Pesach (Passover) is a time for family and larger than usual gatherings. However, the preparations and responsibilities that come with hosting or attending gatherings can often lead to stress and anxiety. From cleaning every nook and cranny of the house to planning and serving elaborate meals, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. But fear not! With some mindfulness and planning, you can navigate through Pesach with ease, enjoying quality time with your loved ones without the stress.
Read MoreThanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays of the year.
For many, it’s a time to be with family and enjoy delicious food (and some football).
It’s also the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
At its essence, though, Thanksgiving is all about gratitude,
Whether you choose to remember how early American settlers survived a difficult winter or something more recent and personal, Thanksgiving gives us all opportunity to pause and reflect about all the goodness in our lives and say, “Thank you.”
🙏 “Thank you” for your gifts
🙏 “Thank you” for your opportunities
🙏 “Thank you” to the special people in your life
🙏 “Thank you” to the Being that produced you
Read MoreOne morning last week, I made myself my favorite breakfast – fruit-filled pancakes – before heading downstairs to my home office to get my day started.
Shortly before I finished, I used some of the batter to prepare a plain pancake for my teenage daughter (she doesn’t seem to feel that pancakes and fruit go together), and she decided to sit down to eat it. This is a girl that almost never eats breakfast, certainly not in the kitchen.
So, instead of making my way downstairs, I sat down right there in the kitchen and ate with her.
We chatted about breakfast, school, and other stuff.
It was short but pleasant and a great way for both if us to start our days.
Sometimes, in our rush to get to work and (officially) start our days, we jump in, power up and plow ahead, leaving our lives behind for the time being.
At least, that’s what usually happens to me.
Read MoreThanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays of the year.
For many, it’s a time to be with family and enjoy delicious food (and some football).
It’s also the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
At its essence, though, Thanksgiving is all about gratitude,
Whether you choose to remember how early American settlers survived a difficult winter or something more recent and personal, Thanksgiving gives us all opportunity to pause and reflect about all the goodness in our lives and say, “Thank you.”
🙏 “Thank you” for your gifts
🙏 “Thank you” for your opportunities
🙏 “Thank you” to the special people in your life
🙏 “Thank you” to the Being that produced you
Read MoreHow did you spend your Father’s Day?
Full disclosure: I’m one of the purists (if I can call my self that) who says that “every day is Father’s Day”. So, in my house, there’s no big celebration, no gifts of ties or toolsets.
Instead, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Putting together my kids’ pool, that is.
Pools, even the inflatable variety, take real work to assemble and properly fill (I did well on the former but not so great on the latter – hard to get it all even and fully balanced, but that’s for a different post).
But the weather was hot, and the kids were pining for the pool, so out went dad in his finest shmatas (Yiddish for upscale yard attire) for hours of fun in the sun (before the real fun began, of course).
Read MoreToday was a fun day. I set up our “new” pool (it was actually a replacement for a damaged one) and my kids, who had been pining for the pool since the last one collapsed, got back into the water again. They swam, splashed and genuinely enjoyed one another. It was a perfect activity for today’s sunny, hot afternoon.
While we definitely enjoyed the end result, there was much effort that went into the pool’s setup. For starters, I had set up the original pool on a slightly sloped area (no part of my back yard is perfectly flat). The water had previously caused the pool to sag to the downside and I wanted to prevent the same outcome this time. So I took my landscape rake and worked for some time to flatten out any bumps and reduce all elevations...
As I reflected on my morning of pool prepping, I thought of some lessons that have useful application to many areas in our lives. These include:
