Do It Well ~ #MondayBlogs

Madonna and Stevie Wonder performed Purple Rain and paid tribute to Prince at the Billboard Music Award Ceremony; it was honest admiration for all that he stood for. Whether you enjoyed or approved of his music, there is no denying that Prince was an exceptional and well-acclaimed artist during his too-short life. With multiple Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, an Academy Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, he was an accomplished and significant artist who rightfully earned the respect of many. He is and will be remembered for a long, long time.

We should all strive to do things at our best, to take pride in our endeavors, and to do well whether we receive accolades or not in our lifetime. If we live our lives fully and enrich the lives of those around us then in a way we are paying tribute to ourselves out of self-respect. We are each capable of greatness if we believe in ourselves. In reality we shouldn’t be competing with others, we should always be looking for a personal best. Each time we believe we have reached the pinnacle of our performance we need to push ourselves just a bit further. Success is not one accomplishment and stagnating, it is growing on that success to make it even richer and better.

What do you want to accomplish in your life? Your goals do not need to be a singer and musician like Prince, you don’t need to be Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, you don’t even need to be the world’s greatest athlete, or a renowned politician… you only need to pursue and do the best you can at whatever your dream is. Believe in yourself. Believe in every inspirational adage and cliché you’ve ever heard — keep your eye on the ball; if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again; dance like nobody is watching; excellence is not an act, but a habit; and more. Keep reaching, keep striving, and never settle.

You are allowed to “always want a little more” when wanting more will keep you always trying to improve. Satisfaction and contentment isn’t earned by knowing you’ve reached the top, but by knowing you keep getting better and better. Believe in yourself. Believe that you can do whatever you set your mind to do. Know that you have succeeded each time you get half a step further on your journey than you did the time before.

Be positive, not just for yourself, for the people around you as well. Positivity just seems to grow and everyone can benefit. Contribute yourself daily to making the world a happier and better place. Do your life well and know that your “tributes” will come, people will respect you — it doesn’t matter if it is name performers on a stage or the everyday people who have surrounded you in your lifetime, you will be remembered and that is the greatest tribute anyone could ever receive. 

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People Hear What They Want to Hear ~ #MondayBlogs

Why is it that two people can listen to the exact same thing and yet hear totally different things?

Don’t worry about answering, it’s a rhetorical question.

People tend to read into difficult words rather than merely taking them at face value. “That dress really looks nice on you. It’s got a very slimming effect.” — Oh no! Does that mean I look fat? — Instead of accepting what is probably a very genuine compliment, suddenly there are tears, hurt feelings and probably anger. And that is how arguments start.

Everybody hears what they are open to hearing based on their experiences and beliefs. Politicians get to say a lot of sometimes “nothing” and yet every speech will be met with cheers and jeers based on what the listeners WANT to believe. I WANT to believe that all my financial woes can be solved by a single act of a new shopping complex and the revenue it would bring to the area; I DON’T WANT to believe that giving up my brand new shiny car will help solve global warming. The politician says the new factory which will open up jobs will be the best thing and scrubbers will be installed in every smokestack — if I need a job, I’ll hear the opportunity of a new business; but if my child is an asthmatic the words that will be loudest to me will be “scrubbers in every smokestack” and depending on my level of trust…

We tend to listen selfishly with our own interests out front. We are afraid to accept, or hear, anything that might make us question the beliefs we’ve been loudly professing. We’ll attend a campaign speech to “listen” to the words of our favorite candidate and we are rarely disappointed. We focus on the things we want to hear and all the rest is just background noise. Almost everybody in the crowd does the same thing and it’s easy to get swept up with the emotional response, cheering and clapping. When the speech is over we turn and clap each other on the backs for a job-well-done as if we were the ones receiving all of the approving applause. Later when we are asked what was said, suddenly all we can remember are the good points that we agreed with, and we might not even remember the exact words, we just repeat the very things that drew us, right or wrong, to this candidate.

It’s frustrating when we are trying to get our message and meaning out there and someone is just not listening to the words. Chances are, though, we might be doing just the same thing. Selective hearing? Biased hearing? It’s a collective problem.

Psychologists tell us that we need to train ourselves to not only listen, but to listen from the other person’s point of view. If you can argue FOR an opposing view you wind up expanding your mind. And maybe it won’t make you change your mind but it will certainly allow you stronger belief in what YOU want to hear.

What is religion? ~ #MondayBlogs

Religion is a belief system, a road map of sorts, something to give us all guidance through life. Yes, many of these belief systems have a Deity (mono or poly theistic) that we direct our prayers and hopes to, but ultimately the rules that are dictated by a particular belief system are designed to help us function and thrive in this world among our fellow humans.

Religion should not be used as a mask, a false front or an excuse for intolerance or cruelty. There are extremists in every religion who use interpretations of commandments to their own self-serving benefit. Unfortunately when these extremists represent themselves as spokespersons of the faith, there are others who let their resentments rule. Religious precepts are misunderstood and prejudice begins.

Some religions are philosophies, a way of living life using positivity, compassion, and cooperation. There are people who believe in a higher-power, but not a god – nature, the earth’s elements, their fellow man/woman, and their own inner strength. Atheism, mistakenly cited as a belief that there is NO god is really a lack of belief that there is a god — it’s a minor difference but not as negative as some claim. Agnostics neither claim that there is a god, nor do they claim there isn’t; in many ways agnostics are relatively open-minded to possibilities.

“The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels.” [Wikipedia] An open dialogue between people of different faiths is not an attempt to merge or dissolve religious beliefs; rather it is a way to work together with mutual respect. Learning about other faiths should never be seen as an affront to one’s own religion or belief system. Education is, in Judaism, a mitzvah, a commandment and something we should all be doing; other faiths have similar edicts.

It shouldn’t matter if you read the King James Bible, the Hebrew Tanakh, the Hindi Sanskrit, the Buddhist Tipitaka, or the Muslim Quran… it shouldn’t matter if you study the sky and the stars, or let the soil run through your fingers, or if you are Wiccan, Atheist, Jehovah's Witness, or celebrate Kwanzaa… we are ALL quite literally in this thing TOGETHER. All religions and belief systems share commandments and principles that encourage the love of family, respect for life (human and animal), and provide guidance to help us share this great planet.

I am pleased to say that my family is interfaith. While we each remain true to our individual upbringing, it is a joy to share our unique cultures with each other. It is a blessing to observe the Ruach (Hebrew word meaning energy and spirit) in our rituals. Ultimately our family thrives on LOVE.

So be who you are and practice your faith. And if you find it hard to be compatible with others, don’t meet it with anger and hostility — use it as an opportunity to LEARN about your own and other religions. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many similarities there really are. 

Faith should never be divisive; we are all one people in the long run.