It’s November!!
In the States the slew of
holidays are just starting.
It’s Cheshvan!!
In Israel (and the
Jewish world) the holidays are finally over! It’s been a long month of Chagim/holidays.
This month is our only month with no holidays. It’s a time to reflect on what we learned about ourselves last month, as we descend in to the darkest days of
the next few months. Winter!
Daylight savings helps a bit, but lack of
light brings its own joys and hardship. That’s a blog for another day.
Thanks to Facebook, I'm reminded that I’ve had
a practice for over 7 years of a day of Gr8fulness during the month of
November.
Which lead me to think about my
practice of journaling what I’m thankful for each day. Which lead me to simultaneously
think of two more thoughts:
How are blessings
connected to this practice?
As well as the idea of
seeing/finding beauty each day.
A handful of years ago, a therapist taught me
this trick for getting out of my own head (especially when you are having a
hard time).
Start looking for things that are beautiful, bring
you joy, make you happy.
He asked me, what did you see on the way here
that was beautiful? My first reaction was I didn’t see anything that was
beautiful driving here. I drive this road up and down every single day.
But
given a new task, to find something beautiful, as I drove home I really looked
around to see what I could find... and lo and behold, I noticed how beautiful
the sunlight was bouncing off the snow on the golf course.
It made me smile.
Finding the first thing, made it easier to keep finding other things. Try it!
It really works!
In one of my classes, Striving for the Divine we have been studying the word blessing/ bracha. How would you define
blessing?* I know it might seem like I’m getting all religious... but you
don’t have to go there. Here’s what my class came up with as a way to start to
think about the word blessing. MORE!
Activation, to greet, increase, recognition of process, ability, to bless,
purpose and more. We also discussed ways we use the word blessing and how we
bless.
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| Notes from my sourcebook |
This is the first time we are meeting Abraham.
G!d is taking to Abraham saying…
וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔
וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃
וַאֲבָֽרֲכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖
אָאֹ֑ר וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה׃
I
will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you;
I
will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing.
I
will bless those who bless you
And
curse him that curses you;
And
all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.”
So holding all three of these ideas: a
gratitude journal, looking for beauty each day, and blessings, I’m proposing to
myself, and to you, it’s never too late for us to start.
You can keep it on your phone, on real paper,
or even just in your head. It’s great to have a group, accountability buddies.
I can make one on what’sapp, let me know if you want to be added. Or you can
even text me or email me, I’ll share mine with you too.*
Here’s the assignment:
What are you grateful for each day?
Where do you find blessing?
Or in what or where do you find beauty? Joy?
Happiness?
Push yourself to answer the next question too,
why?*
Blessing each of you with Shalom/Peace and
incredible heath.
You are each a blessing in my life.
You show up, and help me
grow.
Forever gr8ful!
Thank you!
With ahava love/אהבתי,
Tamy
PS
From now on this will be sent from a NEW EMAIL
ADDRESS:
My goal is to send out a blog twice a month, I
know we are all swimming in emails, if you want me to take you off my list, no
hurt feeling, just let me know.
* I'd love to hear what you are thinking, drop me a note or text.
xxoo,
T
what did I write last year?
לך־לך Go Forth 5779
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| Newest photo from our field trip following the Sanhedrin Trail |
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