the little things…

Have you ever let the “little things” in your life get you down, make you mad or take the joy out of your life? If so, then this little story I found is for you.

The Lesson of the Eagle and the Crow

“The only bird that dares to peck an eagle is the crow. The crow sits on the eagle’s back and bites his neck. The eagle does not respond, nor fight with the crow. It does not spend time or energy on the crow. Instead he just opens its wings and begins to rise higher in the heavens. The higher the flight, the harder it is for the crow to breathe and eventually the crow falls off due to a lack of oxygen.

Learn from the eagle and don’t fight the crows, just keep ascending. They might be along for the ride but they’ll soon fall off. Do not allow yourself to succumb to the distractions…keep your focus on the things above and continue rising!!”

We can choose to be eagles.

The “crows” in our lives are distractions, annoyances, irritations. They often come because we tend to major in minor things. We let minor distractions deter us from achieving major goals. We need to learn what to ignore and what to pay attention to.

The Dalai Lama has reminded us that

We often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive, over-reacting to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally.

Let’s choose to focus on major not minor things. Perhaps on the

• peace,
• love,
• health,
• safety

that we wish for ourselves and others. Then we can let the crows fall away.

Why humor?

For those of you who are old enough to remember Red Skelton, I think you’ll enjoy this post. For those of you not old enough, you can see what you missed! Red Skelton had a lot of great one-liners and was known for his clean humor. It wasn’t sophisticated humor. It was the good old […]

What’s Your “Quarantine 15”?

We don’t have to bring everything from last year into this year of 2021. And I’m not just talking about those possible extra 15 pounds! What about the “15” piles of clutter that resulted from all our homebound activity and working from home? What about the “15” projects that we started and never finished? What […]

And the good news is…

Here’s some very good news: beliefs are malleable. They can be changed. In the end, it takes some time to create new beliefs, but what you are really doing is creating a new you. Tossing out those old beliefs (like I’m too old, I don’t know how, I don’t deserve it) and carving out new […]

Our journey together is so short…

This beautiful message came from a number of blog posts online. It’s for all of us. A young lady sat in a bus. At the next stop a loud and grumpy old lady came and sat by her. She squeezed into the seat and bumped her with her numerous bags. The person sitting on the […]

See yourself in this story?

I’m sharing this wonderful story yet again about the great violinist, Itzhak Perlman! On November 18, 1995, in Lincoln Center in New York City, Perlman was ready to play when suddenly one of his violin strings broke with a snap as sharp as a gunshot. He could not hop up and run off the stage […]

Kids’ letters to God…

A number of years ago I posted a collection of fun questions asked by youngsters. In a light-hearted mood, I want to expand on them and see if you find these new ones as delightful as I do! Let me know which one… resonates with you, or tickles your funny bone, or makes you think! […]

Christmas Eve and books!

In this Christmas season of 2020, books might well be a solution for us. I know books make me happier! I think Iceland is on to something with their Christmas Book Flood idea. A 2013 study showed that 50% of Icelandics read more than 8 books in a year and 93% read at least one […]

A gift for ourselves?

December is always a somewhat crazy month, and this year is even more so! A month of highs and lows, of stress and relaxation, of endings and beginnings. And as we face the end of the holiday season, and as the year is ending, we may face a bit of melancholy sparked with a dab […]

All that really matters…

The rabbi Hillel was once asked to explain the Torah. “Love they neighbor as thyself,” he said, “all the rest is commentary.” Nothing could be more urgent right now during our pandemic and global economic crisis. It’s a time when individual decisions have massive health consequences for other people. Why should we wear a mask […]