Thriving is TOV

I was meeting with a friend of mine recently, Joyce Ann Tepley. She wrote a book that I would highly recommend called, "Thriving Through It" - How They Do It, What It Takes to Transform Trauma Into Triumph. (Amazon has it). Joyce retired from a forty-year career as a clinical social worker and dedicated the rest of her life to honoring those who thrive through adversity, by telling their stories. Twenty people from all walks of life were interviewed for the book. They tell their own stories in their own words about what it takes to thrive through the most difficult times in their lives. Joyce herself, has dealt with Polio and a host of other physical problems and she is also a thriver!

One of the things I found most interesting about the book was the great insight into how people chose to respond to what life brought. Some were motivated to thrive "because of their difficulties,” while others were motivated to thrive "despite their situations.” Either way, the stories reflect the continuing process of growth in strength and wisdom.

We were discussing a planned trip she would make to California. As we, spoke I realized how much planning it takes for her to travel with all her needs and concerns. The airport, high cabin pressure of the plane and her breathing, the wheel chair, a cab that can accommodate it, her room arrangements, having access to food and getting around a major city.

Many of us take these things for granted. We travel on trains, planes and automobiles without considering the things that cross other people’s minds -- we just do them. This always brings me back to "The Curse of Blessings" idea. One of the ways I found to become happier is to be grateful, thankful and appreciative for my blessings – and take time to I acknowledge them every day. Each day, I recognize one new blessing. (It also helps reduce any whining or complaining that becomes habitual.)

Joyce works tirelessly on many projects and is involved in many organizations which truly represent the TOV Standard. Her efforts, Preserve Life, Protect Life, Increase the Function and Quality of Life for herself and others who are Thriving Through It. Her life and the lives of the people in the stories she shares are inspiring and instructive. Here is one model for being an "OPTIMALIST". An optimalist understands that not everything in life seems to happen for the best, but he or she makes the best of whatever happens. Trauma, Trouble and Crisis are part of what it means to be human. They also offer ways to thrive and flourish nonetheless, especially when we Do TOV – words and acts that Protect Life, Preserve Life, Make Life More Functional and Improve the Quality of Life. By Doing TOV We Choose Life.

Let me know if this was of value to you by going to our TOV Center Facebook Page and “Like It” -- click here.  Please tell others about the TOV Center and share my blogs.

Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor

Me and We

Being Right vs. Acting Righteously

My friend and TOV Center Partner, Jim Myers, received a 6 page list of Biblical quotes in a reaction to his blog about the RealYeshua -- Jesus the Jewish teacher. I noticed after reading through this huge list, that the point of the writer was to convince and prove his "RIGHTNESS."  

This sense of "RIGHTNESS" is something I've experienced my entire life. Many people are absolutely sure that what they "BELIEVE" is "RIGHT!" So many expend their energy on defending their BS (Belief System), some even go to the point of killing others. The real crime, however, is that they ignore and do not practice the Values and Lessons that the Jewish Jesus taught – and are clearly recorded in those same Scriptures. They think that because they "BELIEVE" something, it is so -- without ever looking at the facts. If they ever acknowledged the facts, it would disrupt their neat little BS.

I felt Jim's answer was priceless. He replied:

"Thank you for the list of out of context verses. Please go back and reread them in their contexts and you will discover that `Believing’ is a not a FREE PASS to sinning and that harming or not helping your fellow humans is very important. . . . As you may or may not know, when things are taken out of context, you can make them say anything you want. I just find it amazing that your concept of god seems to lack Justice and Righteousness -- a god who doesn't care about how humans act towards one another."

I've been "evangelized" my entire life. I've been "Saved" more than most of you!! People always felt compelled to debate with me and convince me of the "Rightness" of their beliefs. Over the years of my studies, I learned many facts, even some that made my own BS uncomfortable, so much so, that I had to change my beliefs to fit those facts. When someone comes to my door and tells me that they have a message from Jesus for me, my usual response is:

“What do you know about his culture, his traditions, his language, his history, or his daily life as a Jew. Can you read or work with Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek? Or, do you just read someone else’s translations without knowing anything about the translator? Is your Bible the same Bible that Jesus read in the synagogue every Shabbat (Friday night until Saturday sundown)? Do you keep the Shabbat he kept? Are you sure YOU have a message for me about Jesus?????? If you want to learn about the Jewish Jesus, come in and we'll talk!”

Just because we have a "RIGHT" to do something, does not necessarily mean doing that action is "RIGHT" or even acting with "RIGHTEOUSNESS"! Here in Texas, guns are big. People feel it's their "Right" to bear arms. I'm not debating that issue, except in the case of those who are mentally ill or abusers prone to violence. People may BELIVE it is "RIGHT," but will what they do with those guns be "RIGHTEOUSNESS"? Do others have a "RIGHT" to not be around people who make them feel unsafe or in danger? The door swings both ways.

Being “RIGHT,” is nowhere near as important as acting “RIGHTEOUSNESS & JUSTICE.” My yardstick is the TOV Standard. If my thoughts, words and actions Protect Life, Preserve Life, Increase the Functionality of Life and Improve the Quality of Life for all people, then I'm not concerned with My "RIGHTNESS", only “RIGHTEOUSNESS” -- first towards myself then to the rest of creation.

Let me know if this was of value to you by going to our TOV Center Facebook Page and “Like It” -- click here.  Please tell others about the TOV Center and share my blogs.

Shalom,

Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor

Are you nomophobic?

Nomophobia comes from -- in no + mo(bile) phone + phobia (fear).

Nomophobia is that rush of anxiety and fear when you realize you are disconnected -- out of the loop with friends, family, work and the world. Nomophobia affects 40% of the population. Read the complete article at -- https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction

We Can’t Fix What We Can’t See

America is a very complex place in which highly technical things affect the lives of Americans. Many Americans could not begin to describe what derivatives are or what financialization means -- even though these very powerful economic forces affect almost every aspect of life today. All we have to do is look around and it is obvious that people are plugged into the Internet everywhere. How many of them understand how it works and who is in control of the information flowing into their smartphones and computers. Forget trying to explain what’s going on in the political, legal and medical domains of life. Yet all of those things combined control our lives in many ways -- options to succeed that we have or barriers that block us from success – and making the structural changes that must be made to repair our nation.

Trying to figure out how to overcome this information gap problem is a challenge that we have been wrestling for a long time. We have tons of technical data that people really need to know, but we know that when we try to share it in discussions and meetings, we lose our audience in just a few minutes. Below is an example of what we are talking about. Grasping the importance and meanings of three figures are absolute requirements for just perceiving the existing state of the economic environment and finding solutions to economic problems.  

The first figure comes from the Bank of International Settlement’s Statistical Release: OTC derivatives statistics at end-June 2014. I will highlight certain terms and figures by underlining and bolding them.

OTC derivatives markets contracted slightly in the first half of 2014. The notional amount of outstanding contracts totaled $691 trillion at end-June 2014.[i] The interest rate segment accounts for the majority of OTC derivatives activity. For single currency interest rate derivatives at end-June 2014, the notional amount of outstanding contracts totaled $563 trillion, which represented 81% of the global OTC derivatives market.[ii]

 

$691,000,000,000,000.00

(trillions of dollars)

Do you have a clue as to what that figure means? None of do and that’s one reason we are so easy to manipulate and control. The graphic below will make the figure $1,000,000,000,000.00 more comprehensible. Just keep in mind that what we are actually talking about is 691 time larger.

Source of Graphic

The second figure is $17,418,900,000,000.00 -- the 2014 US GDP (Gross Domestic Product). GDP refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within the United States of America in 2014. It would take almost 40 years of work by Americans to produce final goods and services, at the current rate, worth $691 trillion dollars.

Hang in there and don’t doze off yet.

A quick note with some facts you need to be aware of:

(1) The OTC Derivatives Markets are unregulated and unreported.  

(2) The OTC (Over The Counter) here isn’t the one listed along with the New York Stock.

(3) Derivatives did not exist before the 1970s.

 The third figure $22,000,000,000,000.00 – the total amount of actual currency that exists in the world today. No one really knows exactly what the figure is, but this is a good educated guess.[iii]

Source of Graphic

Becoming aware of the importance and meanings of the three figures below are absolute requirements for perceiving the existing economic environment. We must be able to see what exists before we will be able to formulate options for addressing existing problems. Until now, have you considered these figures in your thoughts or discussions concerning economic problems?

$22,000,000,000,000.00

$17,418,900,000,000.00

$691,000,000,000,000.00

Now you are aware of them. That was the goal for this blog. There is much more we need to be aware of before we begin discussions that address specific problems. 

Making people aware of information like this, providing educational resources and networking people together through values-based relationships is why we created the TOV Center. We hope you will agree and join the journey with us.

Do you agree that there is an urgent need for the TOV Center’s mission and vision today? If you do, let us know by going to the TOV Center Facebook Page and “Like It” by clicking here.  Check our Facebook page often and watch for exciting information about upcoming events & TOV Gatherings.

Shalom,

Jim Myers

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[i] http://www.bis.org/publ/otc_hy1411.pdf - p. 1.

[ii] http://www.bis.org/publ/otc_hy1411.pdf - p. 3.

[iii] http://www.quora.com/If-the-sum-total-of-all-world-currency-were-totaled-and-divided-per-person-how-much-would-each-of-us-get

We Do Not Have All of the Answers

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Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues Measure Up to the TOV Standard

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg

Benjamin Franklin, scientist, inventor and a principal architect of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, may have been the first self-improvement expert, too. In 1726, a young 20-year-old Franklin was crossing the Atlantic from England back to Philadelphia. During his 80-day journey, Benjamin Franklin used the time to develop a personal plan of conduct. His plan consisted of 13 virtues listed below. Franklin committed to focusing on one virtue per week. At the end of the 13th week, he would start the process over again; thus, cycling through the plan four times a year. Ben Franklin followed this plan until his death at age 79. He found comfort and happiness in each of the virtues and used these to guide his entire life.

● Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

● Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

● Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

● Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

● Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

● Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

● Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

● Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

● Moderation. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

● Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

● Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

● Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

● Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Franklin’s Commentary

"It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his bearing them with more resignation.

● To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution;

● To Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned;

● To Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon him;

● To the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.

"In this piece it was my design to have endeavored to convince young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of probity and integrity.

"My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list.

"In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility."

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Sources:

¹ http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/thirteen_virtues.htm

² http://www.thebridgemaker.com/the-benjamin-franklin-13-week-self-improvement-challenge/