29 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

We are all interdependent. We do for others and others do for us. When good fortune comes our way, we can be happy and enjoy sharing our good fortune with others as charity. Much of what we do for others is in the form of work for which we get paid. Amounts we spend represents what others are doing for us. If we have a surplus of money, the excess of what we got paid less what we spent, the surplus represents what we have done for others beyond what others have done for us. The surplus, our so-called savings, we invest directly or indirectly (giving it to financial institutions) by giving it to others to use for their benefit or opportunity. That is charity. Often charity in the form of investing is more productive than giving the surplus to not-for-profit, non-profit and other recognized charitable institutions....

28 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

Work is something we do that benefits others and for which others pay us to do. Some aspects of work tax our time and energy and other aspects are engaging and enjoyable which makes the work energizing. Best to do the enjoyable work and get others to do the work that's taxing to us but hopefully not to them. My career was running a hedge fund. I worked 80+ hours a week, though it didn't feel like work. It was fun in good times and bad; maybe because I had a salesman, traders, analysts and an accountant on staff doing the work I had little interest in doing; or maybe because the fund was successful which allowed me and the workers to enjoy ourselves when not working....

27 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

Once upon a time there were twin sisters. They came from a good family, married well, had good children and lived happily ever after. Their lives were nearly identical but for one thing. One sister, Mary, was promiscuous and the other sister, Judith, was religious, adhering to a strict moral code. Everyone in their town knew Mary as "Mattress Mary" as it seemed she slept with everyone. Often, on hot evenings when people kept their windows open to let in the cool air, you knew in whose flat Mary was as she wailed "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." While Mary was howling, Judith was quietly praying to God to forgive her sister. When they were done living happily ever after, it was their time to go to the hereafter where God determined which sister would go to heaven and which to hell. I don't know the mind of God and whom he sent where, but I know that Mary came from heaven and Judith came from hell. The moral of this story is that "where is God to be found? In the place where He is given entry." -- Kotzker Rebbe....

26 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

Marriage is like a corporate partnership wherein one mate or the other assumes different department roles: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Human Resources, etc. However, at times conflicts arise when there is confusion over who heads which department. For example, a wife might complain to her husband because she is unhappy about something he said or did. Her husband in turn might be taken aback by her complaints as he views himself head of the Rewards Department, not the Complaint Department. He then needs assign his wife to take charge of the Complaint Department as she has the most experience in complaining. Alternatively, when a wife is complaining, best to keep silent but for agreeing ("yes, you're right") with her gripes, letting her vent until she calms down. A mistake would be addressing her issues rationally or trying to help her perceive what irks her in a different light. Doing so tends to agitate her further and invariably results in her saying: "You don't understand me." Well, now you know she is right. If you understood her, you would have little to do with her....

22 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

Sometimes we take our circumstances and ourselves very seriously. This can be stressful. If we compartmentalize our predicament, we can put it in perspective and not let it affect other aspects of our life which otherwise are pleasing and from which we can take solace. However, compartmentalization is not easy. Alternatively, we can find relief through the meditation of death, looking at our current situation from the perspective of the end of days. From that perspective we can look back at our lives and realize that much we once took seriously now seems ridiculous....

20 Dec

Posted at 10:10h in Observations

"You get love, that's enough." Today my five year old grandson, Penn, was defiant, unwilling to take his feet off our living room couch when I told him to do so. I said: "You have no respect for your grandfather." He said: "You get love, that's enough." I laughed; The Beatles were right, all you need is love....

19 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

"History has to be fluid; if it were not fluid, why do we get periodic new biographies of Lincoln or Jesus? Stats are a funny thing. The deeper you go, the more impressed you are with the fact that these are symbols. They are not solid things." History is an evolving story from different perspectives of space (people) and points in time. Thus, it is not solid and unchangeable. Ultimately, even that which is indisputably factually correct is not as real as is the game of baseball. That is, the past may be engaging but not as energizing as being in the present....

17 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it isn’t open.” The mind, like a parachute, slows the unfolding of the present, allowing us to consciously experience the present and not be overwhelmed by the harsh reality of entropy, the decline into disorder....

16 Dec

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

“'History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.'" History is a story that makes sense of ambiguous memories and facts. The story is more powerful, reasonable and meaningful than the memories and facts, to the point that it supplants both....