Growth

Everyday I question so many things and I find it makes life very difficult at times.  It's hard for me to have a moment of peace or tranquility when there is so much I want to accomplish and so many thoughts running through my mind.  I told my wife recently that the reason it looked as if I was struggling to relax on a recent cottage trip, was because for some strange reason I felt that I haven't earned it yet.  What I mean by that is I've had many struggles, and many hard times, but there have also been many amazing times and some very relaxing times, therefore at this moment I want to get things done before I re-enter the relaxing faze.  I am so driven right now it is unreal, and a couple of the side effects are impatience and doubt.  I finally understand what one of my friends told me now.  He said the reason I will be successful is because I won't quit, no matter what.  It's true, even though I am impatient, and sometimes allow the doubt of others and even myself to creep in from time to time, I have learned how to ignore those negative thoughts, and quickly remind myself of the journey I'm on, and to only remain focused on that.  It's quite a remarkable feeling, and as one of my close friends recently commented to me, it's like I have matured 5-10 years in a span of 8-12 months.  I am happier, and the fact that I wake everyday and feel like I have something positive and fulfilling to work on is one of the best feelings ever.  I almost feel like a child in many ways.  My eyes are wide open, my tail is bushy, and I'm ready to learn and explore.  Who knew at 35 years old I could feel like this again.  I guess maybe an old dog can learn new tricks.  Not that I am old, but I have definitely lived, and I have definitely been in more than my fair share of negative routines that I thought I would never escape.  Keep that light at the end of your tunnel, please understand that there is always a time for change and growth, and we must continue to reach for these things.  It's the secret of life, keep evolving, keep moving forward!

My first Interview in Print

This morning my interview with the Canadian Jewish News was unveiled in the latest edition.  I was extremely anxious and a little nervous to see how it looked, but I mostly felt excitement as I felt confident it would be great.  I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome, the writer Riva Gold, did an incredible job, and I'd like to extend my gratitude to her.  I also wanted to take a moment and thank all the people who have called, texted, and emailed me with their warm comments, and most importantly their support.  As I continue on this journey it has been nothing short of amazing the way things have unfolded for me personally and professionally.  I definitely have to give a shout out to my awesome team, Lowell, Leticia, Amed, and everyone at Pollination Media, thank you for all your efforts, especially you Lowell.  I can say this, as soon as I decided to erase and ignore as much negativity from my life as possible and only focus on the positive, there has almost been a magical element to my progress.  I truly hope I continue to enjoy more positive outcomes with this first venture as I believe it will be the start of big things.  I feel stronger more than ever these days and I truly owe it to the therapeutic aspect of writing this book, and the journey that has begun.  If there is one thing I could pass on to anyone, it's that you must be able to clearly know what it is you want, and how you would like to get there, believe it or not, for many people this is one of the most difficult steps.  Once you can establish what it is you want, and how you'd like to get there, you must focus all the positive energy you can muster into achieving those goals you have set out for yourself.  If you can do that, and ignore the negative people and situations that you will undoubtedly face, I believe you will be well on your way.

Magical Connections

I wanted to switch gears for a moment and comment on an amazing connection I had this weekend with a couple I had never met before. I knew I was in for a great weekend regardless because I had reconnected with my best friend from the time I was 4 until he moved away around the time I was 15, and our parents lost touch. The world works in mysterious ways sometimes, and if you pay close enough attention and start to trust your intuition, you may just find that the Universe sends you signs all the time, usually we miss them. Around the time my mother died was just when my buddy re-appeared, almost from nowhere. It was as if he was sent/drawn back to me, in order to help me during the tough time, and eventually he became one of my biggest supporters and inspirations for writing the book. He even helped save me from losing my family, and for that I am eternally grateful, and I hope I can repay the favour some day. Back to our weekend retreat to his family cottage deep in the wilderness sitting on a beautiful lake. The type of place where you are completely isolated, and taken away from all your worries. No cable, no Internet, just peace. We were having an incredible time bonding and getting to know the parts of each others lives that we had missed. That evening a friend and his wife joined us for a few drinks, and I was instantly drawn to both of these individuals. I can hardly describe the feeling other than it seemed like I had known them forever. As we started to talk, the connections were incredible, and when I explained to them my visions as a child, and the premonition of my mother dying, and the moment she came to me and was inspirational in my writing the book. They responded to me with stories of having connected with a best friend who had passed away, and it sent chills up my spine.  Before the woman could tell me the details of her friends demise, I stopped her because I instantly saw in my head exactly what had happened.  I asked her if she minded if I shared something with her and she immediately obliged.  I told her that her friend would never want her to remember her that way, she would only want her to remember her from all the good times they had.  I also explained that the reason her dead friend had come to see her once in a dream, was to tell her that she was okay, and she wanted her to move on.  The last thing I told her was that her friend was now her young daughters spirit guide, who at the age of 1 and a 1/2 pointed to a picture of this friend, and told her mom that the girl in the photo was "broken", and she identified her by name!  My new friends explained that they had never shown a picture or spoken to their daughter about this friend.  As the evening drew to a close I reminded them to stay focused on their goals, and to write out a list of everything they wanted to achieve together, and to stick it on their bathroom mirror so they could see it everyday.  I believe if any of us follow this routine, you may be surprised at the outcome if you focus on making that list a reality.  When all was said and done, I am convinced that this whole weekend that just passed was one of those moments the Universe throws at you.  I very easily could have passed on the trip to the cottage, and who knows how close I really came to not going, but I know that I am glad I did!  The experiences I had were unbelievable, and they will continue to push me in the direction I am heading.  I urge all of you to take the time and try to remember any moments such as the one's I have described, and maybe we will start to see that it's not so magical after all, and certain things are just meant to be!

Teen Blogger shares 2nd blog

I remember being a kid, the one thing I will never forget about my "childhood", is having to take on the role of an adult.

I was always late for school because I had to walk my sister to her school, and I was consistently missing days when she was sick. My daily routine consisted of making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleaning everything, walking the dogs, bathing my sister and putting her to bed. Honestly my 5 year old sister was probably the only thing keeping me sane after our mother left. 

At that point in time, my dad was a lost cause. He would lock himself in his room every night, he’d be too fucked up to move, let alone, be a father. I don’t even want to begin to think what would have happened to her if I wasn't around... Thank God for being able to be stable and assiduous... given the circumstances.

Two years had passed since my mom had left. At last my dad was starting to go out to meet new people. One night, he had met someone... and that was all it took. From that point on, my life had spiraled for the worst.

I had so much hate towards this girl for even thinking she could just walk in and take my place. I couldn’t believe that after everything I did to keep the family together, my dad was able to push me away. After mentally, physically and emotionally abusing me, all I gave him was forgiveness, and this is how he repaid me?  I'm your daughter! I saved your other daughters life from years of depression, and questions that not one of us could have answered. How could that not mean anything to you?

I understand I may have been atrabilious sometimes... but is that any reason to hurt me? I had always said I would never be like my mother...I would never touch drugs or party. Ha.

 But that didn’t last too long, after my dad’s new girlfriend moved into our house. Since I wasn't use to not being able to care for my sister, and not having her around all the time, it messed with my head; not to mention how very hard it was to get used to.  She had always been there for me.

 I was so tired of being trapped with these thoughts about my mom, and the hate I had built up inside of me. So I finally said screw it, and did what any young girl craving for attention would do. I put on those revealing clothes, and sure enough, I got the attention I craved. Before I knew it, I was so caught up in the drugs and partying all night and sleeping all day that I didn't know who I was anymore. At the time though I don’t think I really cared. I couldn't feel pain. It was great.

 

 

 

 

At the age of 16, I had already been to strip clubs, bars, after hour bars, clubs, hotel parties; you name it, I’ve probably done it. I loved my life again. But not too long after, the drugs had started taking their toll on me. I started getting depressed, started looking down on myself, and lost all the self-respect I had for myself. I needed help, but had no one to help me. I had no real friends.  I never realized that until I needed help and no one was to be found.  I felt helpless.

Luckily I had met someone who actually cared about me. I would just like to add that when you've been doing drugs for a while, it’s not that easy to just stop. Trust me when I say... it’s easier said than done.

Regardless of the situation, he stuck by my side. He helped me threw everything and help me accept my so called “childhood”.  After meeting this guy I started to realize that. I don’t need the drugs and the liquor to have fun and live my life, and I especially don’t need to wear revealing clothes to get noticed. It was the wrong kind of attention. I had also realized that I shouldn’t care what people think of me because I AM pretty on the inside and out and I do have an amazing personality.  All it takes is to believe in yourself, no matter your appearance or your flaws. No one can love you if you can’t love yourself."

 

Vancouver Riots, Part 2

I wanted to say how excited and overjoyed I was when I received a lot of response, personally, about my first blog about the Vancouver Riots, and even more so when I witnessed the incredible rising of the true Vancouver citizens who took their city back within 12 hours of the pathetic display of a few misguided, and probably drunk rebel morons, combined with the "herd mentality"!!  How great it is to see that the people stood up and said, "This is not okay, this is not the way we live or represent ourselves, so we will do the only thing we can, fix it!"  I was reminded of my time spent in Israel, and one of the aspects of the Jewish people in Israel that we hardly hear about, via our North American media outlets, which is that immediately after a suicide bombing, the residents do everything they can, and as quick as they can to resume life the way it was previously.  For example, if a cafe in Jerusalem was the scene of a suicide bombing, they would clean up the streets, and do everything in their power to be sitting and drinking coffee in that same establishment by the end of the day if possible!  When I inquired about this it was explained to me rather simply; "We must do everything in our power to show these animals and terrorists that no matter what they do to kill our people, they will never kill our pride and we must make them see that life goes on, and as quickly as possible."  "To make it seem as if nothing had ever happened."  Sounds to me like ignoring the kid who picks on you and eventually he will find someone else to bother!?  Please continue to speak out and please continue to strive to make your world a better place to live.  Then and only then will you truly feel euphoric.

Vancouver Riots

I wanted to comment on the events that transpired yesterday evening after Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup to Boston.  Apparently some very disturbed individuals decided that rioting and destruction were the best ways to garner attention.  Before we all throw the proverbial book at these troubled people, mostly youth & teenagers from what the news is reporting, I'd like to take a second and ask any of you if we could have seen this coming?  Vancouver in recent years has become a breeding ground and a hotbed for crime, drugs, youth homelessness, gangs, and so on, and what are we doing about it?

 Is it so hard to imagine for even a split second that the 17 year old you look at today with a tattoo, a nose ring, a green Mohawk, and leather pants, and all you see is a criminal or very disturbed individual, well why can't you imagine what that child appeared like a mere 4 years prior when he was 13?  I bet if you saw that image you would have a very different opinion.   If you actually browsed some of the pictures of the violators you would have noticed that they looked more like the kid next door than the description I just provided.   We are all so willing to just sweep things under the rug, and pretend nothing is happening until it hits close to home.  Maybe these kids, because that's all they are, are really misguided.  Maybe instead of asking them what's wrong with them in an accusatory tone, we try to ask them if they need help!?  I mean if something was wrong, you'd want help, wouldn't you?  Instead of approaching these people with such hatred and animosity, and I'm sure as kids none of you perfect adults ever succumbed to peer pressure and did something you shouldn't have, maybe we could approach them with a little love, compassion, and understanding.

 You wouldn't call a dog a hoodlum if you cornered it in a room, and were sticking a finger close to its face while telling it how useless, dumb and worthless it is in a loud aggressive tone, and the only way it knew to respond was with snarling, barking, and possibly a bite, would you blame the animal?  If that same 17 year old who lit a car on fire last night because he is alone, hurting, confused, and very lost, was sexually abused at 13 and lived with an abusive step father until he ran away to live on the streets at 16 for his own safety, would you still have such anger towards him, or would you feel compassion and want to help?  Enough is enough, let's take responsibility for our own actions, we are all part of society until we move away to the mountain tops and ignore everything, so until that happens, if you have a neighbour or a relative or an acquaintance that is hurting, or in need of attention, it is OUR DUTY, to do everything we can to help! 

One leads to 100 which leads to 1000, and so on.  If we continue to ignore these major issues, we will find ourselves living in Anarchy.  These are the people who are eventually supposed to take over our society and help take it to the next generation?  I'd say we are in big trouble if we ignore that 17 year old and all his issues, and we will see how he turns out all by himself, living on the streets or close to it, with no assistance other than from other kids in his situation, when he reaches the age of 25-30 do we actually believe that he will be okay, and a positive member of society, or maybe by then it's too late!?
I implore everyone to search your soul, and ask yourself if you could do more, then ask yourself if you would condemn a 17 year old who riots, or would you want to give them a hug and ask how you can help?? 

An Important Reminder!!!

Someone sent me this amazing story and so I am sharing it with all of you, please pay close attention to the message, it will literally take less than 5 minutes, but it's impact will be everlasting!

THIS IS NO GUFF, check out http://www.socwork.net/2006/1/historicalportraits/wieler  or google her name.
Subject: FW: WW II - Let us never forget
 
                              Look at this lady - Let us never forget! 
 
The world hasn't just become wicked...it' s always been wicked. The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving. 



Irena Sendler 

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. 

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. 

She had an 'ulterior motive'. 

She KNEW (being German).
What the Nazi's plans were for the Jews


Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carriedand she also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck ,(for larger kids).


She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. 

The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. 

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save a combination of 2,500 kids/infants.
 

 
 

She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. 

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.
 
 


 
 
After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. 

Most had been gassed. For those kids,she helped get placed into foster family homes or adopted. 

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

She was not selected.
  
President Obama won one year before becoming President for his work as a community organizer for ACORN
And
Al Gore won also --- for a slide show on Global Warming. 

< font color="black" size="5">

In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER 

Please read the little cartoon carefully, it's powerful. 

Then read the comments at the end.  

I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. 

I hope you'll consider doing the same..

 
 

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. 

This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated! 

Now, more than ever, with Iran , and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'. 

It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again. 

This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide! 

Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.. 

Please send this e-mail to people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain.

Please don't just delete it. 

It will only take you a minute to pass this along.. 


Thanks!