Tuesday, April 19, 2011

We, simply, rock!

How lucky I am to be surrounded by such powerful women. And although I also have a number of male figures in my life that make it worth loving and living, this is not a contrast/compare note. It is a seize of a moment and a recognition of a more feminine nature. My mom and my friends, are simply and irrevocably awesome human beings. That's all.

This reminds me of an introduction to Kabbalah event that I attended with a friend a few months ago. One thing that truly stayed with me from that event was the idea that women are a force of their own. I am reminded of that almost every single day.

Even if we are sad or scared, we can smile in a way that brightens up the day and makes it seem like anything is possible. We sacrifice for our parents, our children and our partners in crime. Even if we know the truth, we sometimes know it is better not to say anything about something that is false. We have unlimited reserves of energy and the sky is the limit ambitions, yet we have the patience to let our men do their own thing.

No matter how many hats we wear day-in and day-out we always manage to be able to fit in one more. Multi-tasking is an understatement. It's not just about what we do. It is the grace, the discretion and the force with which we do it.

Sometimes we admit it. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes we realize it, but sometimes we don't. We gently persuade, flirt and ultimately strategize everything from a shopping spree, to our next promotion or nonprofit business venture. Most importantly, we do an amazing job with it.

I am proud because we, simply, rock.

Friday, April 15, 2011

The smile vow.

A reminder (to self mostly). If you put positive energy and smiling attitudes out into the universe, what may actually happen is the same burst to the power of a multiple multiples in return.

Who said that 1+1=2? :)

Mathematics aside. Philosophies neatly sitting to the left. Psychology lightly nudging from the back. Medicine being a whole different universe -- happiness, brought on by smiling, can be and should be viral.

I enjoy smiling. It is a simple physical act that has limitless power. It can vary from an emergence of dimples, to a full-on showing of pearly whites. We see it, we know it, it comes naturally. We don't need a textbook or a manual to tell us how to do it.

Early in the morning as you're making your short trip from the subway to the office, it can set the state of mind for the rest of the day. Usually the sun reaching through the empty spaces between the buildings, the branches and the leaves makes it all too easy. The sun rays play hide and seek with you as you're walking through the City Hall Park. How can you not smile?

Late in the evening after a stressful, one of those days, day it can make you forget about all your troubles. The prompt may be a glimpse of a moment as a couple is reaching to hold each other's hand. It may be the tiny little fingers of your soon to be toddler that grip your neck with as much strength and excitement as they can, because they missed you after a full day's activities.

A smile has the power to cure and the power to enforce. It has a tendency to spread, rapidly. It trenscends cultural, national, religious and personal barriers. You can see it as you pass a Coca Cola sign in the middle of a dirt road through the jungles, forests and mountains of Costa Rica. It creeps up on you as you watch GREEN M&M in action on television during Super Bowl. Next time you're at an airport, hesitate for an observation of the arrivals lounge. You'll be sure to see smiling faces as they've found familiar faces coming out of baggage claim.

Smile today! I bet you'll get a smile in return.