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2 episodes with so who
2 episodes with so who
2 episodes with so who
2 episodes with so who
2 episodes with so who
“To this very day, God continues to work in matters of redemption. He is actively working in this world to draw men and women to Himself through the efficacious work of Jesus on the cross.” - Pastor Jeff Craston Hello Kitchen Table Theology Family! In this episode, Pastor Jeff and Jen Denton continue in our series of The Doctrine of Hamartiology. So far in this series, we've covered The Lostness of Man, the Inevitable Results of Lostness, the Future Destiny of the Lost, If There is a Second Chance After Death, and today we discuss The Consequences of Sin. [00:01] The Out Workings of Sin Jen enlightens Pastor Jeff on the 5 deadly terms used by a womanThe consequences of sin reach far beyond the individuals who commit it [07:27] So Who is Affected by Sin? Sin's effect on SatanTaking a closer look at the first sinner, Satan, using Dr. HL Willmington's outline of the consequences of sin Sin's effect on creation and nature (Rom 8:19-23) Sin's effect on Angels When Satan sinned, a third of the angels went with him when he was cast out of Heaven (Rev. 12:4, 9)God uses angels to enter into His work of the redemption of mankind (Gal 3:19, 1 Peter 1:12)[20:18] Our Sin Affected God While sin does not affect the character of God, mankind's sin meant that He couldn't rest as He had done when creation was completed (Gen 2:2) After sin came into play, God began His second work; our redemption(John 15:7, John 9:4, Phil 1:6) To this very day, God continues to work in matters of redemption through the efficacious work of Christ on the cross [25:18] Final Thoughts Pastor Jeff reads ‘Jesus, Lover of My Soul' by Charles WesleyConnect with us! Key Quotes“As sin affects us, the Bible teaches us that sin dulls our ears. darkens our eyes, diverts our feet, defiles our tongues, deceives our hearts, devours our intellect, and it dooms our soul which just reminds us that Christ is our only hope.” - Pastor Jeff Craston “Most humans are selfish, we tend to only think about ourselves. We don't think about how far-reaching our sin is. We feel the effects, we think about how it affects us, but we don't think about how it has a ripple effect.” - Jen Denton Resources MentionedWillmington's Guide to the Bible by Dr. HL Willmington Join the ConversationWe love your feedback! If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review. If you have any questions or comments on today's episode, email me at pastorjeff@lowcountrycc.orgVisit my website https://www.jeffcranston.com and subscribe to my newsletter. Join me on Sunday mornings at LowCountry Community Church. Check-in with us on Facebook or Instagram @pastorjeffcranstonRemember, the real power of theology is not only knowing it but applying it. Thanks for listening!
As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet.’” Mark 12:35–36At the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Jews understood that the Messiah would come from the line of David. Furthermore, many thought that the Messiah would simply be a nationalistic leader who would lead the Jewish nation out of the oppression of the Romans. Thus, they reduced the Messiah to a descendent of David who would set them free in a more political way.In the passage above, Jesus gives clarity to this common understanding of the Messiah as the “son of David.” The Messiah would not only descend in human form from David’s ancestral line, He was also David’s “Lord.” Jesus shows this by pointing to Psalm 110 in which David refers to the Messiah as his Lord. And though this subtle distinction may not at first seem to be that important to us today, Jesus clearly makes an intentional effort to teach this.One key lesson we should take from this passage is that we must work diligently to have a correct image of Jesus. Though today we may not see our Lord as a nationalistic leader who came to set us free from political oppression, we can often form other erroneous images of Him. For the Jews at that time, the idea that the Messiah was also the “Lord” of King David was new. This points to the divinity of the Messiah and His eternal nature. Jesus gives this subtle clarification and “The great crowd heard this with delight.” We also must work to delight in a clear and correct understanding of Who Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God and Son of Man truly is. So Who is He?To answer this question, first consider how you see Jesus in your life. Jesus is your friend, a wise teacher, an inspiring personality, a kind soul, a merciful leader and a model for us all. But He is also so much more. To pick only one image of Who Jesus is and to then give that one image excessive focus in our lives is an error similar to the error that many of the Jews had at the time Jesus taught them.The “so much more” is the part we must focus on as we consider the identity of our Lord. We must see Him as God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. As God, He is to be worshipped and adored. And though He was God from all eternity, He also took on human flesh, uniting humanity with divinity. And as a human, He permitted Himself to die so that He could rise in His human nature. This way, if we unite ourselves to Him through a total surrender of our lives, then we will also die in our sin but then rise with Him to new life. In so doing, we are given the gift of eternal salvation and are enabled to share in the eternal life of the Most Holy Trinity. Though much more could and should be said about the identity of our Lord, this slight glimpse into His life should help us to avoid the trap of limiting Who He is in our minds and hearts.Reflect, today, upon the image you have of Jesus. Look for ways that you may unintentionally limit His greatness and glory in your mind and heart. Try to expand that image of our Lord that you have and be open to all that He desires to reveal to You about Himself. The more you do so, the more you, too, will be filled with “delight” as the Person of our Lord is more clearly revealed to you.My infinite and glorious Lord, You are so far beyond our understanding and comprehension, yet You invite us to come to You so that we may know You more fully. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to shed the erroneous and limited images of You that I have, so as to come to know You as You are. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
Hello there! Thank you for clicking here to find out more about me, Marie Denee! I am a plus size fashion and style expert. I love sharing my knowledge and experience with others to help them along their path… Experienced in retail for over ten years, working in various retail stores as a stylist, fashion expert, or manager, I lassoed my life experiences both studied and learned to bring my dream into fruition- The Curvy Fashionista®. However if you want to know more about me and the girl behind it all, keep on reading… I promise it is good and you may lean how I can help YOU! Enough about the technical- So Who am I? I am a Virgo The nerd in elementary school with those ridonk-ulous glasses that covered half my face A huge Beyonce fan (don’t hate) The hopeless romantic- I love Ever After and Love Jones A military brat. I have lived in Hawaii, Japan, England, Virginia, California (lived in both the Bay Area now back in SoCal), and now in Atlanta A great dancer- from two stepping to dropping it like it hot (I LOVE TO DANCE!) A nerd. I love words. Words with friends anyone? A big sister and PROUD AUNTIE!!! A giver I am boho Chic with a masculine edgy side to me… No glass ceiling believer I believe the cup is always half full- although I have to look at it closely every now and then I was varsity cheer captain in high school I speak Japanese I LOVE Mary J. Blige Fashion gives me joy I am the oldest grandchild My nickname in high school was “Mama” I was a girl scout for 8 years I owned a pair of coke bottle nerd glasses I absolutely adore Donna Karan Jill Scott speaks to me I am an avid reader, from James Patterson to Eric Jerome Dickey- this is my escape The Business stuff? Oh! Well… I am a plus size fashion, style expert, and blogger. Experienced in retail for over 13 years, working in various retail stores as a stylist, fashion expert, and as management, I have culminated my life experiences both studied and learned to bring my dream into fruition in 2008- The Curvy Fashionista® . From there, I have created Marie Denee LLC, culminating all of my services, expertise, and passions into one site for those looking for someone who is keenly aware of and in touch with the plus size community and the fabulous world of plus size fashion. I have contributed as The Curvy Fashionista® on plus size fashion trends and tips for Vogue Curvy, Signature 9,Fashion and Style Editor at PLUS Model Magazine, Examiner.Com for Plus size fashion, Seventeen Magazine, Focus on Style, and The Fashionable Housewife among others. I have been featured in Black Enterprise, USA Today, In Style, People Style Watch, Cision, SF Chronicle, SF Bay Style, NBC Bay Area, MyLifetime.com, Hungry by Crystal Renn, The Style Sample, in addition to many others. Currently, I reside Atlanta, Georgia and in addition to The Curvy Fashionista®, I fashion my skills and passion as a plus size industry insider, consultant, an advocate, and public speaker on body image and confidence. If you would like to contact me for press, interviews, to hire me for speaking engagements, brand partnerships, and collaborations or consultations, please visit my projects page and feel free to email me!
The Goblins of Conquest head deeper into the ruins they located deep in the sorrowful swamp (and kind of get lost), join our Evil Goblin group with Ashley, Yvonne, Dave, Daniel and Michael as they goblin along and continue on their next chapter on the road since having set up a base of operations in the Sunless Citadel. At this point the Game store got kind of crowded for recording since it’s a big Common room, so Yvette and David offered to let us game at their house, of course this was recorded before Covid hit in 2020. “If its not on your sheet it doesn’t exist” “So Who got the robe?” (honestly who wants to wear a robe worn by a Deathlok for a few centuries???) “….a sack” “No time to be laying down on the job!” “…*Splash*…” Please support our shows and listen to our session zero at www.patreon.com/cppn and even join us in some games!Also keep were now affiliated on our Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/creativeplayandpodcast Also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CreativePlayandPodcastNetwork Would you be interested if we hosted D&D and Edge of Empire games on Roll20 for you to join? Email us at Creativeplaypodcastnet@Gmail.com #D&D #DND #GoblinsofConquest
Ever wonder who gave Dr. Wayne the nickname of “The Mango Man?” That would be Warren Greshes! Warren will share with us today about goal setting strategies. He is a serial entrepreneur, internationally acclaimed Hall of Fame speaker, top-selling author, and consultant who has traveled and performed around the world for over 30 years—in front of audiences as large as 10,000 and as small as 6 people. As a broadcaster Warren’s show, “So Who’s Stopping You,” ran on AM radio and over the internet on the World Talk Radio Network for two years. He produced a weekly podcast series, “The Monday Motivational Minute,” listened to by thousands of people throughout the world, and his past YouTube TV series, “Move Your Ass Monday!” was a title that spoke for itself. He has also produced educational products and is a former minor league baseball team owner. Warren explored different ways to be fit and finally found his sport by participating in the Master’s Swim Team. He is retired and living in Durham, NC with Linda, his wife, partner and best friend of 37 years. He spends much of his time as an active volunteer with 3 different organizations Warren can be reached through www.greshes.com.
SO Who would of Thought Christmas pudding and Turkey would be on the Menu a few months ago and that so there was a lot of talk with in the media that Christmas this year the year of the Plague as a Friend said a few months ago on a zoom call. But for me as a Christian and a person who’s country and heritage celibates Christmas how can it be cancelled when you know to do that we will need to be Doctor Who and take the Tardis Back to that Little town of Little Town Of Bethlehem and to that staple.
So "Who's Hiring these days! Join us live and TCE will share hot job leads and where the jobs are and how to get them
Joseph, Josh, and Chris ponder if a Switch Pro would benefit Nintendo and they recap the mediocre Gamescom Opening Night Live event. Hosts and Info Joseph Yaden - twitter.com/josephyaden Josh Nichols - twitter.com/Mrjoshnichols Chris Penwell - twitter.com/PenwellWrites You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, and Google Play. You can also subscribe through our RSS feed. Follow us on Twitter @ActiveQuestShow Email us @ ActiveQuestPodcast@gmail.com Rate us on iTunes so we can continue to reach people, go to E3, get more review codes to provide coverage to you all and more. Reviews are so helpful for discovery and opening doors in the industry for us! Get our official shirt! https://teespring.com/active-quest-shirt#pid=2&cid=566&sid=front We are proud to be a part of the HP Video Game Podcast Network!: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtistSeeAll?cc=us&dkId=4§ion=0&ids=1482427275 Music Theme Song made by Novila. https://soundcloud.com/novila-edm Quick Notes 12 Minutes Stars Daisy Ridley, James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe Chris Penwell thegamer.com/12-minutes-stars-daisy-ridley-james-mcavoy-and-willem-dafoe/ Gotham Knights Is Not A Games As A Service, Has Self-Contained Story Michael Leri gamerevolution.com/news/657289-gotham-knights-not-games-as-a-service Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Has Optional 60FPS Mode on PS5 Stephen Tailby https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/08/ratchet_and_clank_rift_apart_has_optional_60fps_mode_on_ps Netflix Reveals First Official Details Of Live-Action Resident Evil Series Brian Shea gameinformer.com/2020/08/27/netflix-reveals-first-official-details-of-live-action-resident-evil-series Quick Releases Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Delayed To 2021 Chris Penwell thegamer.com/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-delayed-2021/ Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Set for Launch on November 13 Will Harrison https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2020/08/26/kingdom-hearts-melody-of-memory-release-date-november/ News Everything Announced At Gamescom's Opening Night Zack Zwiezen kotaku.com/everything-announced-at-gamescoms-opening-night-1844869976 September’s free PS Plus games: PUBG, Street Fighter V Adam Michel https://blog.playstation.com/2020/08/26/septembers-free-ps-plus-games-pubg-street-fighter-v/ New Games with Gold for September 2020 https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/08/27/new-games-with-gold-for-september-2020/ Rumor: Switch Pro Could Release Next Year, May Support 4K Chris Carter destructoid.com/stories/the-rumor-that-nintendo-is-planning-a-switch-pro-popped-up-again-could-come-next-year-601587.phtml Listener Questions There's 3 of you and 3 PowerPuff Girls. So Who's the Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles of the podcast? Michael Cwick - DigitalDaysGaming podcast What We’ve Been Playing Joseph: Fortnite Warzone A Short Hike Chris: Fortnite Kandagawa Jet Girls (review code provided) - cringe My Hero’s One Justice 2 Josh: Spiritfarer (Xbox Game Pass) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
We are making our way now into John 10 to find out who these gate keepers are that are making the Narrow Gate hard to find and others successfully guiding some so they can enter into it. So Who are they? Better queston what are they offering? Saints, i want to take the time to thank you for listeing, sharing and subscribing to my youtube channel as well. it means alot to have you guys and gals walking with me in the gospel. You can help this ministry stay active by donating, sharing and listening to the podcast. Every download and minute listened means the world to me. I love you very much saints. In Jesus name God bless you. You can follow me on Youtube as well as your favorite podcast platform for free. Links down below.Facebook.com/youinhdTwitter: @therealyouinhdYouTube.com/youinhdtv
We are making our way now into John 10 to find out who these gate keepers are that are making the Narrow Gate hard to find and others successfully guiding some so they can enter into it. So Who are they? Better queston what are they offering? Saints, i want to take the time to thank you for listeing, sharing and subscribing to my youtube channel as well. it means alot to have you guys and gals walking with me in the gospel. You can help this ministry stay active by donating, sharing and listening to the podcast. Every download and minute listened means the world to me. I love you very much saints. In Jesus name God bless you. You can follow me on Youtube as well as your favorite podcast platform for free. Links down below.Facebook.com/youinhdTwitter: @therealyouinhdYouTube.com/youinhdtv
We are making our way now into John 10 to find out who these gate keepers are that are making the Narrow Gate hard to find and others successfully guiding some so they can enter into it. So Who are they? Better queston what are they offering? Saints, i want to take the time to thank you for listeing, sharing and subscribing to my youtube channel as well. it means alot to have you guys and gals walking with me in the gospel. You can help this ministry stay active by donating, sharing and listening to the podcast. Every download and minute listened means the world to me. I love you very much saints. In Jesus name God bless you. You can follow me on Youtube as well as your favorite podcast platform for free. Links down below. Facebook.com/youinhd Twitter: @therealyouinhd YouTube.com/youinhdtv
We are making our way now into John 10 to find out who these gate keepers are that are making the Narrow Gate hard to find and others successfully guiding some so they can enter into it. So Who are they? Better queston what are they offering? Saints, i want to take the time to thank you for listeing, sharing and subscribing to my youtube channel as well. it means alot to have you guys and gals walking with me in the gospel. You can help this ministry stay active by donating, sharing and listening to the podcast. Every download and minute listened means the world to me. I love you very much saints. In Jesus name God bless you. You can follow me on Youtube as well as your favorite podcast platform for free. Links down below.Facebook.com/youinhdTwitter: @therealyouinhdYouTube.com/youinhdtv
"What do you mean we only have 4 weeks of money left in the business??!!!"" Do we need data transparency in our small-to-medium business...?? You bet we do... All right. Hey, this is Grant Larsen. Thank you for joining another episode of ClickAI Radio. So all right. I was thinking about data right how important data In data is and I was talking with one of the one of the entrepreneurs that I know, he's been running his business here for several years, doing a fantastic job knocking it out of the park. But I was doing some AI work with him, right. And, and he was pointing out something I thought was really critical, which was He's like, Hey, you know, Grant, he's like, a lot of us, you know, small to medium business owners. We're just trying to keep the lights on, right? We're trying to get stuff done trying to keep things going. And the fact of the matter is, we don't always have the ability, or the opportunity to go back and really look at our data. In fact, lots of times we're making a lot of decisions by intuition. And I thought, gosh, you know, that's, I think he's spot on. And so it prompted me in this particular episode to talk about the need for data, not not to replace intuition, but to augment it. So let's talk about that. So years ago, When I did my very first startup company, gosh, this was almost hate to say it. This was in the 80s. So my, my wife and I had we had just come out of college and, and, and we were going to move to Chicago Actually, I had my first job offers with a large technology company. I don't even think they're in existence today. Actually, they're not 30 plus years later, but anyway, so I had received an offer from them. I actually accepted it. And then about a week later, I'm up on campus on at the college worth college and I'm working through and I see this entrepreneur opportunity on the board there. And I look at it and I'm just drawn to it. And I'm like, No, I actually think that's the route I want to go. So I go home to my wife. I'm like, honey, I got, I got, I got this great idea. How about we leave the you know, hey, here's all this security Sort of job opportunity, let's go after a startup company. So it took a lot of convincing of eventually, we did it. So I went, I turned down the sort of for sure deal with the big company with a startup company in Chicago. So at the time, we had our first child. So this is a big decision, right to go at the higher risk, sort of opportunity. So what I did was, you know, rented this truck got my wife and my little baby in the in the truck, we drove across the country. We ended up in Chicago, I remember pulling in thinking, Man, where in the heck am I gonna live? I mean, it, it pivoted so quickly. It's just shocking to me how fast you know, our trajectory changed. So we pull in, we figure out a place to live. And I start with a startup company. And of course, a few weeks go by pretty soon as a few months now. It's about six months that we're into it. And I was focusing mostly on the technology so I really wasn't thinking much about others. things right in terms of running the business certainly wasn't thinking about the finances. One day though, I happen to take a look at the finances. And so I, I opened it up, and it there's this number, and I do the quick math and realize we've only got four weeks to live. And so I approached the owner, and my partner and I said, Is this true? And he's like, Yeah, it's true. We are actually about out of money. I'm like, Wow, man, you know, if I'd have known that four months ago, I would have made some different decisions. Right. So looking back at it, I realized, wow, I would have operated differently, if I would have known that right if I had access to that or been aware of it. So for me, this was just one of those first realizations in business, right? Just coming out of college where I realized Not only do I need the data I need, I need the transparency of the data. I need to be able to see it and you know, In small to medium businesses, you know, we're all taking on different roles, and we're busy and so forth. But running on intuition alone isn't sufficient. So augmenting it with data makes a lot of sense. Now, of course, it depends on your role, right? So the CFO or the CEO, obviously, they tend to look at that more, quite frankly, though, in today's world, technology and business is blended so much doesn't make sense, especially in small medium businesses to keep those separate. So as a result, we ended up having to make some pretty drastic decisions. We I was only there another week, because I realized we don't have enough runway to actually turn this thing around at this point. And I really like the guy I was working with and wanted to give him a chance to survive even longer without me being involved. I think he stayed on for another year with it eventually ended up shutting shutting it down. So here's the point. We got to have this blend of not just data on its own, and not just intuitive Now lots of times as you know, startup companies or small to medium businesses, it's intuition that gets us to the point where we get an operating model where cash is flowing and people are, are making money in the business is growing. But there's a point where that becomes risky, where we actually can't just run the business just on intuition, we actually need the insights that data can provide. Now, lots of times that data will come from things that you're already doing, right? Like, it might be your CRM system, or you know how you're capturing the transactions or the sales. It's not that you have to go do a whole bunch of extra things. But one thing is important, the need to start being intentional not only about tracking the fact that transactions are taking place, but then stopping to extrapolate from that, do some analysis on it and figure out do we need to adjust course, what are the patterns that are working that are while are those things that are bad? So Who needs data? You know, it's interesting. Sometimes marketers don't always need data, right? So when you think about if you got a small to medium business, you got the CFO or a CEO, you've got maybe technology people, you've got marketers and people who are doing sales. Lots of times, the marketers are thinking about, hey, how do I improve conversion rates, right? Or how do I better serve the customers, things like that. And they're often not looking at the data. Turns out that when we get data into the hands of marketers, they're great intuition capabilities that can build these businesses. They're great intuition capabilities actually can be amplified when we can augment their strong intuition with good data patterns, good data analysis, I would dare say, with artificial intelligence. So it's critical to augment the powerful capabilities of people in our small to medium businesses with well informed data. That's teaching and And providing insights to you. So who needs data? Heck we all do. Hey, thanks again for joining. My name is Grant Larsen and until next time, go get some data. Thank you for joining grant on ClickAI Radio. Don't forget to subscribe and leave feedback. And remember to download your FREE eBook visit ClickAIRadio.com now.
"What do you mean we only have 4 weeks of money left in the business??!!!"" Do we need data transparency in our small-to-medium business...?? You bet we do... All right. Hey, this is Grant Larsen. Thank you for joining another episode of ClickAI Radio. So all right. I was thinking about data right how important data In data is and I was talking with one of the one of the entrepreneurs that I know, he's been running his business here for several years, doing a fantastic job knocking it out of the park. But I was doing some AI work with him, right. And, and he was pointing out something I thought was really critical, which was He's like, Hey, you know, Grant, he's like, a lot of us, you know, small to medium business owners. We're just trying to keep the lights on, right? We're trying to get stuff done trying to keep things going. And the fact of the matter is, we don't always have the ability, or the opportunity to go back and really look at our data. In fact, lots of times we're making a lot of decisions by intuition. And I thought, gosh, you know, that's, I think he's spot on. And so it prompted me in this particular episode to talk about the need for data, not not to replace intuition, but to augment it. So let's talk about that. So years ago, When I did my very first startup company, gosh, this was almost hate to say it. This was in the 80s. So my, my wife and I had we had just come out of college and, and, and we were going to move to Chicago Actually, I had my first job offers with a large technology company. I don't even think they're in existence today. Actually, they're not 30 plus years later, but anyway, so I had received an offer from them. I actually accepted it. And then about a week later, I'm up on campus on at the college worth college and I'm working through and I see this entrepreneur opportunity on the board there. And I look at it and I'm just drawn to it. And I'm like, No, I actually think that's the route I want to go. So I go home to my wife. I'm like, honey, I got, I got, I got this great idea. How about we leave the you know, hey, here's all this security Sort of job opportunity, let's go after a startup company. So it took a lot of convincing of eventually, we did it. So I went, I turned down the sort of for sure deal with the big company with a startup company in Chicago. So at the time, we had our first child. So this is a big decision, right to go at the higher risk, sort of opportunity. So what I did was, you know, rented this truck got my wife and my little baby in the in the truck, we drove across the country. We ended up in Chicago, I remember pulling in thinking, Man, where in the heck am I gonna live? I mean, it, it pivoted so quickly. It's just shocking to me how fast you know, our trajectory changed. So we pull in, we figure out a place to live. And I start with a startup company. And of course, a few weeks go by pretty soon as a few months now. It's about six months that we're into it. And I was focusing mostly on the technology so I really wasn't thinking much about others. things right in terms of running the business certainly wasn't thinking about the finances. One day though, I happen to take a look at the finances. And so I, I opened it up, and it there's this number, and I do the quick math and realize we've only got four weeks to live. And so I approached the owner, and my partner and I said, Is this true? And he's like, Yeah, it's true. We are actually about out of money. I'm like, Wow, man, you know, if I'd have known that four months ago, I would have made some different decisions. Right. So looking back at it, I realized, wow, I would have operated differently, if I would have known that right if I had access to that or been aware of it. So for me, this was just one of those first realizations in business, right? Just coming out of college where I realized Not only do I need the data I need, I need the transparency of the data. I need to be able to see it and you know, In small to medium businesses, you know, we're all taking on different roles, and we're busy and so forth. But running on intuition alone isn't sufficient. So augmenting it with data makes a lot of sense. Now, of course, it depends on your role, right? So the CFO or the CEO, obviously, they tend to look at that more, quite frankly, though, in today's world, technology and business is blended so much doesn't make sense, especially in small medium businesses to keep those separate. So as a result, we ended up having to make some pretty drastic decisions. We I was only there another week, because I realized we don't have enough runway to actually turn this thing around at this point. And I really like the guy I was working with and wanted to give him a chance to survive even longer without me being involved. I think he stayed on for another year with it eventually ended up shutting shutting it down. So here's the point. We got to have this blend of not just data on its own, and not just intuitive Now lots of times as you know, startup companies or small to medium businesses, it's intuition that gets us to the point where we get an operating model where cash is flowing and people are, are making money in the business is growing. But there's a point where that becomes risky, where we actually can't just run the business just on intuition, we actually need the insights that data can provide. Now, lots of times that data will come from things that you're already doing, right? Like, it might be your CRM system, or you know how you're capturing the transactions or the sales. It's not that you have to go do a whole bunch of extra things. But one thing is important, the need to start being intentional not only about tracking the fact that transactions are taking place, but then stopping to extrapolate from that, do some analysis on it and figure out do we need to adjust course, what are the patterns that are working that are while are those things that are bad? So Who needs data? You know, it's interesting. Sometimes marketers don't always need data, right? So when you think about if you got a small to medium business, you got the CFO or a CEO, you've got maybe technology people, you've got marketers and people who are doing sales. Lots of times, the marketers are thinking about, hey, how do I improve conversion rates, right? Or how do I better serve the customers, things like that. And they're often not looking at the data. Turns out that when we get data into the hands of marketers, they're great intuition capabilities that can build these businesses. They're great intuition capabilities actually can be amplified when we can augment their strong intuition with good data patterns, good data analysis, I would dare say, with artificial intelligence. So it's critical to augment the powerful capabilities of people in our small to medium businesses with well informed data. That's teaching and And providing insights to you. So who needs data? Heck we all do. Hey, thanks again for joining. My name is Grant Larsen and until next time, go get some data. Thank you for joining grant on ClickAI Radio. Don't forget to subscribe and leave feedback. And remember to download your FREE eBook visit ClickAIRadio.com now.
Hello listener, In this episode I imagine if things were different and the year is 1985 and KANYE WEST is getting ready to take the stage and murder it KENDRICK LAMAR just killed it it's the ROCK THE BELL tour J-COLE is an upcoming new act, preforming later The show was packed fans going crazy but that was the old hip hop... Now a days we have in 2020 we have real rap that changed our culture with the love em' or hate em LL COOL J Oh and you can't forget about KOO MOE DEE he gotta be like one of the top 3 rappers of all time he kills it with his lates album DAMN KRS ONE is a Chamaeleon of hip hop he's always changing up his style one minute he's Jamaican and the next he's from Houston tippin' slow but originally he's from Toronto and the ladies love him So Who makes it in the era of music in the 80's & 90's And could the rappers of the past make it today?? And if history was changed would the music sound the same it's all hypothetical enjoy the show! You can support the show here: CASH APP: https://cash.app/$iconsistently Anchor FM: https://anchor.fm/inconsistently-consistent-podcast www.weirdclothingcompany.com Instagram: icpodcastwitherik LÜM: @E.R.I.K --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/inconsistently/message
MINDSET Mondays is all about insights and perspectives about how to live life differently. Certainly with the COVID-19 umbrella, LIFE IS DIFFERENT! It's changed our world, our life, and our reality. But that doesn't mean that we can't draw upon life's experiences from the past to shape our futures. Where are we NOW and WHERE can we influence a change for the FUTURE! Read on to learn how Leslie reshaped her life...and her weight! Something all to be mindful as we move forward in a new and different life living with COVDI-19. So WHO is our guest? Leslie has over 20 years experience as a writer and personal coach. She began struggling with her weight at age 11 and fought the "battle of the bulge" for 35 years. In her 40's, she discovered the secret to permanent weight management and has spent the last 10 years helping others to do the same. So listen and learn as Dr. D and Leslie Hastings remind us that we are first human Beings and not human Doings. While behavior plays a part in success, it is our internal power that HAS to come to the forefront. We are on the cusp of a new understanding of our own capabilities. In this podcast, Dr. D asks Leslie: How did you get started with this process? What was your biggest challenge or stumbling block? What is the biggest advantage to using this approach instead of traditional diets and exercise? Do recommend clients use diets or exercise along with your techniques? What is the biggest hurdle for your clients? (practice and persistence) What can you do to make a difference in YOUR LIFE? Small and simple changes manifest HUGE results. Click here to download your Emotional Survival Guide to post-COVID-19 and how to fit into your Skinny Jeans again! https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/sr4AaOn/LeslieHastings?mode=preview&source_id=62951c58-b7e5-4364-bdc9-076dda17220f&source_type=em&c= To further expand your MINDSET, click here for 3 Steps to MINDSET Shift: https://relationships-at-work.com/diving-deeper/ Thanks for listening...Dr. D - The MINDSET Doc.
BAIME on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/baimeofficial - SoundCloud: @baimeofficial HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to BAIME: Q: How did you meet each other and how did you get into producing together? So: Who is Baime? A: We actually met online! And shortly after met at Q and A in Copenhagen where we both live, it’s about 6 years ago and one year later we joint together as Baime because we both where eager to create something that made sense musically to us as artist and DJs. Q: When regarding your roots, many early influences appear. What do these tracks still mean to you? A: Many of the tracks in the mix we still listen to from time to time and some of them we even would play today. These tracks are some of the Electronic Music that shaped who we are musically today and they are still great for Inspiration. Q: Which Projects will be hot after the Corona shutdown - what to expect from you guys in the future? A: As many others we are using this time to reflect on who we are and where we are going. When things get back to “normal” the game may have changed and we are definitely trying to stay on top of things both as Baime and with our record label Blindfold Recordings.
Blessed Beyond Imagination. Sounds a bit “over the top” don’t you think? But God actually DOES bless like this, in an exceeding measure! This is what God DOES… because of WHO HE IS. So WHO is blessed of God? And WHY are the blessed of God? In today’s episode: God blesses us solely because He … Blessed #9: Blessed of God (Part 2) Read More »
"Sohu stretched, splayed out further. “Knock knock,” she said. “OH. THIS AGAIN.” “Knock knock.” “WHO’S….THERE?” “So.” “SO WHO?” “Sohu’s at the door, better let her in.” “HA! HA! HA!” Uriel’s laughter boomed, shook the clouds, shook the ocean, drowned out the everpresent thunder of the surrounding storm. It was a fiery golden laugh, like pyrotechnics, like solar flares. “I AM ONLY LAUGHING TO BE POLITE,” he finally said. “I DON’T ACTUALLY GET IT.”" This is a serialized story narrated by Matt Arnold with the permission of the author, Scott Alexander. The original text is here: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-32-the-human-form-divine/ Episode 54 Duration: 14:51 Please back my Patreon, so I can keep producing episodes weekly. You'll get access to the Patreon feed in which you hear episodes early! https://www.patreon.com/unsongaudiobook
Supercar-shaped Corvette headed to Shitsville in 2020. Yesssssss! It'll cost about $170,000. Jesus. Same car in Retardistan: $60 grand US (which is about $90k ‘Strayan). So: Who’s gouging who? Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contact Did you like this report? You can help support the channel, securely via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DSL9A3MWEMNBW&source=url This report is inspired by a dude named Chris Papa, by e-mail. "Could you detail Luxury Car Tax and other hidden fees? The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is set to arrive in Australia in RHD. Its estimated retail price here will be about $170,000. This is preposterous considering that in the US the 2020 Corvettes will retail for around USD $60,000 and converted to AUD that equates to approximately $87,000. "Why is there such an outrageous markup (of about 100 per cent)? How much of that is LCT? What would the rest of the cost be made up of? Why are carmakers (desperate to make more sales and some with very deep pockets) not lobbying the Australian Federal Government to abolish LCT?" - Chris Papa Just to get the finances out of the way here: Australia has a free-trade agreement with Retardistan. That’s been in place for nearly 15 years, so to the best of my knowledge there’s no protective import duty on US cars. Nor is there import duty on cars from Japan, Thailand or South Korea - for the same reason. So the vast majority of cars on sale in Australia currently are import duty-free. Luxury car tax is indexed so the threshhold increases every year with the CPI. It’s currently imposed on conventional cars over $67,525, or allegedly green cars over $75,526. In both cases it’s an additional 33 per cent on the amount of that car’s value over the threshhold. So if you run the numbers on that, ballpark, if the 2020 Shitsville Corvette is $170,000 - that equates to about $25,000 in luxury car tax. Meaning the cost of the Corvette minus LCT is about $145,000. So, ballpark again: if the same car in Retardistan is $90k, there’s a $55k disparity between the Retardistan Corvette and ours. Part of that is going to be amortising the cost of gearing up for right-hand drive production over the number of right-drive units they think they’ll produce. There’s not too many right-drive markets - there’s us, Japan, the UK, Macau. But essentially the bulk of Corvettes are going to be left-hookers. So that’s part of it. The rest is just GM’s internal pricing structure and what they think they can get away with here. You can look at it like a gouge if you want, but the Corvette is going to be faster - a lot faster, at least in a straight line - than a car like a BMW M4, which is about the same price. And it’s a lot cheaper than a proper mid-engined supercar. Still got that legendary GM build quality, however. Which could be entertaining. Just for perspective, the ‘poverty’ 911 Porsche (not strictly speaking mid-engined) is about $230k here in Shitsville. Exactly the same car with the wheel on the same side, in Brexitpotamia is $155k (including 20 per cent VAT). The povvo 911 is $60k more than the Corvette, as well as being more than a second slower to 100. So there’s that. If you want that level of performance, it’s cheap at $170,000.
Ghost Stories"The Other Guy ... Holy Spirit Series"Ephesians 3:20"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."** REASONS WE HAVE DIFFICULTY UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY SPIRIT….1 –2 –3 –4 –** REASONS WE SHOULD STUDY THE HOLY SPIRIT….1 –2 –3 –** So Who is the HOLY SPIRIT?1 – He is a P_____________________________2 – He is D______________________________ * It is implied in His N___________________ * He is linked to both the F____________ & S____________ * Because of characteristics assigned to Him in God’s W______________ ** He is Omniscient ** He is Omnipresent ** He is Omnipotent
Authors Erin McHugh and Emily Luchetti join The Focus Group to celebrate the launch of their book: So Who's Counting? Both having reached milestone birthdays got tired of people asking them if they would retire. Heck no, they are looking forward to what's next! Their new book full of quotes and snippets that celebrate getting older and wiser is sure to put a smile on your face. But first, Pride Media/Out Magazine is in hot water with some of its writers and freelancers. We're all business. Except when we're not. Apple Podcasts: apple.co/1WwDBrC Spotify: spoti.fi/2pC19B1 iHeart Radio: bit.ly/2n0Z7H1 Tunein: bit.ly/1SE3NMb Stitcher: bit.ly/1N97Zqu Google Podcasts: bit.ly/1pQTcVW YouTube: bit.ly/1spAF5a Also follow Tim and John on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/focusgroupradio Twitter: www.twitter.com/focusgroupradio Instagram: www.instagram.com/focusgroupradio
So Who's Going To Hell Then?
The Guide to True HappinessMOSHE RABEINU REPORTING THE WEATHER?!When we read thepesukimthat describe the departure of theAm YisroelfromMitzrayimwe note the interesting fact that the time of the year, the spring-like weather, plays a quite significant role in the story. As they gathered to leaveMitzrayim, Moshe Rabeinu spoke to the people זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים… היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב – “Remember always this day that you came out of Egypt…Today you are leavingin the month of spring” (Bo 13:4). Now, you know that in the Torah weather is a subject that is not discussed. This subject that becomes so important when you’re standing on the street talking to someone – when you meet the elevator man or the grocery man, that’s the first subject in America – but in the Torah it’s not discussed. And yet, all of a sudden, Moshe Rabeinu comes along and points out to us that it was a spring day.Now it’s quite strange that Moshe Rabeinu should make a big deal about it. There were many things he could have told theAm Yisroelas they gathered together to begin their journey towards freedom. I myself could think of some very importantyesodosthat Moshe Rabeinu could have given over at this most opportune time. But to point out the weather conditions?! He wasn’t a meteorologist. And if it was cold and rainy, would it have made a difference?! They were going out to freedom! Ask the man who is released from prison after fifty years if he cares about the temperature on the day he left; he doesn’t remember and he doesn’t even care to remember! He’s free at last!PERFECT WEATHER FOR FREEDOMAnd yet Moshe Rabeinudidsay היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב – You’re leaving today, and look outside; it’s a beautiful spring day. And Rashi asks: “Didn’t they know it was spring? אלא כך אמר להם, ראו חסד שגמלכם – So what was Moshe Rabeinu telling them? “Pay attention to the kindness that Hashem is bestowing upon you, שהוציא אתכם בחודש שהוא כשר לצאת – That He took you out in a month that is fitting for departure, לא חמה ולא צנה ולא גשמים – It’s not too hot, not too cold, and not raining” (Rashi 13:4). וכןהוא אומר מוציא אסירים בכושרות – Hashem took out His prisoners when it was fitting, חודש שהוא כשר לצאת – during the month in which it is most fitting to depart” (Mechilta).Now we should also take a peek intoShir Hashirim, at Shlomo Hamelech’s description of Hashem speaking to His people on that great day ofYetzias Mitzrayim. קומי לך רעיתי יפתי ולכי לך – “Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and go forth from Mitzrayim, כי הנה הסתיו עבר הגשם חלף הלך לו – Because now the winter has passed, and the rains are gone, and the traveling through the wilderness will be much more pleasant, הנצנים נראו בארץ – The days of spring are here when the trees begin to produce their flowers and those who travel, delight in their colors and fragrances, עת הזמיר הגיע וקול התור נשמע בארצנו – The time of birds singing and chirping has arrived, which adds the additional joy of sweet sounds for those who travel in the spring, קומי לך רעיתי יפתי ולכי לך – And so My beautiful beloved,” says Hashem to the Am Yisroel, “now is the timeto arise and leave Mitzrayim” (Shir Hashirim 2:11-13al pi Rashi).SCHEDULING FOR THE CHIRPING BIRDSSo we see that Hashem made a point of bringing out theAm YisroelfromMitzrayimdavkathen, during the days of spring. And even more so, the Torah tells us that the entire scheduling of the year is dependent on the Yom Tov of Pesach falling out during the spring to commemorate this event: שמור את חודש האביב…כי בחודש האביב הוציאך השם אלוקיך ממצרים – “You must guard the month of spring…for it was in the month of springtime that Hashem your G-d took you out of Egypt” (Devarim 16:1). And what does “Guard the month of spring” mean? Chazal tell us (Rosh Hashanah 21a) that the month ofNissanmust always fall out in the spring, and that sometimes theSanhedrinmust even add a month to the calendar just to ensure thatNissanshould not fall out when it’s still winter. And all this, so that theYom TovofPesachshould fall out in the beautiful days of spring, because היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב, and we want to remember and to commemorate that we leftMitzrayimin the spring.And that’s a very big question. Because what difference does the spring make for a nation that is escaping two hundred and ten years of bondage? The month ofchodeshha’aviv, the ripening of the grain would certainly be a joyous time once they would enter Eretz Yisroel, but here, as they were departing fromRameses, they were far from the promised land and had no benefit at all from the ripening of the grain.What difference is it to such a people, escaping slavery, loaded down with riches, that birds are chirping in the branches? So what that the flowers are blooming on a beautiful spring day? We’re talking here about real happiness – the excitement of escaping to freedom and great wealth, and you’re talking about chirping birds?!This isn’tmyquestion by the way. I heard this said over in the name of theAlter of Skabodkawhen I was in Europe. And because theAlter’sanswer is a foundation for how we are supposed to live successfully in this world, so we’ll spend some time understanding his words.THE ALTER’S CHIDDUSHTheAltersaid that the spring weather, with all of its varied pleasures was chosen purposefully by Hashem to enhance the occasion ofYetzias Mitzrayim. Even in the mountain-heap joy of liberation, and even though they were loaded down with the wealth of Mitzrayim, they were expected tonot overlookthe weather, and not to overlook the budding trees and the chirping birds.And why not? Because it was so important for theAm Yisroelto learn – right now, when they were leaving the bondage ofMitzrayimto becomeavdei Hashem– that the happiness of a true servant of Hashem won’t come from the great events of life. The great jolts of good fortune, the ecstatic moments of great happiness – a new car, a new baby, even if it’sYetzias Mitzrayim– that won’t make a person truly happy. It’s only the small gifts of life like a balmy spring day and a bird chirping in the trees that are the true happiness of life.What we’re learning from the words, “Today you are going out, in the month ofspring,” is that the joy of life isnotthe big things in life. Of course there is time for that too. It’s a bigsimchawhen you have a child. And it’s even a biggersimchawhen you marry that child off. You won the lottery? It’s asimcha! You got the job you wanted? You finished amesichta? These are all bigsimchosthat are a good reason to rejoice.But those aren’t the things that will make you a happy person!The happiness of transient events – evenYetzias Mitzrayimonly happened once – always slip out of your hands sooner or later, and you’re left with the day to day simple pleasures of life, like a spring day, that Hashem isalwaysbestowing on you. And it’s all of those small things that are supposed to make you a happy person.ROSY GLASSES ARE NOTHINGNow you can’t just tell a man, “Be happy; Learn to see the the good things in life.” It’s like saying nothing at all to him. This subject of happiness is a science, and like any important subject, its study takes effort on your part. If you’ll say to someone, “Just put on optimistic spectacles, and look at the world through rosy eyeglasses,” you’re not helping him a bit.There’s work to be done besides for putting on the rosy colored spectacles. What work is that? Every form of happiness is an obligation upon you to appreciate and become even more of a happy person. A person becomes a happy person because of the small things in life. Now don’t say that your experience contradicts this – because it’s not true, youdon’thave the experience. You never tried it! It’s necessary to dedicate your lives to the study of all the details of happinesses that you have in your life, in order to become the happy servant of Hashem that He expects.HOW TO GET RICHAnd so we’ll begin our career of happiness by reading together the words of amishnah; it’s amishnahthat most of us say, but none of us fulfill.איזהו עשיר- Who is a wealthy man? השמח בחלקו – Someone who is happy with what he has. Now, everybodyknowsthat, everybody says it; but nobodypracticesit.Themishnahis telling us here what Hakodosh Boruch Hu expects from us; that weshouldpractice it and that we should fulfill it. Hashem wants thatwe should become wealthy. Otherwise why did He tell us that. Why did He say איזהו עשיר? If it’s not important, why tell us? Just as a fact, some more information to know? No; it’s because that’s what you’re expected to become. Hashem wants thatyoushould become thatashirwho issameach b’chelko!BEING SATISFIED IS NOT ENOUGHNow, it’s important to point out thatsamei’achdoesn’t mean that you’resatisfiedwith what you have; it means thatyou’re happy, that you’refull of joy.Hashem wants you toenjoyOlam Hazeh, to be a person overflowing with happiness, and it’s an art that you have to get busy learning. Before we begin, the first thing is that you must get out of your head any thoughts thatprishusmeans to be unhappy. No;prishusmeans to be happywithout luxuries, to behappywith all the multitude of pleasures of living life itself. And that’s who Hashem says is the wealthy man.So איזהו עשיר – Who is the rich man? השמח בחלקו – the one who trains himself little by little to behappywith all of the things that he already has, the things that are available to him all the time. And who is the poor person, the perpetually sad man? The man who is empty; he never learned anything about the happiness of life. All he learned was to want more and more; “gimmee” and “gimmee” and “gimmee” – he wants more and more. And therefore his whole life is nothing but a pursuit after what he doesn’t have. And because of that, he fails to enjoychelko, what his portion is right now.All through life you’re missing the fun of life. Because wherever you turn in life, wherever you look, you’re going to encounter with your eyes on all sides, reasons to sing and dance with joy – if you know how to usethe details of lifeto become happy. We just have to open our eyes and apply our minds, and be willing to put effort into finding the real happiness of life. If we do that, the happiness within us would well forth and life would become full of fun. It would be endless fun and happiness without the new car, and without the trip to the zoo or the amusement park. It would be all the details of life itself that make you a happy person.STUDY A VARIETY OF SUBJECTSBecause the joy of life is not the big things; and it’s not one small thing either. Because what doeschelkomean?Chelkomeans your portion in life. And life is not one thing – life is a combination, a sum total of tens of thousands of phenomena – and it’s necessary to makeeachphenomenon a separate study so that whenever you encounter that phenomenon it will cause you happiness. If you study how two things make you happy, so now you’ll have two things that cause you happiness. If you’ve studied fifty things, so fifty things will cause you happiness. The more subjects you study, the more phenomena you appreciate, the more happiness you will get out of life. Like Dovid Hamelech said: כי שמחתני השם בפעליך במעשה ידיך ארנן – “I sing at the deeds of Your hand” (Tehillim 92:5) And the only way to do that is to put your mind to what you have, and all these things add up to being a wealthy man. Hashem wants you to be wealthy; if you don’t learn this, Hashem is disappointed in you.I’ll give you an example. If you study, let’s say, the wind. Let’s say a man would learn to enjoy the wind. Now, it may seem silly to you, but that’s because you’ve never studied the subject of happiness correctly. Because really, wind is a subject that can make you endlessly grateful and happy. There’s a lot of fun in a wind. But you have to study it.LET’S STUDY WINDStudy the winds?! Now, go tell that to people outside, they’ll laugh at you. But it’s agemara. Thegemaratells inMesichtaGittin(31b) that achochomwas once walking and he saw two sages who were sitting engaged in study. So he said to them, במאי עסקיתו – “What sugya are you learning now?” So they said, ברוחות – “We’re talking about winds.” Two sages of theTalmudare sitting talking about winds! That’s whatweshould do too. Maybe we should sit down sometime and talk about winds.Now, some people, eventalmideichachomim, didn’t learn the correctpshatin thisgemara. “Why would they talk about winds,” somemefarshimthought. So they developed other interpretations of this gemara, whatruchosmeans. But that’s not thepshat. Thegemarais telling us that they sat down to discuss wind! Because the study of the wind is a study of איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו.If the wind didn’t blow we couldn’t live. אי אפשר לעולם בלא רוחות – “The world could not exist without winds” (Taanis 3b). Nothing would grow without the wind; you wouldn’t have a piece of bread if not for wind. You didn’t know that? Well, you should start knowing it right now.If not for the wind there would be no food, because the winds keep the air moving so that the minute proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, three parts in ten thousand, is made available to plants. Otherwise the plant would use up all the surrounding carbon dioxide and would die. So when it’s windy, and you have to hold on to your hat, that should be a cause for happiness. That’s your “watermelon” blowing by; your “bread” and your “meat”. It’s refreshing, invigorating and it’s also the key to life itself.A CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR CAREERIf the winds would be discussed and studied properly, so the next time there would be a zephyr, or a blow, or a hurricane, a breeze – whatever form it would come in – it’s going to cause us happiness. Now I’m not saying that we’ll go wild with happiness – it’s only one phenomenon, one detail; but it will make you happy, no question about it. And winds are blowing all the time, and they don’t cost much money either. So learn to enjoy it! It might take some time; it takes work. But after a while, after you begin studying the phenomena of wind, and appreciating it, so wind becomes a stimulus for happiness. So a person is walking in the street, and a slight breeze is tickling him – it’s refreshing and it also arouses in his mind all those pleasurable thoughts; so that’s one contribution to a career of happiness.Now, a breeze is only one thing. But this world is a gift of many happinesses for us. The trees and the flowers, the clouds and the rain. The blue sky, the sun and the moon, the soil and the leaves. Our hands and our eyes, our feet and our shoes. And you have thousands and thousands of other things. Hashem is giving you plenty of air and plenty of water. You have clothing and food. You have garments. You have a roof over your head, a place to sleep. You have a home. A home?! You can lock the door and sleep at night. Not like the homeless people who have to sleep near the railroad tracks and other dangerous places.Life is a veritable wellspring of happiness.But all this is justdevarim b’almah, it’s just words. You can’t just be a happy person because of “everything.” Everything is nothing. The path to true happiness is in the details. People have to teach themselves one thing at a time. Now wind is only one example of the happiness of this world. To learn the happiness of life you have to study all the details, moving from one subject to the other. One after the other, after another. And when you add together the sum total of many small phenomena, then they add up to a true happiness in life.BECOMING WEALTHIER AND WEALTHIERIf we would do this, we would actually learn together how to enjoy the phenomena of the world and become happy people all the time. And as life progresses we’d be adding new ideas into the treasure chest of our minds that cause us happiness. We’re adding riches into our mind and at the same time we’d review the old ones more deeply. Every day you can become happier and happier with the simple details of life, and slowly, little by little, you add one more thing and one more thing, and you become anashir, you become wealthy. And we’d find that from all sides we’re bursting out with song. You’d walk down the Brooklyn streetmeshugahwith happiness.And once you achieve this wealth, so you’ll never be unhappy again. You can’t be unhappy if your life is filled with thousands of small happinesses all day long. Because no matter what happens you feel you still have air to breathe. Air all you want. And water to drink, all you want. You still have a roof over your head. You still have shoes to wear. You have sunshine and teeth. And that’s only the beginning of the list.And once you become a happy person you’ll be able to withstand all thenisyonos, the trials of life. Life is not easy; there are always ups and downs. And if you don’t achieve this wealth ofsamei’ach b’chelko,so no matter what you can purchase and no matter how many cars you have, you will be a fundamentally unhappy person, because you never learned what real happiness is. But once you achieve the wealth ofsamei’achb’chelko, then no matter what, you’re a happy person for the rest of your life.THE MAIN PORTION IS … LIFE!And therefore, the first thing we must do is to clarify what it is that we’re supposed to be happy about; what doeschelkomean? Now, what is the first aspect ofchelkothat all of us sitting here now have? “Your portion,” means first of all thatyou’re alive!You never thought about thatpshat, did you? You were thinking that it means that when you finally make five hundred thousand dollars, so then you’ll be happy, you’ll besamei’achb’chelko, even though you don’t have two million dollars yet. No, that’s not whatchelkomeans. If you’re still alive that’s already your portion that you’re expected to be full of joy about.Because there is no happiness like being alive!The happiness of being alive is an intense experience, only that we’re so accustomed to it that we ignore it. Let’s say a person would enjoy the fact that he is alive. Oh yes! How lucky you are that you’re alive. Don’t say it’s nothing. It’s everything! A millionaire would give up all of his property to stay alive. You’re alive!And there are plenty of people you know, some of them even your age, who are not alive anymore. I myself look back, when I was a boy. Some of mychaveirimpassed away early. There was a fourteen year old friend of mine – he passed away. A twenty year old friend of mine passed away when I was in the yeshiva.WALKING ON CLOUDS!You know what fun it is to be alive! And there’s a simple way to discover it. Here’s a man who’s going to a specialist because his physician found something. And he’s afraid he has something terrible. So the specialist gives him a complete series of tests; blood tests and scans and everything else, and then he has to go home for a few days and wait for an answer. For those few days the man can think of nothing else except for the phone call he’s expecting from the doctor. What is anything worth if he won’t be able to live?! And finally the doctor calls him into his office and sits him down and tells him, “I’m sorry to tell you there’snothingwrong with you!”Now, when this man walks out of the doctor’s office he’s stepping on clouds. He’s walking through Brooklyn and he’s the happiest man in the whole city. Because now he’s enjoying the sweetness of life. How sweet it is to be alive! The happiness of walking a Brooklyn street knowing that you’re alive is unequaled in all the pleasures of the wealthy.THE QUICK LANDINGOnly that what happens? He walks on clouds from here to Avenue P(two blocks away from the shul)and then he’s back on the ground again. He’s walking on the sidewalk again because he forgets. And that’s a tragedy because the happiness merely of being alive is a tremendous happiness that can keep you walking on clouds all day long.If only people would bestir themselves and say, “Why should I let this treasure go lost?! Why should I wait until the day comes when I’m a hundred and nineteen years old, and I’m laying in a home for the aged, and I’m looking through the window at the people walking the streets outside. I see how beautiful life is, and I’m thinking, ‘That was once me. I never realized how much fun being alive and walking the streets could be. And now I only have one or two days left.’” You know that when a man is lying in the hospital and he knows that his days are numbered, he says “If I could get on the street again. I could once more walk around, once more. What a happiness it would be!” He’s jealous when he looks down from the hospital window and sees people walking in the streetand living, and for him, soon it will be all over.Of course if you have it every day after a while your mind becomes stultified. If you haven’t studied it then you don’t even appreciate it anymore. Like I told you earlier, it’s a science; you need to create a program for happiness. It won’t come merely because you came here to the lecture and listened to me. Because if you don’t get busy making yourself happy, all this talk here is a waste.YOU’RE AN OUTSIDER!You have to learn how to besamei’achin yourcheilekof being alive. And so when you pass a funeral parlor – on Coney Island Avenue there are a number of funeral parlors – as you pass by one you say, “Boruch Hashem I’m on the outside!” I’m not joking; I’m very serious now. And when you pass the next one, “Boruch Hashem, I’m on the outside.” There are three of them there. So by the third one also, “Boruch Hashem, I’m on the outside.” Say it with your mouth again, and again and again. To be outside of the funeral parlor is asimcha. Inside it’s a funeral home. A “home,” you might think that it’s comfortable, and there’s music for themeisim, and they serve lunch for themeisim. He’s in a box and that’s all. And you’re outside! “Boruch Hashem, I’m on the outside!”Now, being alive is a happinessad ein sof, no question about it. But you have to expand on that happiness, because there is much more than life itself. Because not only are you alive but you have functioning kidneys. I know a man who has no kidneys – it’s already years and years that he’s on the waiting list to get a kidney. Three times a week he has to go to the clinic for special treatments instead of a kidney. It takes hours and hours each time, and it’s expensive. But he’s happy to be alive; he’s happy to have a machine that keeps him alive. Because he knows that it’s ata’anugto be alive. And if he could just get one kidney, how happy he’d be.He wishes he could be you! He’d be delirious with joy!THE TRANSPLANT MANAnd here’s a man who finally was able to get a new kidney. He has one that he “borrowed” from his sister who was kind enough to give him one of her kidneys. So now he’s a “transplant man.” You think it’s so simple? This man cannot take certain medicines because they might upset his anti-rejection system. He takes a regimen of medicines to suppress the immunosuppressive reaction in him that would reject the new kidney. After all, the kidney is not his – it’s foreign matter inside his body. So the tendency of the body is to reject it. And so he’s always taking medicines to suppress the rejection apparatus.And there are some medicines that are sometimes vital to a person – maybe he gets an infection and he needs antibiotics – but now this man cannot take them because they would interfere with his anti-rejection medications. So this person may become subject to infections that he cannot combat because he can’t take medicines. And so all his life he is living precariously with his one kidney.THE CRAZY KIDNEY MANNow, how does this man look at the same world that you look at? If he sees somebody who is glum and downcast, you know what he thinks? He’s thinking, “That man is crazy! He has something to be sad about?! He has hisownkidney!” A kidney is a great happiness! A natural one that fits in exactly where it’s supposed to be! It’s suited to everything in his body. All the cells in his body have an especial peculiar individual makeup, and they accept his kidney. While the kidney that this poor fellow has, is being rejected by all the cells in his body. And he is constantly in fear that maybe somedaychas v’shalomthe cells in his body will win the fight – it’s a tug of war after all. And when this man sees you on the street he doesn’t understand how you cannot be ecstatic – not only do you have your own kidney, but you have two of them. You’re not only a millionaire, you’re a multi-millionaire!Now I’ll say it again because you have to get it into your heads. Hearing this is not going to make you happy – you have to get to work. So when you go to the bathroom and your kidneys are working perfectly, your bladder is functioning to perfection, you were successful in your “mission.” Are you thinking about it and becoming a happy person? You make anasher yatzar, but while you’re making thebrachahyou’re making motions to somebody in the house, “Wait, wait; I’ll be done in a second.” That’s the way to makeasher yatzar?! A man without kidneys; if he could makeasheryatzar, what a happiness it would be!HEALTHY BEGGAR OR SICK RICH MAN?You have to bestir the happiness in your mind – at least when you’re making thebrachah. And actually, even that is not enough. All day long you should be thinking about your kidneys. Of course, all day long you can’t do, but during the day when you’re walking the street, take a minute to feel like your walking on clouds because you have functioning kidneys. And don’t say it’s impossible to live that way. It’s possible. You have to just get busy doing it. It’s hard work. You do it one day and then the next day you have to do it even more. You pass by a dialysis clinic, stop for a half minute – a half minute on the clock – and thank Hashem for the joy of having a kidney. And if you do it, if you become happy with your kidney, so now you’re a millionaire. And if you’re ecstatic because you have two kidneys, so you’re a multi-millionaire.So now you’re a multi-millionaire. But that’s only the beginning. I know a man who had to have an operation and he can no longer eliminate by means of his anus. He now has a bag attached to his side. You have to realize that this man walks the streets envying everyone who has a rectum in the right place. If he could restore that natural function, that his orifice should be where it’s supposed to be, that man would give away all his earthly possessions. There’s no question that he would prefer being a beggar with a rectum to be being a millionaire with a bag on his side.THE SILLINESS OF MANKINDAnd now we see how silly all of mankind is if they don’t sing because of what they possess. And not only when you use that orifice, when you move your bowels, but all day. Frequently, as you walk down the street, you should bestir this happiness in your mind – how lucky you are; how convenient it is; how comfortable it is; how wealthy you are. It’s a joy to have the function of natural elimination and it’s a cause for actual tangible pleasure and for singing. A man who has sense, Torah sense, actuallyrejoicesin his ability to eliminate.Now the more you learn how to be happy from all these things, so it grows on you, it becomes part of your personality. Little by little it grows upon your mind an attitude of optimism, and you become a happy personality. “I’m so happy to be alive, to be on this side of the cemetery gate.” That’s what you should think about when you walk for the street. “And not only am I alive, but I have kidneys!” Now, that’s a wealth! “And not only kidneys, but I don’t need a bag on my side! I’m normal!” It’s a great happiness to be normal!THE DELICIOUS COCKTAILSo now we begin to see that it’s important for us to dwell on details. You have to take one thing at a time; maybe one week you’ll work let’s say on enjoying air. Getting the pleasure of breathing. The truth is that when you walk outside tonight, you should take a deep breath. “Ahhh!” you should say.” It’s really ata’anug.”No cocktail that you could buy in the store compares to the cocktail of fresh air. People walk in the street today and they drink in the street to show off they’re drinking. That’smeshugas.What do you need it for?! Drink in the fresh air. It’s free of charge and it’s much healthier. Fill your lungs. It makes your blood become red immediately, the fresh air.Get into the habit – one week learn to praise Hashem for air. This week whenever you can, think about the happiness of being able to breathe fresh air. After a while you’re happy when you think about the air. Breathing is fun! I once told you about a simple experiment, didn’t I? Dip your head in a bucket of waterthreetimes and take it outtwice! Anyhow, then wait till you can’t anymore, and finally you’ll take it out this time and you’ll take one deep breath – “Ahh, is that delicious!” The truth is that it’s always delicious. Breathing is delicious!So let’s say you’re walking to thebeis haknessesand you tell yourself, “Isn’t it a wonderful thing that there is air to breathe?!” Now at first it’s achiddush gadol. Air?! I’m afraid that even if you tell it totalmidei chachomimit’s a big chiddush. You tell him, “Yes, air is vital. I’ll prove to you that it’s what you need more than anything else. You can get along without food for days and days. Without water, for a shorter time, but you can get along without water too – for a few days maybe. But without air you can’t get along.”“HALF HALLEL” IS NOT ENOUGHIt says in the Medrash on the possuk כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה, that על כל נשימה ונשימה תהלל י-ה, for every breath you have to say Hallel. And myrebbisaid it meansgantzHallel. For every breath you owe Hashema full hallel. Now, you don’t have time for that – you’re too busy breathing – but at least you have to know thatthat’s how delicious it is!When a person is a little bit dejected, discouraged, what a good idea it is to go to the window and breathe deeply. We don’t realize. It’s like a drink of very strong medicine. Air comes into your lungs and the oxygen unites with your blood and makes your blood more red. It’s a fact. As you breathe, your blood becomes more invigorated with oxygen. The iron in your blood that makes it red, the hemoglobin, unites with the oxygen, and it carries the oxygen on its path through all the blood vessels everywhere in the body to invigorate all the cells. The whole body is different because you breathe. And therefore it’s a good idea to practice breathing just for the feel of it, just to appreciate that great gift of air.200 MILES OF CHESSEDThe world is full of air. That’s what it means מלוא כל הארץ כבודו. So a man will tell you, “K’vodo? That means the “glory of Hashem.’ Where does air come into it?” What do you think is “the glory of Hashem”? The glory of Hashem is Hischessed. Thechessedof Hashem fills the world. And what is one of the most prevalent kindnesses of Hashem? Air! Hakodosh Boruch Hu made two hundred miles of it. Two hundred miles up of air! Now the air is not one thing. It’s a cocktail mixed exactly with the right ingredients to make it not only beneficial to us but it tastes good too. It’s mixed with oxygen, about twenty percent. All the rest is mostly nitrogen and inert gas because you need something with which to carry the oxygen. If the air was all oxygen, you’d become drunk. If you would breathe oxygen alone, you would get dizzy, you’d become intoxicated. So you have to have the nitrogen to dilute the oxygen; and a little bit of carbon dioxide is essential because it’s an incentive to your lungs to breathe more deeply. And then traces of a few other gases together and it makes together a combination of the perfect material that’s suited for human beings.You know what we are? We’re like fish in the bottom of an ocean. Fish in the ocean. Fish don’t like air. They want water. We’re in an ocean, an ocean of air. The ocean is two hundred miles high. We’re like fish living in this ocean of air, and we love it. That’s our element. If we were to change places with a fish, we wouldn’t be happy, just like a fish wouldn’t be happy if he took our place. And therefore let’s enjoy this ocean while we have it.STRANGLED IN HIS SUMMER HOMESo practice up on this. On the way home, When you walk out of here onto Ocean Parkway – it’s a beautiful street, a parkway with trees and bushes. Now after the rain they’re exuding a fragrance, and the combined fragrance of different kinds of shrubs and trees, combined with the city odors – it’s a pleasure those city odors – and they combine to give a certain cocktail that you don’t drink; you draw it deep into your lungs and you can learn to enjoy it.You think a summer home in Maine and a winter home in Florida is going to make you happy? No, that’s nothing. What good would the home be if you were strangled without air, if you were suffocating for air. Breathing is a big simcha! Some people have difficulty breathing. You know that some people have difficulty breathing?(The Rav took a deep breath). Ahh! It’s a pleasure to fill your lungs.Mamishataanug! Don’t laugh at breathing – it’s a great happiness to breathe.WEEK #2: WALKING IS A HAPPINESSSo you’ve begun to scratch the surface of the happiness of breathing. It was only a week of thinking after all, but you’re a wealthy man already. Now suppose you would spend a week becoming happy that you can walk. So the next week change and start appreciating the fact that you can walk. Walking is asimchah. המכין מצעדי גבר, “How happy I am that I can walk.” Look how many people sit in wheelchairs. Walking is fun. Your thigh swings forward in effortless motion and all of your joints are functioning to perfection. You don’t hear any scraping as you bend your knee, do you? That’s asimcha! You don’t feel any chaffing? Ah, it’s a pleasure to walk. And it’s good exercise too. The entire body is moving. It’s good for your heart. It’s good for everything if you walk. And besides for that, walking shows you’re in control of yourself. All your muscles cooperate to walk and you learn what it means המכין מצעדי גבר.If you walk in the street and you see – like I saw yesterday – a girl who was hopping around on crutches. But the stump of her other leg didn’t stick out. That’s how much was cut off. Now that was an apparition, sent to memin hashamayim. Because how much would this girl give to regain her leg? No money in the world would be too much! And therefore, as you walk in the street you have to think about thatbrachahyou mumbled in the morning, ברוך אתה השם אלוקינו מלך העולם המכין מצעדי גבר – I thank You Hashem for establishing the footsteps of a man. “I’m able to take footsteps on my own feet!” It’s a happiness to be able to walk on your own two feet. You know how ecstatic a man is who has been confined to a wheelchair for a long time – he wasn’t able to walk – and finally he regained that ability! He’s overjoyed! So the second week, you’ll work on the happiness of walking.Now you’re an even wealthier man. You own a few apartment houses already. You have your lungs that are breathing in the great elixir of life we call air, that’s one apartment building that’s yours. Another apartment building is the happiness of being able to walk. That’s a very valuable piece of property! So you’re already a pretty wealthy fellow. You can walk in the street now and your pockets are full of cash. If your pockets would be full of hundred dollar bills bulging on both sides, it’s nothing compared to the person who spent two weeks working on the happiness of fresh air and on the ecstasy of walking. As I walk in the street balancing myself on two legs, and I’m breathing the air of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m enjoying life!BE QUEER AND BE HAPPYSo we’re beginning to see now that in order to be asamei’ach b’chelkoyou have to be a queer kind of a fellow. You can’t always share your feelings with other people; they’ll laugh at you. באזני כסיל אל תדבר – “Don’t speak into the ears of a fool.” He’ll make light of these ideas and cool you off (Mishlei 23:9). “There’s a fellow over there, down Ocean Parkway, who’s happy that he has two kidneys! Ha!” Try to tell people that you’re filled with joy, you’remamish b’simchabecause breathing is fun, so they’ll think you’re wacky. Butthey’re the wacky onesbecause they’re missing all the happiness of this world.I know what the people will say when you go out of here. You’ll talk to people and they’ll tell you other things. Don’t be misled! Here comes along afrumtzaddikand says to me, “You’re teaching people to enjoy life?! The purpose of life ista’anugim?! To berodef ta’anugim,run after pleasures?!” He was upset at me. I looked at him and said, “Look, you have a wristwatch. I don’t have a wristwatch. Youdrive a carwhen you come to theyeshivah. Iwalkto theyeshivah. Who is running after pleasure, you or I? You’re running after it but you don’t have it. I’m not looking for pleasures. They’re coming to me. As I walk in the street with my “Rolls Royce” – my two shoes, that’s my Rolls Royce – and I’m breathing the air of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m enjoying life. I walk past the cemetery on Ocean Parkway, and I’m filled with happiness that I’m on this side of the gate.” That kind ofkosherta’anugimis achiyuv,it’s amitzvahgedolahto enjoy life that way.ICE CREAM IN THE SUNAll this is serious talk. I know that if you go to akolleland you’ll tell them these things, they’ll laugh at you. That’s because they’re silly – they don’t begin knowing Torah. And don’t tell me that enjoyment and happiness is not fortzadikim. Oh no, you bigtzadik, you don’t want to enjoy the sun and the wind. He’s eating his chocolate cakes and ice cream, but to be happy with the sun, that’s too much.Happiness is not running after good times, not goingchalilahto entertainment, and fun places. No;chas v’shalom, chas v’shalom, that’smeshugas. People who are running after good times are never enjoying life – they’re always running after good times and fun, but they never find it. Never. They’re always busy running, pursuing, but they’ll never find it – because they’re looking in all the wrong places.“G-D MADE” EARPHONES, SPEAKERS, AND CAMERASWho needs places of entertainment to be happy when you have all the happiness right here! Look at yourself, “I’m alive,boruchHashem.” Look at your feet; “Boruch Hashem,two of them! And they’re both the same size!” Look at your ears; “Boruch Hashem!” They’re “earphones” hanging on the side of your head – and you don’t have to buy them in the store. You have teeth; slicing teeth in the front and the grinders in the back. Boruch Hashem! You have a functioning tongue that’s busy all day long in your mouth. You have a “speaker” in your mouth, vocal chords. Boruch Hashem. And eyes! “Cameras” in your head. Boruch Hashem! You can walk, Boruch Hashem! המכין מצעדי גבר. That’s some trick you have there being able to balance yourself as you walk. Boruch Hashem! And that’s only the beginning.You have to learn how to be happy with your clothing. It’s not enough to say thebrachahofmalbish arumimin general andpaturyourself. You have to study the details of your clothing in order to become a happy person. The pockets and the buttons, everything. Study it.THE SHOES IN THE TREASURE CHESTStudy your shoes. Shoes are a happiness. Did you ever think about that? You know that in some countries people don’t have shoes. Only one man wears shoes, that’s the king of the tribe. And not every day. Once in a while he puts on shoes, when a visitor comes from outside, a tourist, so he wants to show he’s a sport so he puts on shoes. Otherwise he doesn’t put on shoes. Shoes are a big luxury. It’s a very complicated achievement, a shoe. Look at the different kinds of leather. And rubber heels. And you need shoestrings. A shoe is a treasure.So let’s say a colonel from the American Air Force lands on that island, so the king takes his shoes out from his treasure chest, and he puts them on, and he marches with his short pants covering his naked body, with some feathers in his head to greet the colonel. And he shows him his shoes. He’s so happy; he’s “an aristocrat.”THE GREAT BLESSING OF SHOELACE TIPSWe should know that shoes are a happiness. It’s not an exaggeration at all. It’s no exaggeration; shoes are a happiness for us. Just because you live in a country where everyone can afford shoes, should that decrease the happiness in any way?!That’s why we’re expected to say every day, שעשה לי כל צרכי. But we’re lazy, we don’t think. Often we’re not even thinking about thepeirush hamilos.I’m not talking now about the “formality” of making thebrachahin shul. When you’re walking down the street, take a minute every day to be happy with your shoes. Think about the details. “How lucky I am to have shoelaces that have plastic tips. If there wasn’t a plastic tip, then I’d have a hard job fitting it into the hole. I’d have to spit on it, and twist it and try to push it through the hole. Boruch Hashem I have plastic on the tips of the laces.”THE DOCTORS ARE OVERCOME WITH EMOTIONOnce you begin thinking this way, you can begin to be happy with all the functions of life. I mentioned the sense of sight before. I can’t just gloss over it quickly. You’re able to see! If you don’t appreciate that, then take a look at the person walking in the street with a white cane tapping his way. What would he do if he could get eyes like you have today?! Even one eye!It was recently reported in the papers that a woman who had a cataract for many years and her situation was considered hopeless. She was a married woman, with children, but she had no sight. And then it was decided to attempt an experimental operation on her. For a long time the bandages remained on her eyes. And finally the doctor came in and he took off the bandages – just for a moment they were taken off so as not to strain her eyes – but in that one moment she screamed in delirium. She could see! And the doctors were weeping. They were overcome with emotion.Now isn’t it a tragedy that we don’t weep in happiness at this great gift of sight!Boruch atah Hashem pokei’ach ivrim, Who opens up the eyes of the blind every morning. Finally this lady saw her husband for the first time; she finally saw her children. And she said that she didn’t want anything more out of lifeexcept to be able to look!FREE LENS CLEANSING GERMICIDESThe happiness of sight, the happiness of seeing color! Seeing is life itself. Thegemarasays that סומא חשוב כמת – in one sense a blind man is like a dead man. He’snotdead – there are a lot of compensations in life – but in a certain way he’s dead. Because the great happiness of having two “cameras” is a joy that a living person shouldn’t be without. Even one camera! How lucky we are! And it’s a color camera that focuses by itself; all day long it’s working perfectly, focusing in, focusing out. Every time you blink you’re washing off the lens with a film of germicide that cleanses. It’s a perfectly functioning camera that has no equal among the best fabrications of Mankind.That’s how you’re expected to think – that’ssameach b’chelko. Not that you’re satisfied with “merely” five hundred thousand dollars. When a man learns to enjoy the fact that he has two good eyes, he is more wealthy than the man who has two million dollars. So how can we be satisfied in the morning with a dry as dust declaration, “pokei’ach ivrim”, which most times we don’t even think about what we’re saying? Isn’t that a tragedy?“I HAVE TWO ARMS!”Now we have to keep on going. Look all around you; did you ever see a man with only one arm? Two weeks ago I saw a man without any arms.Both arms were missing! And I said to myself, “Look, you learnChovos Halevavos, don’t you? How can you pass him by?” So I took another look. I waited till he passed by – I didn’t want to embarrass him – and I took another look to remind myself. And for at least a half a block I was walking on air, thinking how lucky I am to have two arms. Thinkchas v’shalomwhat it would be like if you didn’t have two arms. What would you do? For a half a block I was ecstatic. But a half a block is not enough – it has to be all the time!Not only do you have arms and legs, but your mind is normal. Oooh, what achessedthat is! So many people are very confused; mental illnesses, imbeciles, and depression. Depression is also a sickness, it’s also like being an imbecile. And therefore, ברוך אתה השם חונן הדעת! How can you sayshemonah esreievery day, and ignore thatbracha. It’s the first of the weekdaybrachos, and you’re thanking Hashem thatyou’re sane! Three times a day you say it; shouldn’t you appreciate that great gift?Chonein hadaas –You bestowed sanity upon me.THEY FROZE IN SLABODKAAppreciate the roof over your head. Did you ever stop to appreciate the happiness of a warm house? Once upon a time when a Jew came into his house, “Ah, avarme shtub,” he said. “Ah varme shtub!” In thebeis hamedrashhe was freezing. I sat in Slabodka and we were freezing in theyeshiva! We were freezing! It was hard to heat theyeshiva. The stove was over there at the end, behind the wall, and you put in some wood there till it burned out. It was barely enough to heat that little room. If you would stand next to the stove you would feel some heat – otherwise it was cold. And so you would come home and it was a great happiness to be in avarme shtub. You should be filled with joy when you come into a warm house. And today you can enjoy that happiness in thebeis medrashas well.Warmth is a great happiness. You can ask that poor woman sitting outside on the bench on Ocean Parkway. She has no home. I see her pushing a shopping wagon with all her belongings in that little wagon. She has no warm place to sleep. If somebody would let her rest in the vestibule of their home, it would be the greatest happiness for her. She’d bemeshugehwith joy.LYING ON THE KITCHEN FLOORNow that’s achiddushto most people. A warm house? Yes, a warm house is a happiness. It’s not easy to have a house that’s warm. When I was a boy we didn’t have warm houses. It was only warm in the kitchen where the coal stove was.You had to put coal in the stove. When the coal burned out you had to take the ashes out of the stove. That was the only room where there was warmth. If I wanted to read, I laid down on the floor in the kitchen. I laid on the floor all day, all night, in the kitchen by the stove. All the rest of the house didn’t have any warmth. We didn’t have any radiators. No such thing. The house was cold. If you wanted to warm a house, you put a kerosene stove in the rooms. The kerosene stove had to have oil there and sometimes it didn’t work. When you got up in the morning, the whole room was black, including your face too, it made everything black, the soot from the kerosene stove. This luxury of having a warm house is something the modern people have to realize.Ahhh! What a pleasure it is to have a warm house. So when you walk in with your children in the wintertime from thebeis haknesses, say “Chaim’ll, isn’t it good to have a warm house?” Rub your hands together. He looks at you like you fell off the moon. He doesn’t understand you. “How silly adults are,” he thinks. Never mind.That’s the way to bring up children and eventually he’ll thank you for that.THENEISOF THE FAUCETWhen I was in Slabodka nobody had running water in the house. You had to go a half block away to get water. And you couldn’t drink it; it was dangerous to drink well water. You had to boil it up first. And here in your house you turn the faucet and water comes out, pure water fit to drink! What a wealth, what a happiness that is! And even hot water! Hot water coming out of a faucet! It’s a luxury upon luxuries. Once upon a time hot water came only from springs, hot springs. If you didn’t have hot springs you couldn’t get any hot water unless you boiled it. Think about that every time you turn on the faucet, and you’ll start becoming asamei’achb’chelko.You have to talk to yourself about your home. As you walk on the steps, you should whisper to yourself, “Isn’t it good we have steps?” You know, I have steps upstairs, and many times I think about how in the olden days in thegemarathey didn’t have steps. They had a ladder, adargah. Try climbing a ladder to go upstairs; it’s not so simple. Now even a ladder is also a very good invention. Otherwise you would have to go with a rope, you’d have to lift yourself up. But even a ladder is not so safe. Steps are a luxury.A HANDRAIL ISPIKUACH NEFESHSo here you have a man walking up steps and he’s thanking Hashem for this luxury of steps, for the happiness of a staircase. But not only the steps, there’s a railing too! You know the building code requires you to make a railing, so somechachamim be’eineihemtry to avoid the building code and leave out the rail. They deceive the inspector. So what happens? Sometimes they’re walking up the steps and they’re a little busy and they fall down. You can break your neckchalilah.The railing is there; it’s a happiness,mamishpikuachnefesh. What a blessing a handrail is! You ever stopped to think about that? Never even once did the handrail make you happy?!“All this is silly,” you’ll say. Formeshuga’imeverything is silly. So let them bemeshugeh, and you be happy! You walk up the steps and you’re happy because of the handrail. And the older you get, the more you’ll enjoy it. Imagine a man enjoying the handrail. His life is full of fun, full of happiness.BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE TAKES WORKYou learn little by little. Of course it’s a career. You have to put in work. You could put in five minutes a day practicing enjoying air, five minutes a day practicing enjoying your eyes. Five minutes a day next week practicing enjoying walking. Five minute a day practice enjoying clothing. Little by little you’re gathering up in your bank account wealth and little by little you’re becoming a happy man of many riches, many treasures.But you have to do it, though. Just hearing me say it, is not enough. It takes work to be a fake millionaire, so to be the true millionaire of “hasamei’achbi’chelko”surely takes time and hard work. Like I said before, it doesn’t come by itself. You have to make up your mind that you’re going to pursue this career of happiness and that you’ll always be saying, “I thank You Hashem.” Always, “I thank You Hashem for giving me this breakfast. I thank you Hashem for being able to go to the bathroom.” And don’t rely on thebrachosyou make. You must say it with your mouth in your own language. Always. And then, המחשבה נמשכת אחר הדיבור – your mind will be transformed because of your speech and you will become a happy man. At first it won’t work. You won’t feel so happy. But you keep thinking and talking and these ideas will settle into your mind.RAV MILLER’S GUARANTEE FOR HAPPINESSThat’s what theMesillas Yesharimsays: החיצוניות מעוררת את הפנימיות – The outwardliness bestirs the inwardliness. It’s not sincere – you’re not so happy about breathing. But keep it up, and little by little you’re priming your well, and from the depths of yourneshamareal happiness will come out. Little by little, you’ll add more things. And all the things after a while start adding up you become the real millionaire. And after a while you’ll have forty, fifty things. And that’s nothing yet because there’s so much more than that. But you’ll be happy with forty things and you’ll be a rich man. You’ll be a rich man already. And if you’re a young man yet – even a young man of sixty – you’ll keep on this path, on this career, until you’re in your nineties and you’ll be a very wealthy person.I guarantee you that if you do it, you will become happy with the so many wonderful things that you have always taken for granted. And you will become a servant of Hashem and a great man. Not only will you become a happy person but you will become a great person.HASHEM TAUGHT US THE PATH TO HAPPINESSSo make sure to rejoice in all these things and life becomes so delicious. Life is so full of fun thatyou’re always at a party. People at a party are really morose! Let’s saychalilahyou were at a New Year’s party and you saw people reveling – singing and dancing and blowing whistles, jumping up and down. It’s nothing; it’s an empty happiness. They don’t haveanythingon the man who is really enjoying life. They don’t even begin to understand what you, the happy man or woman is all about. You’realwaysrejoicing!Now, there is a lot more to be studied on this subject – I have many more things listed here that I wanted to talk to you about, but I’m already way past time. But at least we began studying the subject. It’s a science that must be studied and practiced, but at least we know that there is such a thing as happiness the way Hakodosh Boruch Hu expects it, and it’s available to all of us.And don’t ask me questions: “Why don’t I see this from myrebbe, from this person or thattzadik?” Don’t believe it; therealtzadikimknow thatthis is the pathto true happiness in life. Because it’s the path – the way of happiness – that Hashem set down for us on the day we leftMitzrayim. And people who don’t walk this path set down by Hakodosh Boruch Hu are falling short not of greatmadreigos– don’t think they’re falling short of high levels of virtue and perfection. No, they’re falling short of the elementary requirements that Hashem taught us on that great day ofYetzias Mitzrayim:היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב – that it is the beauty of a spring day and the thousands of other ordinary details of our lives that are supposed to be the real source of our happiness. And therefore, they’re falling short of living happy lives infused with the endless joy of all the simple pleasures of life symbolized by the lesson of חודש האביב.HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The Guide to True HappinessMOSHE RABEINU REPORTING THE WEATHER?!When we read the pesukim that describe the departure of the Am Yisroel from Mitzrayim we note the interesting fact that the time of the year, the spring-like weather, plays a quite significant role in the story. As they gathered to leave Mitzrayim, Moshe Rabeinu spoke to the people זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים… היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב – “Remember always this day that you came out of Egypt…Today you are leaving in the month of spring” (Bo 13:4). Now, you know that in the Torah weather is a subject that is not discussed. This subject that becomes so important when you’re standing on the street talking to someone – when you meet the elevator man or the grocery man, that’s the first subject in America – but in the Torah it’s not discussed. And yet, all of a sudden, Moshe Rabeinu comes along and points out to us that it was a spring day.Now it’s quite strange that Moshe Rabeinu should make a big deal about it. There were many things he could have told the Am Yisroel as they gathered together to begin their journey towards freedom. I myself could think of some very important yesodos that Moshe Rabeinu could have given over at this most opportune time. But to point out the weather conditions?! He wasn’t a meteorologist. And if it was cold and rainy, would it have made a difference?! They were going out to freedom! Ask the man who is released from prison after fifty years if he cares about the temperature on the day he left; he doesn’t remember and he doesn’t even care to remember! He’s free at last!PERFECT WEATHER FOR FREEDOMAnd yet Moshe Rabeinu did say היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב – You’re leaving today, and look outside; it’s a beautiful spring day. And Rashi asks: “Didn’t they know it was spring? אלא כך אמר להם, ראו חסד שגמלכם – So what was Moshe Rabeinu telling them? “Pay attention to the kindness that Hashem is bestowing upon you, שהוציא אתכם בחודש שהוא כשר לצאת – That He took you out in a month that is fitting for departure, לא חמה ולא צנה ולא גשמים – It’s not too hot, not too cold, and not raining” (Rashi 13:4). וכן הוא אומר מוציא אסירים בכושרות – Hashem took out His prisoners when it was fitting, חודש שהוא כשר לצאת – during the month in which it is most fitting to depart” (Mechilta).Now we should also take a peek into Shir Hashirim, at Shlomo Hamelech’s description of Hashem speaking to His people on that great day of Yetzias Mitzrayim. קומי לך רעיתי יפתי ולכי לך – “Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and go forth from Mitzrayim, כי הנה הסתיו עבר הגשם חלף הלך לו – Because now the winter has passed, and the rains are gone, and the traveling through the wilderness will be much more pleasant, הנצנים נראו בארץ – The days of spring are here when the trees begin to produce their flowers and those who travel, delight in their colors and fragrances, עת הזמיר הגיע וקול התור נשמע בארצנו – The time of birds singing and chirping has arrived, which adds the additional joy of sweet sounds for those who travel in the spring, קומי לך רעיתי יפתי ולכי לך – And so My beautiful beloved,” says Hashem to the Am Yisroel, “now is the time to arise and leave Mitzrayim” (Shir Hashirim 2:11-13 al pi Rashi).SCHEDULING FOR THE CHIRPING BIRDSSo we see that Hashem made a point of bringing out the Am Yisroel from Mitzrayim davkathen, during the days of spring. And even more so, the Torah tells us that the entire scheduling of the year is dependent on the Yom Tov of Pesach falling out during the spring to commemorate this event: שמור את חודש האביב…כי בחודש האביב הוציאך השם אלוקיך ממצרים – “You must guard the month of spring…for it was in the month of springtime that Hashem your G-d took you out of Egypt” (Devarim 16:1). And what does “Guard the month of spring” mean? Chazal tell us (Rosh Hashanah 21a) that the month of Nissan must always fall out in the spring, and that sometimes the Sanhedrin must even add a month to the calendar just to ensure that Nissan should not fall out when it’s still winter. And all this, so that the Yom Tov ofPesach should fall out in the beautiful days of spring, because היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב, and we want to remember and to commemorate that we left Mitzrayim in the spring.And that’s a very big question. Because what difference does the spring make for a nation that is escaping two hundred and ten years of bondage? The month of chodesh ha’aviv, the ripening of the grain would certainly be a joyous time once they would enter Eretz Yisroel, but here, as they were departing from Rameses, they were far from the promised land and had no benefit at all from the ripening of the grain.What difference is it to such a people, escaping slavery, loaded down with riches, that birds are chirping in the branches? So what that the flowers are blooming on a beautiful spring day? We’re talking here about real happiness – the excitement of escaping to freedom and great wealth, and you’re talking about chirping birds?!This isn’t my question by the way. I heard this said over in the name of the Alter of Skabodkawhen I was in Europe. And because the Alter’s answer is a foundation for how we are supposed to live successfully in this world, so we’ll spend some time understanding his words.THE ALTER’S CHIDDUSHThe Alter said that the spring weather, with all of its varied pleasures was chosen purposefully by Hashem to enhance the occasion of Yetzias Mitzrayim. Even in the mountain-heap joy of liberation, and even though they were loaded down with the wealth of Mitzrayim, they were expected to not overlook the weather, and not to overlook the budding trees and the chirping birds.And why not? Because it was so important for the Am Yisroel to learn – right now, when they were leaving the bondage of Mitzrayim to become avdei Hashem – that the happiness of a true servant of Hashem won’t come from the great events of life. The great jolts of good fortune, the ecstatic moments of great happiness – a new car, a new baby, even if it’s Yetzias Mitzrayim – that won’t make a person truly happy. It’s only the small gifts of life like a balmy spring day and a bird chirping in the trees that are the true happiness of life.What we’re learning from the words, “Today you are going out, in the month of spring,” is that the joy of life is not the big things in life. Of course there is time for that too. It’s a big simcha when you have a child. And it’s even a bigger simcha when you marry that child off. You won the lottery? It’s a simcha! You got the job you wanted? You finished a mesichta? These are all big simchos that are a good reason to rejoice. But those aren’t the things that will make you a happy person! The happiness of transient events – even Yetzias Mitzrayim only happened once – always slip out of your hands sooner or later, and you’re left with the day to day simple pleasures of life, like a spring day, that Hashem is alwaysbestowing on you. And it’s all of those small things that are supposed to make you a happy person.ROSY GLASSES ARE NOTHINGNow you can’t just tell a man, “Be happy; Learn to see the the good things in life.” It’s like saying nothing at all to him. This subject of happiness is a science, and like any important subject, its study takes effort on your part. If you’ll say to someone, “Just put on optimistic spectacles, and look at the world through rosy eyeglasses,” you’re not helping him a bit.There’s work to be done besides for putting on the rosy colored spectacles. What work is that? Every form of happiness is an obligation upon you to appreciate and become even more of a happy person. A person becomes a happy person because of the small things in life. Now don’t say that your experience contradicts this – because it’s not true, you don’thave the experience. You never tried it! It’s necessary to dedicate your lives to the study of all the details of happinesses that you have in your life, in order to become the happy servant of Hashem that He expects.HOW TO GET RICHAnd so we’ll begin our career of happiness by reading together the words of a mishnah; it’s a mishnah that most of us say, but none of us fulfill.איזהו עשיר- Who is a wealthy man? השמח בחלקו – Someone who is happy with what he has. Now, everybody knows that, everybody says it; but nobody practices it.The mishnah is telling us here what Hakodosh Boruch Hu expects from us; that we shouldpractice it and that we should fulfill it. Hashem wants that we should become wealthy. Otherwise why did He tell us that. Why did He say איזהו עשיר? If it’s not important, why tell us? Just as a fact, some more information to know? No; it’s because that’s what you’re expected to become. Hashem wants that you should become that ashir who is sameach b’chelko!BEING SATISFIED IS NOT ENOUGHNow, it’s important to point out that samei’ach doesn’t mean that you’re satisfied with what you have; it means that you’re happy, that you’re full of joy.Hashem wants you to enjoyOlam Hazeh, to be a person overflowing with happiness, and it’s an art that you have to get busy learning. Before we begin, the first thing is that you must get out of your head any thoughts that prishus means to be unhappy. No; prishus means to be happy without luxuries, to be happy with all the multitude of pleasures of living life itself. And that’s who Hashem says is the wealthy man.So איזהו עשיר – Who is the rich man? השמח בחלקו – the one who trains himself little by little to be happy with all of the things that he already has, the things that are available to him all the time. And who is the poor person, the perpetually sad man? The man who is empty; he never learned anything about the happiness of life. All he learned was to want more and more; “gimmee” and “gimmee” and “gimmee” – he wants more and more. And therefore his whole life is nothing but a pursuit after what he doesn’t have. And because of that, he fails to enjoy chelko, what his portion is right now.All through life you’re missing the fun of life. Because wherever you turn in life, wherever you look, you’re going to encounter with your eyes on all sides, reasons to sing and dance with joy – if you know how to use the details of life to become happy. We just have to open our eyes and apply our minds, and be willing to put effort into finding the real happiness of life. If we do that, the happiness within us would well forth and life would become full of fun. It would be endless fun and happiness without the new car, and without the trip to the zoo or the amusement park. It would be all the details of life itself that make you a happy person.STUDY A VARIETY OF SUBJECTSBecause the joy of life is not the big things; and it’s not one small thing either. Because what does chelko mean? Chelko means your portion in life. And life is not one thing – life is a combination, a sum total of tens of thousands of phenomena – and it’s necessary to make eachphenomenon a separate study so that whenever you encounter that phenomenon it will cause you happiness. If you study how two things make you happy, so now you’ll have two things that cause you happiness. If you’ve studied fifty things, so fifty things will cause you happiness. The more subjects you study, the more phenomena you appreciate, the more happiness you will get out of life. Like Dovid Hamelech said: כי שמחתני השם בפעליך במעשה ידיך ארנן – “I sing at the deeds of Your hand” (Tehillim 92:5) And the only way to do that is to put your mind to what you have, and all these things add up to being a wealthy man. Hashem wants you to be wealthy; if you don’t learn this, Hashem is disappointed in you.I’ll give you an example. If you study, let’s say, the wind. Let’s say a man would learn to enjoy the wind. Now, it may seem silly to you, but that’s because you’ve never studied the subject of happiness correctly. Because really, wind is a subject that can make you endlessly grateful and happy. There’s a lot of fun in a wind. But you have to study it.LET’S STUDY WINDStudy the winds?! Now, go tell that to people outside, they’ll laugh at you. But it’s a gemara. The gemara tells in MesichtaGittin (31b) that a chochom was once walking and he saw two sages who were sitting engaged in study. So he said to them, במאי עסקיתו – “What sugya are you learning now?” So they said, ברוחות – “We’re talking about winds.” Two sages of the Talmudare sitting talking about winds! That’s what we should do too. Maybe we should sit down sometime and talk about winds.Now, some people, even talmideichachomim, didn’t learn the correct pshat in this gemara. “Why would they talk about winds,” some mefarshimthought. So they developed other interpretations of this gemara, what ruchos means. But that’s not the pshat. The gemarais telling us that they sat down to discuss wind! Because the study of the wind is a study of איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו.If the wind didn’t blow we couldn’t live. אי אפשר לעולם בלא רוחות – “The world could not exist without winds” (Taanis 3b). Nothing would grow without the wind; you wouldn’t have a piece of bread if not for wind. You didn’t know that? Well, you should start knowing it right now.If not for the wind there would be no food, because the winds keep the air moving so that the minute proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, three parts in ten thousand, is made available to plants. Otherwise the plant would use up all the surrounding carbon dioxide and would die. So when it’s windy, and you have to hold on to your hat, that should be a cause for happiness. That’s your “watermelon” blowing by; your “bread” and your “meat”. It’s refreshing, invigorating and it’s also the key to life itself.A CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR CAREERIf the winds would be discussed and studied properly, so the next time there would be a zephyr, or a blow, or a hurricane, a breeze – whatever form it would come in – it’s going to cause us happiness. Now I’m not saying that we’ll go wild with happiness – it’s only one phenomenon, one detail; but it will make you happy, no question about it. And winds are blowing all the time, and they don’t cost much money either. So learn to enjoy it! It might take some time; it takes work. But after a while, after you begin studying the phenomena of wind, and appreciating it, so wind becomes a stimulus for happiness. So a person is walking in the street, and a slight breeze is tickling him – it’s refreshing and it also arouses in his mind all those pleasurable thoughts; so that’s one contribution to a career of happiness.Now, a breeze is only one thing. But this world is a gift of many happinesses for us. The trees and the flowers, the clouds and the rain. The blue sky, the sun and the moon, the soil and the leaves. Our hands and our eyes, our feet and our shoes. And you have thousands and thousands of other things. Hashem is giving you plenty of air and plenty of water. You have clothing and food. You have garments. You have a roof over your head, a place to sleep. You have a home. A home?! You can lock the door and sleep at night. Not like the homeless people who have to sleep near the railroad tracks and other dangerous places.Life is a veritable wellspring of happiness.But all this is just devarim b’almah, it’s just words. You can’t just be a happy person because of “everything.” Everything is nothing. The path to true happiness is in the details. People have to teach themselves one thing at a time. Now wind is only one example of the happiness of this world. To learn the happiness of life you have to study all the details, moving from one subject to the other. One after the other, after another. And when you add together the sum total of many small phenomena, then they add up to a true happiness in life.BECOMING WEALTHIER AND WEALTHIERIf we would do this, we would actually learn together how to enjoy the phenomena of the world and become happy people all the time. And as life progresses we’d be adding new ideas into the treasure chest of our minds that cause us happiness. We’re adding riches into our mind and at the same time we’d review the old ones more deeply. Every day you can become happier and happier with the simple details of life, and slowly, little by little, you add one more thing and one more thing, and you become an ashir, you become wealthy. And we’d find that from all sides we’re bursting out with song. You’d walk down the Brooklyn street meshugahwith happiness.And once you achieve this wealth, so you’ll never be unhappy again. You can’t be unhappy if your life is filled with thousands of small happinesses all day long. Because no matter what happens you feel you still have air to breathe. Air all you want. And water to drink, all you want. You still have a roof over your head. You still have shoes to wear. You have sunshine and teeth. And that’s only the beginning of the list.And once you become a happy person you’ll be able to withstand all the nisyonos, the trials of life. Life is not easy; there are always ups and downs. And if you don’t achieve this wealth of samei’ach b’chelko, so no matter what you can purchase and no matter how many cars you have, you will be a fundamentally unhappy person, because you never learned what real happiness is. But once you achieve the wealth of samei’ach b’chelko, then no matter what, you’re a happy person for the rest of your life.THE MAIN PORTION IS … LIFE!And therefore, the first thing we must do is to clarify what it is that we’re supposed to be happy about; what does chelko mean? Now, what is the first aspect of chelko that all of us sitting here now have? “Your portion,” means first of all that you’re alive! You never thought about that pshat, did you? You were thinking that it means that when you finally make five hundred thousand dollars, so then you’ll be happy, you’ll be samei’achb’chelko, even though you don’t have two million dollars yet. No, that’s not what chelko means. If you’re still alive that’s already your portion that you’re expected to be full of joy about.Because there is no happiness like being alive! The happiness of being alive is an intense experience, only that we’re so accustomed to it that we ignore it. Let’s say a person would enjoy the fact that he is alive. Oh yes! How lucky you are that you’re alive. Don’t say it’s nothing. It’s everything! A millionaire would give up all of his property to stay alive. You’re alive!And there are plenty of people you know, some of them even your age, who are not alive anymore. I myself look back, when I was a boy. Some of my chaveirim passed away early. There was a fourteen year old friend of mine – he passed away. A twenty year old friend of mine passed away when I was in the yeshiva.WALKING ON CLOUDS!You know what fun it is to be alive! And there’s a simple way to discover it. Here’s a man who’s going to a specialist because his physician found something. And he’s afraid he has something terrible. So the specialist gives him a complete series of tests; blood tests and scans and everything else, and then he has to go home for a few days and wait for an answer. For those few days the man can think of nothing else except for the phone call he’s expecting from the doctor. What is anything worth if he won’t be able to live?! And finally the doctor calls him into his office and sits him down and tells him, “I’m sorry to tell you there’s nothing wrong with you!”Now, when this man walks out of the doctor’s office he’s stepping on clouds. He’s walking through Brooklyn and he’s the happiest man in the whole city. Because now he’s enjoying the sweetness of life. How sweet it is to be alive! The happiness of walking a Brooklyn street knowing that you’re alive is unequaled in all the pleasures of the wealthy.THE QUICK LANDINGOnly that what happens? He walks on clouds from here to Avenue P (two blocks away from the shul) and then he’s back on the ground again. He’s walking on the sidewalk again because he forgets. And that’s a tragedy because the happiness merely of being alive is a tremendous happiness that can keep you walking on clouds all day long.If only people would bestir themselves and say, “Why should I let this treasure go lost?! Why should I wait until the day comes when I’m a hundred and nineteen years old, and I’m laying in a home for the aged, and I’m looking through the window at the people walking the streets outside. I see how beautiful life is, and I’m thinking, ‘That was once me. I never realized how much fun being alive and walking the streets could be. And now I only have one or two days left.’” You know that when a man is lying in the hospital and he knows that his days are numbered, he says “If I could get on the street again. I could once more walk around, once more. What a happiness it would be!” He’s jealous when he looks down from the hospital window and sees people walking in the street and living, and for him, soon it will be all over.Of course if you have it every day after a while your mind becomes stultified. If you haven’t studied it then you don’t even appreciate it anymore. Like I told you earlier, it’s a science; you need to create a program for happiness. It won’t come merely because you came here to the lecture and listened to me. Because if you don’t get busy making yourself happy, all this talk here is a waste.YOU’RE AN OUTSIDER!You have to learn how to be samei’ach in your cheilek of being alive. And so when you pass a funeral parlor – on Coney Island Avenue there are a number of funeral parlors – as you pass by one you say, “Boruch Hashem I’m on the outside!” I’m not joking; I’m very serious now. And when you pass the next one, “Boruch Hashem, I’m on the outside.” There are three of them there. So by the third one also, “Boruch Hashem, I’m on the outside.” Say it with your mouth again, and again and again. To be outside of the funeral parlor is a simcha. Inside it’s a funeral home. A “home,” you might think that it’s comfortable, and there’s music for the meisim, and they serve lunch for the meisim. He’s in a box and that’s all. And you’re outside! “Boruch Hashem, I’m on the outside!”Now, being alive is a happiness ad ein sof, no question about it. But you have to expand on that happiness, because there is much more than life itself. Because not only are you alive but you have functioning kidneys. I know a man who has no kidneys – it’s already years and years that he’s on the waiting list to get a kidney. Three times a week he has to go to the clinic for special treatments instead of a kidney. It takes hours and hours each time, and it’s expensive. But he’s happy to be alive; he’s happy to have a machine that keeps him alive. Because he knows that it’s a ta’anug to be alive. And if he could just get one kidney, how happy he’d be. He wishes he could be you! He’d be delirious with joy!THE TRANSPLANT MANAnd here’s a man who finally was able to get a new kidney. He has one that he “borrowed” from his sister who was kind enough to give him one of her kidneys. So now he’s a “transplant man.” You think it’s so simple? This man cannot take certain medicines because they might upset his anti-rejection system. He takes a regimen of medicines to suppress the immunosuppressive reaction in him that would reject the new kidney. After all, the kidney is not his – it’s foreign matter inside his body. So the tendency of the body is to reject it. And so he’s always taking medicines to suppress the rejection apparatus.And there are some medicines that are sometimes vital to a person – maybe he gets an infection and he needs antibiotics – but now this man cannot take them because they would interfere with his anti-rejection medications. So this person may become subject to infections that he cannot combat because he can’t take medicines. And so all his life he is living precariously with his one kidney.THE CRAZY KIDNEY MANNow, how does this man look at the same world that you look at? If he sees somebody who is glum and downcast, you know what he thinks? He’s thinking, “That man is crazy! He has something to be sad about?! He has his own kidney!” A kidney is a great happiness! A natural one that fits in exactly where it’s supposed to be! It’s suited to everything in his body. All the cells in his body have an especial peculiar individual makeup, and they accept his kidney. While the kidney that this poor fellow has, is being rejected by all the cells in his body. And he is constantly in fear that maybe someday chas v’shalomthe cells in his body will win the fight – it’s a tug of war after all. And when this man sees you on the street he doesn’t understand how you cannot be ecstatic – not only do you have your own kidney, but you have two of them. You’re not only a millionaire, you’re a multi-millionaire!Now I’ll say it again because you have to get it into your heads. Hearing this is not going to make you happy – you have to get to work. So when you go to the bathroom and your kidneys are working perfectly, your bladder is functioning to perfection, you were successful in your “mission.” Are you thinking about it and becoming a happy person? You make an asher yatzar, but while you’re making the brachah you’re making motions to somebody in the house, “Wait, wait; I’ll be done in a second.” That’s the way to make asher yatzar?! A man without kidneys; if he could make asher yatzar, what a happiness it would be!HEALTHY BEGGAR OR SICK RICH MAN?You have to bestir the happiness in your mind – at least when you’re making the brachah. And actually, even that is not enough. All day long you should be thinking about your kidneys. Of course, all day long you can’t do, but during the day when you’re walking the street, take a minute to feel like your walking on clouds because you have functioning kidneys. And don’t say it’s impossible to live that way. It’s possible. You have to just get busy doing it. It’s hard work. You do it one day and then the next day you have to do it even more. You pass by a dialysis clinic, stop for a half minute – a half minute on the clock – and thank Hashem for the joy of having a kidney. And if you do it, if you become happy with your kidney, so now you’re a millionaire. And if you’re ecstatic because you have two kidneys, so you’re a multi-millionaire.So now you’re a multi-millionaire. But that’s only the beginning. I know a man who had to have an operation and he can no longer eliminate by means of his anus. He now has a bag attached to his side. You have to realize that this man walks the streets envying everyone who has a rectum in the right place. If he could restore that natural function, that his orifice should be where it’s supposed to be, that man would give away all his earthly possessions. There’s no question that he would prefer being a beggar with a rectum to be being a millionaire with a bag on his side.THE SILLINESS OF MANKINDAnd now we see how silly all of mankind is if they don’t sing because of what they possess. And not only when you use that orifice, when you move your bowels, but all day. Frequently, as you walk down the street, you should bestir this happiness in your mind – how lucky you are; how convenient it is; how comfortable it is; how wealthy you are. It’s a joy to have the function of natural elimination and it’s a cause for actual tangible pleasure and for singing. A man who has sense, Torah sense, actually rejoices in his ability to eliminate.Now the more you learn how to be happy from all these things, so it grows on you, it becomes part of your personality. Little by little it grows upon your mind an attitude of optimism, and you become a happy personality. “I’m so happy to be alive, to be on this side of the cemetery gate.” That’s what you should think about when you walk for the street. “And not only am I alive, but I have kidneys!” Now, that’s a wealth! “And not only kidneys, but I don’t need a bag on my side! I’m normal!” It’s a great happiness to be normal!THE DELICIOUS COCKTAILSo now we begin to see that it’s important for us to dwell on details. You have to take one thing at a time; maybe one week you’ll work let’s say on enjoying air. Getting the pleasure of breathing. The truth is that when you walk outside tonight, you should take a deep breath. “Ahhh!” you should say.” It’s really a ta’anug.”No cocktail that you could buy in the store compares to the cocktail of fresh air. People walk in the street today and they drink in the street to show off they’re drinking. That’s meshugas. What do you need it for?! Drink in the fresh air. It’s free of charge and it’s much healthier. Fill your lungs. It makes your blood become red immediately, the fresh air.Get into the habit – one week learn to praise Hashem for air. This week whenever you can, think about the happiness of being able to breathe fresh air. After a while you’re happy when you think about the air. Breathing is fun! I once told you about a simple experiment, didn’t I? Dip your head in a bucket of water three times and take it out twice! Anyhow, then wait till you can’t anymore, and finally you’ll take it out this time and you’ll take one deep breath – “Ahh, is that delicious!” The truth is that it’s always delicious. Breathing is delicious!So let’s say you’re walking to the beis haknesses and you tell yourself, “Isn’t it a wonderful thing that there is air to breathe?!” Now at first it’s a chiddush gadol. Air?! I’m afraid that even if you tell it to talmidei chachomim it’s a big chiddush. You tell him, “Yes, air is vital. I’ll prove to you that it’s what you need more than anything else. You can get along without food for days and days. Without water, for a shorter time, but you can get along without water too – for a few days maybe. But without air you can’t get along.”“HALF HALLEL” IS NOT ENOUGHIt says in the Medrash on the possuk כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה, that על כל נשימה ונשימה תהלל י-ה, for every breath you have to say Hallel. And my rebbi said it means gantz Hallel. For every breath you owe Hashem a full hallel. Now, you don’t have time for that – you’re too busy breathing – but at least you have to know that that’s how delicious it is!When a person is a little bit dejected, discouraged, what a good idea it is to go to the window and breathe deeply. We don’t realize. It’s like a drink of very strong medicine. Air comes into your lungs and the oxygen unites with your blood and makes your blood more red. It’s a fact. As you breathe, your blood becomes more invigorated with oxygen. The iron in your blood that makes it red, the hemoglobin, unites with the oxygen, and it carries the oxygen on its path through all the blood vessels everywhere in the body to invigorate all the cells. The whole body is different because you breathe. And therefore it’s a good idea to practice breathing just for the feel of it, just to appreciate that great gift of air.200 MILES OF CHESSEDThe world is full of air. That’s what it means מלוא כל הארץ כבודו. So a man will tell you, “K’vodo? That means the “glory of Hashem.’ Where does air come into it?” What do you think is “the glory of Hashem”? The glory of Hashem is His chessed. The chessed of Hashem fills the world. And what is one of the most prevalent kindnesses of Hashem? Air! Hakodosh Boruch Hu made two hundred miles of it. Two hundred miles up of air! Now the air is not one thing. It’s a cocktail mixed exactly with the right ingredients to make it not only beneficial to us but it tastes good too. It’s mixed with oxygen, about twenty percent. All the rest is mostly nitrogen and inert gas because you need something with which to carry the oxygen. If the air was all oxygen, you’d become drunk. If you would breathe oxygen alone, you would get dizzy, you’d become intoxicated. So you have to have the nitrogen to dilute the oxygen; and a little bit of carbon dioxide is essential because it’s an incentive to your lungs to breathe more deeply. And then traces of a few other gases together and it makes together a combination of the perfect material that’s suited for human beings.You know what we are? We’re like fish in the bottom of an ocean. Fish in the ocean. Fish don’t like air. They want water. We’re in an ocean, an ocean of air. The ocean is two hundred miles high. We’re like fish living in this ocean of air, and we love it. That’s our element. If we were to change places with a fish, we wouldn’t be happy, just like a fish wouldn’t be happy if he took our place. And therefore let’s enjoy this ocean while we have it.STRANGLED IN HIS SUMMER HOMESo practice up on this. On the way home, When you walk out of here onto Ocean Parkway – it’s a beautiful street, a parkway with trees and bushes. Now after the rain they’re exuding a fragrance, and the combined fragrance of different kinds of shrubs and trees, combined with the city odors – it’s a pleasure those city odors – and they combine to give a certain cocktail that you don’t drink; you draw it deep into your lungs and you can learn to enjoy it.You think a summer home in Maine and a winter home in Florida is going to make you happy? No, that’s nothing. What good would the home be if you were strangled without air, if you were suffocating for air. Breathing is a big simcha! Some people have difficulty breathing. You know that some people have difficulty breathing? (The Rav took a deep breath). Ahh! It’s a pleasure to fill your lungs. Mamish a taanug! Don’t laugh at breathing – it’s a great happiness to breathe.WEEK #2: WALKING IS A HAPPINESSSo you’ve begun to scratch the surface of the happiness of breathing. It was only a week of thinking after all, but you’re a wealthy man already. Now suppose you would spend a week becoming happy that you can walk. So the next week change and start appreciating the fact that you can walk. Walking is a simchah. המכין מצעדי גבר, “How happy I am that I can walk.” Look how many people sit in wheelchairs. Walking is fun. Your thigh swings forward in effortless motion and all of your joints are functioning to perfection. You don’t hear any scraping as you bend your knee, do you? That’s a simcha! You don’t feel any chaffing? Ah, it’s a pleasure to walk. And it’s good exercise too. The entire body is moving. It’s good for your heart. It’s good for everything if you walk. And besides for that, walking shows you’re in control of yourself. All your muscles cooperate to walk and you learn what it means המכין מצעדי גבר.If you walk in the street and you see – like I saw yesterday – a girl who was hopping around on crutches. But the stump of her other leg didn’t stick out. That’s how much was cut off. Now that was an apparition, sent to me min hashamayim. Because how much would this girl give to regain her leg? No money in the world would be too much! And therefore, as you walk in the street you have to think about that brachah you mumbled in the morning, ברוך אתה השם אלוקינו מלך העולם המכין מצעדי גבר – I thank You Hashem for establishing the footsteps of a man. “I’m able to take footsteps on my own feet!” It’s a happiness to be able to walk on your own two feet. You know how ecstatic a man is who has been confined to a wheelchair for a long time – he wasn’t able to walk – and finally he regained that ability! He’s overjoyed! So the second week, you’ll work on the happiness of walking.Now you’re an even wealthier man. You own a few apartment houses already. You have your lungs that are breathing in the great elixir of life we call air, that’s one apartment building that’s yours. Another apartment building is the happiness of being able to walk. That’s a very valuable piece of property! So you’re already a pretty wealthy fellow. You can walk in the street now and your pockets are full of cash. If your pockets would be full of hundred dollar bills bulging on both sides, it’s nothing compared to the person who spent two weeks working on the happiness of fresh air and on the ecstasy of walking. As I walk in the street balancing myself on two legs, and I’m breathing the air of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m enjoying life!BE QUEER AND BE HAPPYSo we’re beginning to see now that in order to be a samei’ach b’chelko you have to be a queer kind of a fellow. You can’t always share your feelings with other people; they’ll laugh at you. באזני כסיל אל תדבר – “Don’t speak into the ears of a fool.” He’ll make light of these ideas and cool you off (Mishlei 23:9). “There’s a fellow over there, down Ocean Parkway, who’s happy that he has two kidneys! Ha!” Try to tell people that you’re filled with joy, you’re mamish b’simchabecause breathing is fun, so they’ll think you’re wacky. But they’re the wacky ones because they’re missing all the happiness of this world.I know what the people will say when you go out of here. You’ll talk to people and they’ll tell you other things. Don’t be misled! Here comes along a frum tzaddikand says to me, “You’re teaching people to enjoy life?! The purpose of life is ta’anugim?! To be rodef ta’anugim, run after pleasures?!” He was upset at me. I looked at him and said, “Look, you have a wristwatch. I don’t have a wristwatch. You drive a car when you come to the yeshivah. I walk to the yeshivah. Who is running after pleasure, you or I? You’re running after it but you don’t have it. I’m not looking for pleasures. They’re coming to me. As I walk in the street with my “Rolls Royce” – my two shoes, that’s my Rolls Royce – and I’m breathing the air of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m enjoying life. I walk past the cemetery on Ocean Parkway, and I’m filled with happiness that I’m on this side of the gate.” That kind of kosher ta’anugim is a chiyuv, it’s a mitzvah gedolah to enjoy life that way.ICE CREAM IN THE SUNAll this is serious talk. I know that if you go to a kollel and you’ll tell them these things, they’ll laugh at you. That’s because they’re silly – they don’t begin knowing Torah. And don’t tell me that enjoyment and happiness is not for tzadikim. Oh no, you big tzadik, you don’t want to enjoy the sun and the wind. He’s eating his chocolate cakes and ice cream, but to be happy with the sun, that’s too much.Happiness is not running after good times, not going chalilah to entertainment, and fun places. No; chas v’shalom, chas v’shalom, that’s meshugas. People who are running after good times are never enjoying life – they’re always running after good times and fun, but they never find it. Never. They’re always busy running, pursuing, but they’ll never find it – because they’re looking in all the wrong places.“G-D MADE” EARPHONES, SPEAKERS, AND CAMERASWho needs places of entertainment to be happy when you have all the happiness right here! Look at yourself, “I’m alive, boruch Hashem.” Look at your feet; “Boruch Hashem, two of them! And they’re both the same size!” Look at your ears; “Boruch Hashem!” They’re “earphones” hanging on the side of your head – and you don’t have to buy them in the store. You have teeth; slicing teeth in the front and the grinders in the back. Boruch Hashem! You have a functioning tongue that’s busy all day long in your mouth. You have a “speaker” in your mouth, vocal chords. Boruch Hashem. And eyes! “Cameras” in your head. Boruch Hashem! You can walk, Boruch Hashem! המכין מצעדי גבר. That’s some trick you have there being able to balance yourself as you walk. Boruch Hashem! And that’s only the beginning.You have to learn how to be happy with your clothing. It’s not enough to say the brachah of malbish arumim in general and patur yourself. You have to study the details of your clothing in order to become a happy person. The pockets and the buttons, everything. Study it.THE SHOES IN THE TREASURE CHESTStudy your shoes. Shoes are a happiness. Did you ever think about that? You know that in some countries people don’t have shoes. Only one man wears shoes, that’s the king of the tribe. And not every day. Once in a while he puts on shoes, when a visitor comes from outside, a tourist, so he wants to show he’s a sport so he puts on shoes. Otherwise he doesn’t put on shoes. Shoes are a big luxury. It’s a very complicated achievement, a shoe. Look at the different kinds of leather. And rubber heels. And you need shoestrings. A shoe is a treasure.So let’s say a colonel from the American Air Force lands on that island, so the king takes his shoes out from his treasure chest, and he puts them on, and he marches with his short pants covering his naked body, with some feathers in his head to greet the colonel. And he shows him his shoes. He’s so happy; he’s “an aristocrat.”THE GREAT BLESSING OF SHOELACE TIPSWe should know that shoes are a happiness. It’s not an exaggeration at all. It’s no exaggeration; shoes are a happiness for us. Just because you live in a country where everyone can afford shoes, should that decrease the happiness in any way?!That’s why we’re expected to say every day, שעשה לי כל צרכי. But we’re lazy, we don’t think. Often we’re not even thinking about the peirush hamilos.I’m not talking now about the “formality” of making the brachahin shul. When you’re walking down the street, take a minute every day to be happy with your shoes. Think about the details. “How lucky I am to have shoelaces that have plastic tips. If there wasn’t a plastic tip, then I’d have a hard job fitting it into the hole. I’d have to spit on it, and twist it and try to push it through the hole. Boruch Hashem I have plastic on the tips of the laces.”THE DOCTORS ARE OVERCOME WITH EMOTIONOnce you begin thinking this way, you can begin to be happy with all the functions of life. I mentioned the sense of sight before. I can’t just gloss over it quickly. You’re able to see! If you don’t appreciate that, then take a look at the person walking in the street with a white cane tapping his way. What would he do if he could get eyes like you have today?! Even one eye!It was recently reported in the papers that a woman who had a cataract for many years and her situation was considered hopeless. She was a married woman, with children, but she had no sight. And then it was decided to attempt an experimental operation on her. For a long time the bandages remained on her eyes. And finally the doctor came in and he took off the bandages – just for a moment they were taken off so as not to strain her eyes – but in that one moment she screamed in delirium. She could see! And the doctors were weeping. They were overcome with emotion.Now isn’t it a tragedy that we don’t weep in happiness at this great gift of sight! Boruch atah Hashem pokei’ach ivrim, Who opens up the eyes of the blind every morning. Finally this lady saw her husband for the first time; she finally saw her children. And she said that she didn’t want anything more out of life except to be able to look!FREE LENS CLEANSING GERMICIDESThe happiness of sight, the happiness of seeing color! Seeing is life itself. The gemarasays that סומא חשוב כמת – in one sense a blind man is like a dead man. He’s not dead – there are a lot of compensations in life – but in a certain way he’s dead. Because the great happiness of having two “cameras” is a joy that a living person shouldn’t be without. Even one camera! How lucky we are! And it’s a color camera that focuses by itself; all day long it’s working perfectly, focusing in, focusing out. Every time you blink you’re washing off the lens with a film of germicide that cleanses. It’s a perfectly functioning camera that has no equal among the best fabrications of Mankind.That’s how you’re expected to think – that’s sameach b’chelko. Not that you’re satisfied with “merely” five hundred thousand dollars. When a man learns to enjoy the fact that he has two good eyes, he is more wealthy than the man who has two million dollars. So how can we be satisfied in the morning with a dry as dust declaration, “pokei’ach ivrim”, which most times we don’t even think about what we’re saying? Isn’t that a tragedy?“I HAVE TWO ARMS!”Now we have to keep on going. Look all around you; did you ever see a man with only one arm? Two weeks ago I saw a man without any arms. Both arms were missing! And I said to myself, “Look, you learn Chovos Halevavos, don’t you? How can you pass him by?” So I took another look. I waited till he passed by – I didn’t want to embarrass him – and I took another look to remind myself. And for at least a half a block I was walking on air, thinking how lucky I am to have two arms. Think chas v’shalom what it would be like if you didn’t have two arms. What would you do? For a half a block I was ecstatic. But a half a block is not enough – it has to be all the time!Not only do you have arms and legs, but your mind is normal. Oooh, what a chessed that is! So many people are very confused; mental illnesses, imbeciles, and depression. Depression is also a sickness, it’s also like being an imbecile. And therefore, ברוך אתה השם חונן הדעת! How can you say shemonah esrei every day, and ignore that bracha. It’s the first of the weekday brachos, and you’re thanking Hashem that you’re sane! Three times a day you say it; shouldn’t you appreciate that great gift? Chonein hadaas – You bestowed sanity upon me.THEY FROZE IN SLABODKAAppreciate the roof over your head. Did you ever stop to appreciate the happiness of a warm house? Once upon a time when a Jew came into his house, “Ah, a varme shtub,” he said. “Ah varme shtub!” In thebeis hamedrash he was freezing. I sat in Slabodka and we were freezing in the yeshiva! We were freezing! It was hard to heat the yeshiva. The stove was over there at the end, behind the wall, and you put in some wood there till it burned out. It was barely enough to heat that little room. If you would stand next to the stove you would feel some heat – otherwise it was cold. And so you would come home and it was a great happiness to be in a varme shtub. You should be filled with joy when you come into a warm house. And today you can enjoy that happiness in the beis medrash as well.Warmth is a great happiness. You can ask that poor woman sitting outside on the bench on Ocean Parkway. She has no home. I see her pushing a shopping wagon with all her belongings in that little wagon. She has no warm place to sleep. If somebody would let her rest in the vestibule of their home, it would be the greatest happiness for her. She’d be meshugeh with joy.LYING ON THE KITCHEN FLOORNow that’s a chiddush to most people. A warm house? Yes, a warm house is a happiness. It’s not easy to have a house that’s warm. When I was a boy we didn’t have warm houses. It was only warm in the kitchen where the coal stove was. You had to put coal in the stove. When the coal burned out you had to take the ashes out of the stove. That was the only room where there was warmth. If I wanted to read, I laid down on the floor in the kitchen. I laid on the floor all day, all night, in the kitchen by the stove. All the rest of the house didn’t have any warmth. We didn’t have any radiators. No such thing. The house was cold. If you wanted to warm a house, you put a kerosene stove in the rooms. The kerosene stove had to have oil there and sometimes it didn’t work. When you got up in the morning, the whole room was black, including your face too, it made everything black, the soot from the kerosene stove. This luxury of having a warm house is something the modern people have to realize.Ahhh! What a pleasure it is to have a warm house. So when you walk in with your children in the wintertime from the beis haknesses, say “Chaim’ll, isn’t it good to have a warm house?” Rub your hands together. He looks at you like you fell off the moon. He doesn’t understand you. “How silly adults are,” he thinks. Never mind. That’s the way to bring up children and eventually he’ll thank you for that.THE NEIS OF THE FAUCETWhen I was in Slabodka nobody had running water in the house. You had to go a half block away to get water. And you couldn’t drink it; it was dangerous to drink well water. You had to boil it up first. And here in your house you turn the faucet and water comes out, pure water fit to drink! What a wealth, what a happiness that is! And even hot water! Hot water coming out of a faucet! It’s a luxury upon luxuries. Once upon a time hot water came only from springs, hot springs. If you didn’t have hot springs you couldn’t get any hot water unless you boiled it. Think about that every time you turn on the faucet, and you’ll start becoming a samei’ach b’chelko.You have to talk to yourself about your home. As you walk on the steps, you should whisper to yourself, “Isn’t it good we have steps?” You know, I have steps upstairs, and many times I think about how in the olden days in the gemara they didn’t have steps. They had a ladder, a dargah. Try climbing a ladder to go upstairs; it’s not so simple. Now even a ladder is also a very good invention. Otherwise you would have to go with a rope, you’d have to lift yourself up. But even a ladder is not so safe. Steps are a luxury.A HANDRAIL IS PIKUACH NEFESHSo here you have a man walking up steps and he’s thanking Hashem for this luxury of steps, for the happiness of a staircase. But not only the steps, there’s a railing too! You know the building code requires you to make a railing, so some chachamim be’eineihem try to avoid the building code and leave out the rail. They deceive the inspector. So what happens? Sometimes they’re walking up the steps and they’re a little busy and they fall down. You can break your neck chalilah. The railing is there; it’s a happiness, mamish pikuachnefesh. What a blessing a handrail is! You ever stopped to think about that? Never even once did the handrail make you happy?!“All this is silly,” you’ll say. For meshuga’im everything is silly. So let them be meshugeh, and you be happy! You walk up the steps and you’re happy because of the handrail. And the older you get, the more you’ll enjoy it. Imagine a man enjoying the handrail. His life is full of fun, full of happiness.BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE TAKES WORKYou learn little by little. Of course it’s a career. You have to put in work. You could put in five minutes a day practicing enjoying air, five minutes a day practicing enjoying your eyes. Five minutes a day next week practicing enjoying walking. Five minute a day practice enjoying clothing. Little by little you’re gathering up in your bank account wealth and little by little you’re becoming a happy man of many riches, many treasures.But you have to do it, though. Just hearing me say it, is not enough. It takes work to be a fake millionaire, so to be the true millionaire of “hasamei’achbi’chelko”surely takes time and hard work. Like I said before, it doesn’t come by itself. You have to make up your mind that you’re going to pursue this career of happiness and that you’ll always be saying, “I thank You Hashem.” Always, “I thank You Hashem for giving me this breakfast. I thank you Hashem for being able to go to the bathroom.” And don’t rely on the brachos you make. You must say it with your mouth in your own language. Always. And then, המחשבה נמשכת אחר הדיבור – your mind will be transformed because of your speech and you will become a happy man. At first it won’t work. You won’t feel so happy. But you keep thinking and talking and these ideas will settle into your mind.RAV MILLER’S GUARANTEE FOR HAPPINESSThat’s what the Mesillas Yesharim says: החיצוניות מעוררת את הפנימיות – The outwardliness bestirs the inwardliness. It’s not sincere – you’re not so happy about breathing. But keep it up, and little by little you’re priming your well, and from the depths of your neshama real happiness will come out. Little by little, you’ll add more things. And all the things after a while start adding up you become the real millionaire. And after a while you’ll have forty, fifty things. And that’s nothing yet because there’s so much more than that. But you’ll be happy with forty things and you’ll be a rich man. You’ll be a rich man already. And if you’re a young man yet – even a young man of sixty – you’ll keep on this path, on this career, until you’re in your nineties and you’ll be a very wealthy person.I guarantee you that if you do it, you will become happy with the so many wonderful things that you have always taken for granted. And you will become a servant of Hashem and a great man. Not only will you become a happy person but you will become a great person.HASHEM TAUGHT US THE PATH TO HAPPINESSSo make sure to rejoice in all these things and life becomes so delicious. Life is so full of fun thatyou’re always at a party. People at a party are really morose! Let’s say chalilah you were at a New Year’s party and you saw people reveling – singing and dancing and blowing whistles, jumping up and down. It’s nothing; it’s an empty happiness. They don’t have anything on the man who is really enjoying life. They don’t even begin to understand what you, the happy man or woman is all about. You’re always rejoicing!Now, there is a lot more to be studied on this subject – I have many more things listed here that I wanted to talk to you about, but I’m already way past time. But at least we began studying the subject. It’s a science that must be studied and practiced, but at least we know that there is such a thing as happiness the way Hakodosh Boruch Hu expects it, and it’s available to all of us.And don’t ask me questions: “Why don’t I see this from my rebbe, from this person or that tzadik?” Don’t believe it; the realtzadikim know that this is the path to true happiness in life. Because it’s the path – the way of happiness – that Hashem set down for us on the day we left Mitzrayim. And people who don’t walk this path set down by Hakodosh Boruch Hu are falling short not of great madreigos – don’t think they’re falling short of high levels of virtue and perfection. No, they’re falling short of the elementary requirements that Hashem taught us on that great day of Yetzias Mitzrayim: היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב – that it is the beauty of a spring day and the thousands of other ordinary details of our lives that are supposed to be the real source of our happiness. And therefore, they’re falling short of living happy lives infused with the endless joy of all the simple pleasures of life symbolized by the lesson of חודש האביב.HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I Hope Your sitting Comfortably, For this tale can go many different ways.. Welcome to the Penance Halloween Project 2018 – We Wrote a tale, based on our love on horror and storytelling, and We Opened it up to those of you out there who were brave enough to take up this quest… 13 Podcasts accepted our challenge, in one way or another.. 10 Episodes Were Recorded, All Totally Different from each other And While the Story stayed the same, the methods became abstract Between Those who want the finest Details.. And those who's patience sorely Lacked So Let us Open the Dungeon with this Tale of a Missing Merchant’s Son Who will survive and What will become of them for now the Games have Begun… This Episode was the Pilot Episode, The Story was in its "written but not tested" stage and many elements of the story were tightened or changed following this pilot episode to make them better before the other groups ran the tale. There were also several instances where the groups excitability caused them to talk ontop of each other, or Belry to play with his microphone connection (causing crackling noises), We apologise for any annoyance this causes. So Who was part of the Pilot? Well it was a Blend of our normal cast and the Curse of Penance Cast which features two other podcasts: The Character of Jess was played by Lexa from The Dead horse Podcast Twitter Itunes Soundcloud Youtube The Character of Paulie Lightfingers was Played by AJ from Pretending with Dice Twitter Facebook Podbean Itunes Stitcher Youtube Editor’s Note: since we were recording different groups via discord - who had various degrees of experience with recording online - the audio quality may vary Player to player. We did our best to minimise this difference but sometimes it was beyond our control. Also the Intro has a relatively quiet intro. This has been done to Build suspense, please wait until Artie has begun speaking (around 18 seconds in) before adjusting your sound volume, Apologies if you only read this after. All Music Was Written & Performed by Daniel Boström Learn more at Penancerpg.com Come talk with us on Twitter or Facebook Listen on Spotify, iTunes, PocketCasts, Libsyn, Stitcher, Support us on Ko fi and Patreon
Happy Friggin’ A Friday!!!! Today We Gave Away - TICKETS TO GO GET - Beer To A Buncha People Who Fought The Law!! (Guess How That Turned Out…?) Talked About Sam Being Sick – She Was Out Today, Congratulations For Cricket Of Mounds – She Won The VooDoo Fest Giveaway Lastnight, Our Next Big Giveaway That Is Still A Secret – Gonna Be The Biggest Thing We Have Ever Done, Pinterest Porn, Gimpy’s Thing For Clown Porn - #WTF, The Clown Makeup Registry, A Legal Issue We All Lost, Willy-Nilly, The Struggle Is Wheel!!!!!! So Who’s Coming Out To The Ale Trail Tomorrow??????
Happy Friggin’ A Friday!!!! Today We Gave Away - TICKETS TO GO GET - Beer To A Buncha People Who Fought The Law!! (Guess How That Turned Out…?) Talked About Sam Being Sick – She Was Out Today, Congratulations For Cricket Of Mounds – She Won The VooDoo Fest Giveaway Lastnight, Our Next Big Giveaway That Is Still A Secret – Gonna Be The Biggest Thing We Have Ever Done, Pinterest Porn, Gimpy’s Thing For Clown Porn - #WTF, The Clown Makeup Registry, A Legal Issue We All Lost, Willy-Nilly, The Struggle Is Wheel!!!!!! So Who’s Coming Out To The Ale Trail Tomorrow??????
Jesus used the phrase “Son of Man” to refer to himself about 80 times in the four gospels. For example, in Luke 19:10 He said “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In Mark 1:1 he was referred to as the Son of God “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;” In 1 Corinthians 15:45 , He is the second man or last Adam. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” In Matthew 1:18, He is the child of the Holy Ghost - “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” And on the cross, He is the lamb of God. John 1:29 - “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” So Who is this Jesus and what kind of man is He? Listen now as Pastor Obi continues his teaching on the heritage and authority you have in Christ Jesus. _____ Need prayer? visit www.commonimpactcentre.church/prayerrequest
A few weeks ago I got a text message from one of my speakers who needed a little encouragement before jumping up on stage. And I am always honored to be able to do the encouraging. It's not a small thing, and it's not fluffy. It is essential, and empowering! So - Who is your cheerleader?
Live from the marketing closet, Who's John podcast brings new and refreshing insights on the evolving landscape of the customer experience today. Each week, experts in the space will share their knowledge on a breadth of topics that will allow you to better engage with your guests. So…Who’s John? Tune in weekly to find out.
Anthony has a Facetime call with Jon (@themkidsdaddy), the host of the "So Who's Going to Fix This?" podcast, to discuss recent and upcoming UFC events and the challenges of podcasting.
Anthony has a Facetime call with Jon (@themkidsdaddy), the host of the "So Who's Going to Fix This?" podcast, to discuss rap music, aliens and non-belief.
It’s time for Thanksgiving and we already know what Grandma is cooking! Greens, Beans, Tomatoes, Potato…”younameit So WHO are you bringing to dinner? A new boo, an old friend or a convenient “new friend”? Listen in as we discuss the do’s and don’ts of renting a boo for the holidays. Drink of the week: Hottie … Continue reading "DTWM 65: Rent- a-Boo for the Holidays"
When Jesus of Nazareth starts his amazing ministry of teaching and healing - it's a bit like when Clark Kent, a mild mannered reporter on the Dailey Planet, comes out as Superman. So WHO really is Jesus?
The Affiliate Guy with Matt McWilliams: Marketing Tips, Affiliate Management, & More
Recently I shared cart close strategies, but I left out ONE that is a bit over the top but crazy effective. Not something I’ve shared before. The secret is to CALL THEM. Yes, call them. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Email Template: mattmcwilliams.com/phonecall Watch TheAffiliateGuy.TV: http://www.theaffiliateguy.tv How I Currently Make $3,874 a Week Without Creating a Single Product: http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/watch Take our Affiliate Marketing Survey: http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/affsurvey Ask Me a Question here: http://www.asktheaffiliateguy.com/ All our recommended affiliate programs: http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/whatsup Your First 100 Affiliates Report: http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/first100 Think about how that makes them feel. So WHO do you call and HOW do you get their numbers? Well, let’s say you have 500 optins. All you know is their first name and email. Well, you first take out the people who already bought the product. That’s 20 people. Down to 480. Then you take out the people who never clicked to the sales page. That gets us down to 300 or so. Then take out the people who only clicked once. That eliminates another 150-ish. Down to about 30% of optins, or 150 people. Target THEM! How do you get the phone numbers? 1. If buyers and you use a CRM, boom. 2. WhitePages.com - reverse lookup by email, etc. 3. ASK THEM! If you want the template I use to get more than 50% of my optins on the phone, go to mattmcwilliams.com/phonecall and I’ll send it to you. for free.
#BCR is back again with more questions than ever coming from our viewers. We talk about Sazerac’s devious marketing tactic with age statement removal, the regrets of past purchases, will we see a buying increase of pre-sourced NDP after their stills are running, and how our buying habits have changed Get 10% off your online orders at glencairnwhiskyglass.com with offer code “bpursuit” So Who's shipped their samples from the last roundtable? The picture BCR made famous. Old Charter 8 vs 8yr. Was there a case to be made? Lucas asks: With the bourbon boom in full effect, many of the large NDPs have really focused over the last few years on getting their own stills set up. Many of these brands have loyal followings from people that know what an NDP is . As these brands start to bottle their own juice, will we see a shift along the same lines as the hunt for stitzel weller juice or old heaven hill stock. Brands like Bulleit, Michters, Angels envy, and Luxco have plenty of money to pay chemists and tasters to keep flavor as close as possible but bourbon nerds are notorious for wanting what they no longer can get. What are your thoughts on the possibility of a subculture being created for people that really want Four Roses Bulleit or Heaven Hill Ezra brooks instead of what these companies are actually producing on their own? Will brands suffer as they change sources? Will we not notice it at all because the blending process is so key to major bourbon labels? Will consumers notice at all? Eric, who has yet to make an appearance from Breaking Bourbon, posted an article about changing our buying habits. Have you all slowed down? Amped up? Do you have more bourbon than you can drink in your lifetime? http://breakingbourbon.com/a-different-persepective-changed-my-buying-habits.html Rick Noland asks: You guys talk about FOMO. I also occasionally have FOBR (Fear of Buyer's Remorse). How about an open discussion for the next Roundtable for the bottle(s) everyone regrets buying?
So Who is Jesus, really? There are most who acknowledge that He was a man. Others say that He was a man Who went about doing good things and teaching people to live good lives. Fewer go further and declare Him to be a prophet. Yet, even fewer are willing to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the Son of GOD. The Son of GOD, Who being equal with GOD, came to earth enshrouded in human flesh through the power of GOD's Spirit and was birthed to the human, woman Mary without a biological, human father. What say you? Who is Jesus, really?
So Who is Stacey Brown Randall? WELL... I am a member of the business failure club Champion of solo-prenuers* and small business owners Love working with people who have to develop and cultivate relationships to sell A gatherer not a hunter when it comes to cultivating new business I abhor cold calling (Will. Not. Do. It.) Anti-perfectionist…because no entrepreneur has time for perfection I truly believe you can create a referral explosion in your business I am a Business Growth Accelerator who figured out how to grow my business and now work with other business owners to help them do the same. My mission is to help people make more money and find more time. If you follow my work (receive my tips, downloads, training videos) you will find I am passionate about teaching you to understand referral marketing, client experience, business growth and being more productive. If the business you are in involves growing and cultivating relationships to “get a sale” then you are my people. It’s not about B2B or B2C – it’s about H2H – Human to Human where we build trust and become resources to our clients. Because it is at this place where cultivating referrals begin. I am also a certified productivity coach, an adjunct professor, received my Master’s in Organizational Communication, have a background in sales and marketing, and married (to a hottie) with three kids. Oh yea... I edit my text messages I organize my kitchen junk drawer I am more likely to say “you guys” than “ya’ll” despite being raised in the South I am a Carolina Panther, Boston Red Sox and USC Gamecock fan *From time to time people ask me what is a solo-preneur. A solo-preneur is a one person business…as in it is just me, myself and I. www.growthbyreferrals.com/seth Seth Greene is a 6 Time Best Selling Author, Nationally Recognized Direct Response Marketing Expert, and the only back to back to back GKIC Dan Kennedy Marketer of the Year Nominee. To Get a FREE Copy of Seth’s new book Podcast Marketing Magic, and access to a Live Podcast Marketing Training Session go to http://www.MarketDominationLLC.com/Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the fashion industry, this question is on everyone's lips - curious to know what designer you have chosen to celebrate by donning their creation on your body. What about who you are wearing, before you even put any clothes on? Have you ever considered that? Do you ever look at parts of your body and having the thought "wow, that is my _?'s_ hands"? One theory is that our biology dictates what our bodies look like - and what if that is not necessarily so? Keisha is exploring more with bodies this week - and the many suits we put on them, that have little to do with clothing. So - WHO are YOU wearing? You can find Keisha on Facebook ~ www.facebook.com/livingwealwithkeisha Check out Keisha's Summer Special Offer here - http://tinyurl.com/20-20SummerSpecialLW And -if you want to play more with Keisha - Get Your FREE Ticket to join Keisha and her co-host Rhonda Burns for their weekly webcast show Sexually Speaking ~ celebrating #thesexofeverything with unconventional conversations to unf*%k your life.
I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it. Edited in part while I played Hide and Go Seek with my kids, true story.... Hiding in the closet as I type. #momlifeThis week we’re taking a break from important items to talk about really important things like TV Moms we love and love to hate. So listen in and join the talk mom talk over at the support group, which is here. The Things We Can’t Even This week?Poop Talk… it’s a thing and the Chik-Fil-A Valet Service, also a thing, but an amazing one. Now on to the meat of the show, TV Moms we love and love to hate (And where you can watch them as of July, 2016.)Moms We love (In no particular order of course…)Kristina Braverman- NBC’s Parenthood (On Netflix)Lorelai Gilmore- Gilmore Girls- (On Netflix)Tammy Taylor- Friday Night Lights (On Netflix)Becky Katsopolis- (Not currently available online)Peggy Hill (Not currently available online)Tracy Mosby How I met your Mother (On Netflix)Moms We Love To HateLucile Bluth- Arrested Development (On Netflix)Estelle Costanza- Seinfeld (On Hulu)Nancy Botwin (On Netflix)Cersei Lannister (On HBO Now)Meredith Gray- Grey’s Anatomy (On Hulu) And we don’t hate her, we just don’t get where her kids are 97% of the time while she’s operating and or drinking tequila. So Who is your Favorite TV Mom? Who do you love to hate?Let's talk about that! And while you're at it, please tell a friend about the show or leave us some kind words in iTunes? Your Faithful Servants, L. Penn, J. Van.
A fight of the Captains, well they aren't really Cpt's but they have that in their name. So the little boy dreaming to be a hero or the young man who was chosen to be a hero--kind of the same for both actually. But one is ACTUALLY still a child! So? Who is best? Let's find out!--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/southarcadia/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/southarcadia/support
At some point in our lives, we all have to answer this question: “Who is Jesus?” Welcome to Holy Week! Yesterday was Palm Sunday and next week is Resurrection Sunday: Easter! Today’s One Verse comes from the story of Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem. As He came in riding the donkey, people began to wave palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” This caused another reaction. Many began to ask the question, “Who is this?” This is a question we all have to ask at some point in our lives. Who is Jesus? But we don’t just ask it once. I think we need to keep on asking this question throughout our lives. So… Who is Jesus to you right now? About One Verse One Verse is a short, daily devotional designed to help you grow closer to God through less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity. When it comes to working out, eating healthy, or managing our finances, consistency always trumps intensity. We reach our major life goals through small, purposeful steps taken daily. The same is true in our spiritual lives. I truly believe you will grow closer to God by spending just 5 minutes a day with Him versus cramming in an hour once a month. The One Verse Devotional is here to help take away the barriers of spending time with God. Now, during your workout, drive to work, or even shopping for groceries, you can invest in your spiritual life. http://phosphorusproject.com/
Hello and welcome to the First Finding Bryan Podcast. So Who am… Continue reading “Hello’s and Intros – Ep1”… The post Hello’s and Intros – Ep1 appeared first on Finding Bryan.
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