Shivraj0’s Blog

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment… you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.

We cannot find peace of mind from some outer source. What we see and hear and feel may help at times, but these things are temporary. The lasting help comes from an inner source. This source is the Life of life.

When we have problems, whatever we turn to, whether it be philosophy or psychology or something else, sooner or later we learn we must draw on our inner resources to solve life’s dilemmas. It is the self and the self alone that must handle living.

Some fear that if they allow themselves to go deeper, they will lose their freedom. But some of the most threatening and feared circumstances bring the truest answers. Prosperity, good health, companionship all lie before us, and we must develop our faith to step out and claim them.

From the book, A Cherokee Feast of Days, written by Joyce Sequiche Hifler.

The Sadness Behind the Laughter

by Richard Rabkin

A man goes to see his psychiatrist because he’s horribly depressed. He’s tried everything – therapy, medication, but nothing works. “You know what,” his psychiatrist says, “go to the circus. There’s a clown there that makes everyone laugh. He’ll make you feel better.”

A few weeks pass, and the man is still depressed.

“Didn’t you go watch the clown?” the psychiatrist asks.

“Sorry Doc,” says the man.

“You really should. That clown is some sort of miracle worker.”

“Doc,” replies the man. “That clown is me.”

Many comedians live a certain dichotomy. On the outside, they are funny, gregarious and happy – consummate performers. But on the inside some of them live with a certain sadness. It weighs on them constantly, departing only temporarily, when they are onstage making audiences laugh. Shecky Green is that comedian.

Green’s journey to stand up comedy was an unlikely one. Upon being discharged from the Navy in 1944 after completing a 3 year tour of duty, Shecky enrolled in Wright Junior College in Chicago and planned to become a gym teacher. That summer, he took a job at a resort near Milwaukee called Oakton Manor, where he met and started performing with Sammy Shore (years later Shore went on to open the highly successful Comedy Store in Los Angeles).

Bitten by the comedy bug, Shecky started performing stand up at a club in New Orleans. A two-week contract turned into three years, which turned into an invitation to play the famed Chez Paree in Chicago. Soon after, the Nevada hotels and casinos came knocking, looking for acts to fill their rapidly expanding entertainment destination. Skecky moved out west and never looked back.

He’s won numerous awards for his act, and was a staple of the Las Vegas strip for years. He was even credited by some for “saving” the Tropicana hotel from bankruptcy when he agreed to perform nightly while they had no other entertainment. It’s been quite a ride for Shecky Green, although as he freely admitted in his interview with Jewlarious, it hasn’t been all laughs.

“I suffer from severe depression,” Shecky relates. “I always have. I come from a family of all depressed people. When we used to get together for a Shabbos dinner, we didn’t talk. We just sat and stared at the floor. We had the best shined shoes in the world because that’s all we looked at.”

Shecky, who had an ear for dialects and loved to perform, started inventing characters to portray, perhaps as a way to avoid being himself. “I lived in characters. I didn’t even know who I was. And the funny thing was, I wasn’t alone. The only time when Sid Caesar and I could really talk to each other was when we were doing Russian accents.”

It’s strange to think that someone who makes his living making other people laugh is so sad himself, but in Shecky’s case, it’s true. “People never knew that I was depressed, and living in total fear, but I was.”

It was only recently that Shecky began to deal with the sadness that he has dealt with throughout the years. “I am working with a doctor right now from Columbia. I thought I only had depression, but she tells me I’m bipolar, norpolar, southpolar and westpolar.” Shecky adds, “Working with this doctor, along with taking the medication she has prescribed for me has brought me out of the darkness a little bit.”

Before he started seeing a doctor, Shecky ascribed to the theory that laughter was the best medicine. “My audience is my psychiatrist. For example, I talk about my divorce in my act. I’m thinking about going back to my first wife – because she’s is a wealthy woman.”

Shecky’s act also includes a distinctly Jewish flavor. “I find it very distasteful that Jewish comedians don’t talk about being Jewish anymore. I can go into the Deep South and talk about being Jewish. That’s more important to me than anything else because being Jewish is where my humor comes from.”

Shecky also has some choice words for the people behind the recent rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric in Britain. “The English have always been anti-Semitic, they’ve just been hiding it for a while. They could have saved a lot of Jews during World War II, but they turned them away…the English should just worry about getting better food in their restaurants and stop worrying about Israel and the Jews.”

Although he can get serious when talking about the state of the Jewish people, at the end of the day, what Shecky Green enjoys most is making people laugh. Like the circus clown who can cheer up almost anyone, Shecky’s unique brand of humor has been delighting audiences for over 50 years. And finally, Shecky Green is starting to get into the act himself. “I am 81 years old, and I am the happiest that I have ever been.”

Husband: ‘When I get mad at you, you never fight back. How do you control your anger?’

Wife: ‘I clean the toilet ..’

Husband: ‘How does that help?’

Wife: ‘I use your toothbrush.’

FRIEND : F(ew) , R(elations), I(n) , E(arth) , N(ever) , D(ie) that relation is a FRIEND.

CONFIDENCE: Once all village people decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy came with an umbrella that’s confidence………..

TRUST: Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby when you throw him in the air , he laughs…… because he knows you will catch him……..

HOPE: A human being can live for 40 days without water 8 minutes without air but not even 1 second without hope….

SO ALWAYS HAVE CONFIDENCE, TRUST OTHERS AND NEVER LOOSE HOPE……Especially with your Friend. ****************************************************************************************

The Most selfish 1 letter … “I” … Avoid It.

Most Satisfactory 2 letters … “WE” … Use It.

Most Poisonous 3 letters … “EGO” …Kill It.

Most used 4 letters … “LOVE” … Value It.

Most Pleasing 5 letters … “SMILE” … Keep It.

Fastest Spreading 6 letters … “RUMOUR” … Ignore It.

Hard Working 7 letters … “SUCCESS” … Achieve It.

Most Enviable 8 letters … “JEALOUSY” … Distance It.

Most Essential 9 letters … “PRINCIPLE” … Have It.

Most Divine 10 Letters … “FRIENDSHIP” … Maintain It

***********************************************************************

Genesis

An ancient legend has it that when God was creating the world He was approached by four angels.

The first one asked, “How are you doing it?”

The second, “Why are you doing it?”

The third, “Can I be of help?”

The fourth, “What is it worth?”

The first was a scientist;

the second, a philosopher;

the third, an altruist;

and the fourth, a real estate agent.

A fifth angel watched in wonder and applauded in sheer delight.

This one was the mystic.

I Thought You Could Help

A farmer came to see the Buddha. He went on telling the Buddha his problems with the farming, with his wife and with his kids, laying out all his difficulties and worries.

The Buddha patiently listened to the man. Finally he wound down and waited for the Buddha to say the words that would put everything right for him. Instead, the Buddha said, “I can’t help you.”

“What do you mean?” said the astonished man.

“Everybody’s got problems,” said the Buddha. “In fact we’ve all got eighty-three problems and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you work really hard on one of them, maybe you can fix it — but if you do, another one will pop right into its place. For example, you’re going to lose your loved ones eventually. And you are going to die some day. Now there’s a problem, and there’s nothing you, or I, or anyone else can do about it.”

The man became furious. “I thought you were a great teacher!” he shouted. “I thought you could help me! What good is your teaching then?”

The Buddha said, “Well, maybe it will help you with the eighty-fourth problem.”

The man was puzzled, “What’s the eighty-fourth problem?”

Said the Buddha, “You want to not have any problems.”

We think that we have to deal with our problems in a way that exterminates them, that distorts or denies their reality. But in doing so, we try to make reality into something other than what it is. We try to rearrange and manipulate the world so that dogs will never bite, accidents will never happen, and the people we care about will never die. Even on the surface, the futility of such efforts should be obvious.

Nature to Save

One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water. As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature.

As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again on the roots to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became swollen and bloody and his face contorted with pain.

At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: “Hey, stupid old man, what’s wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don’t you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?”

The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger’s eyes he said calmly, “My friend, just because it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save.”

Heaven and Hell

Once a Samurai came before Zen Master Hakuin, a very famous Rinzai Zen Master who lived in the eighteen century in Japan.

“You are supposed to be a great Zen Master,” he said. “So I want you to tell me the truth about heaven and hell. Do they really exist?”

Without a moment’s hesitation Hakuin responded, “What, even such an ugly and untalented man as you can become a samurai? Amazing!”

Immediately the proud samurai became angry and drew his sword. “I will kill you!” he roared.

Fearlessly, Hakuin said, “This is hell.”

The samurai paused and grew thoughtful. His face softened from its angry scowl. Sheathing his sword he put his hands together palm to palm and bowed to Hakuin.

“And this,” said Hakuin, just as calmly, “is heaven.”

24 Things

(23 Things to Always Remember And One Thing Never to Forget)

Your presence is a present to the world.

You’re unique and one of a kind.

Your life can be what you want it to be.

Take the days just one at a time.

Count your blessings, not your troubles.

You’ll make it through whatever comes along.

Within you are so many answers.

Understand, have courage, be strong.

Don’t put limits on yourself.

So many dreams are waiting to be realized.

Decisions are too important to leave to chance.

Reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.

Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.

The longer one carries a problem, the heavier it gets.

Don’t take things too seriously.

Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.

Remember that a lot . . . goes forever.

Remember that friendship is a wise investment.

Life’s treasures are people… together.

Realize that it’s never too late.

Do ordinary things in extraordinary ways.

Have health and hope and happiness.

Take the time to wish upon a star.

And don’t ever forget… for even a day… how very special you are.