Jewish Musings, Mon., Feb. 20

[gazelle18]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in!

[gazelle18]

Hi everyone,

Lee, thanks for the update on your shoulder; I hope the physical therapy will help.

So, when most people think of India, they think of slums and poverty and people bathing in polluted rivers. And yes, there is a lot of that. It is still very much a third world country. Little to no sewerage, a great deal of debris and "Schmutz", etc. We stayed in nice places, but to be safe did not drink the water there or even eat uncooked foods. And so many people crowded into the big cities! Add to all of this the heat and high humidity, and, well, it can seem like a big messy steam bath there.

And yet, the people seemed dignified and peaceful. There is a pervasive spiritual feeling there, where people seem to enjoy a personal relationship eoth the gods. I was in a hot and dirty vehicle one day, feeling particularly grimy. I looked out to a low indurrisl type building , and someone had lovingly inscribed the following words; on the wall:


"I will now allow my mind to be trampled by your dirty feet."

Can you relate this to your life? How do you personally manage to do this?

[louise]

I trust that "now" should be "not".
Unfortunately the dirty feet that come to mind for me first are in power right now in our government. The story as related though is quite interesting - this is not the graffiti we tend to see here - enlightened graffiti if you will. I see it as a call to be true to yourself regardless of being attacked or oppressed. It's about keeping your dignity intact. The closest I come to this in my everyday experience is to not let thoughtless comments bother me or other people's moods. When I'm on the bus going to work and we are stopped indefinitely because of, say, an accident in the tunnel, people have very different responses. The ones that start cursing, whining, or clucking impatiently can make it worse for the others who are maintaining calm (and also for themselves). Applying this to our political situation right now is bigger than I can think through right now!

[hollygail]

I stopped watching TV news in my late teens or early 20s for exactly this reason. I was tired of hearing about murders and robberies and all sorts of incredibly negative things. I figured if something important happened in the world that I needed to know about, someone would call me to talk about it (and that's exactly what did happen). So I "knew" on some level back well before spirituality entered my life that I didn't want other people's "dirty feet" trampling my world. (It took me another 15 years or so for me to stop my own negative thoughts, and I'm a happier person for it.)

Aside to Frieda: I never heard the "genug shoyn" phrase growing up, but instantly knew what the whole phrase meant before reading your translation. Thank you for enlarging my Yiddish vocabulary!

[peachymom1]

I am taking my mom out for a mani-pedi and lunch today. She's a very negative person in many respects, and I'm going to remember this quote and not let her negativity trample my mind.

She does have her good points, and I've thought ahead of some things we can talk about while we're out today. I have become a master of changing the subject when she starts getting snarky, and usually the pleasure of getting her nails done puts her in a better mood anyway. Her birthday is coming up, and since I have today off work, I thought it would be a good time to celebrate. I'm also going to hit the gym later to work off any aggravation!

Everyone have a great day, I'll be back later.

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well. My shoulder hurts, and that is practically all I am thinking about. I'll try to have something intelligent to say later if possible.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! I have stated this before - it is my mantra for the next 4 years:

I will
1. Limit my input.
2. Limit my outrage.

And while I do participate in a certain amount of input and outrage - I cannot stand by & hope for the best while my baby-girl & millions of others around the country lose access to healthcare for preexisting conditions (ALL her conditions are preexisting!). And so I will sign protests, I will write my congressmen, I make phone calls, I will show up for marches. I will put my money (such as it is) toward changing the balance of power in congress.

Genug shoyn!

Peachy - I love that you are learning ways to "deflect" with your mom!

Have a good day ladies.

[happysavta]

I flew back to San Diego. I already miss my daughter and son-in-law and those wonderful little girls already. I left at 6:50 am and the 9 y/o girl got up early to come down and hug me several times before I left. So sweet! The 4 1/2 year old is starting to read, sounding out words. My son-in-law was invited to tape a TED talk about his book, which he did. He also flew to San Francisco to talk to Google employees.

DS#2 picked me up from the airport and had one of the twins with him, which was so nice. Unfortunately, I forgot my key chain with all my keys in Houston, ut my DS#4 has a key to my house, whew! DS#4 dropped me off at his apartment. I went into his house and when I came in, I saw his garbage can had 3 empty boxes of Domino's pizza, plus an empty bag of chips and chicken nuggets. Oy vey! He was half dressed (10:45 am) and had not gotten the haircut he was supposed to get 2 weeks ago. So now, after the binge, he wants to get started on losing weight (he's 5'8" and about 275 lbs). I do too; I'm ready to get started again. Hopefully, we'll buddy up and help each other. We bought salad and chicken wraps for lunch and then he drove me home. The wraps are cut in half (a good trick) and each of us has a half left in the refrigerator. He drove off to work and he brought a whole grilled chicken to my house after work. I cut up some lettuce, cooked some telma chicken broth, and made some green beans to accompany his chicken. He wants to eat his meals with me for a while, which is fine by me. I'm alone at home until March 22nd anyway. I hope we can get the ball rolling again.