better to give than to receive.

I want to add from some others that have informed my life.

Reb Nachman taught:

"Remember things can go from the very worst to the very best in just a blink of an eye"

Viktor Frankl reminded us:

“Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances; to choose one’s own way.”

And

"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Honest Abe nailed it:

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

I say in my own less pithy and less folksy way:

Linger over the smallest of pleasures because they are so common and much easier to find the ecstatic peaks.

Focus on the sweet spots and move past the pain as quick as you can.

Seek acts of joy over pleasant diversions, though it is quite OK to be superficial some of the time.

Play music, look at art, dance, plant a garden.

If you must, fake it until you make it.It helps you make it.

It is not always easy to be happy but it always worth the effort.