Monday, February 8, 2010

Finding Your Spirit Of Adventure

Life is too short not to have a spirit of adventure. Some lucky folks will have the opportunity to travel the world, drinking in the new sights, sounds and experiences like a person with unquenchable thirst. They'll share their adventures with family and friends, allowing them to live vicariously through their stories.
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Others may never have the chance to see much outside their own little part of the world, yet will share stories of adventures that those who traveled the same highway somehow missed. How can this be?

It's all how you look at life that makes the difference.

Each day many of us wake up and repeat much of what we did the day before. We may change our clothes, eat different food, face different challenges but basically we're creatures of habit. We get into our routines, some of it dictated by the demands of work, school and/or raising a family. We get restless and wonder if there's more to life.

Here's where the adventure part kicks in. Life holds unlimited possibilities if you step outside your comfort zone and allow yourself to have a new experience. It can be as simple as getting off the highway and taking those slow moving back roads just to see the sights even if it take an extra 20 minutes to get where you're going. Or not being apprehensive about walking up to a stranger and starting up a conversation or taking yourself out for a good time. The point is, you have to make life happen for you ...If you sit around complaining how nothing exciting ever happens, then it never will!

You know the saying, "There's a whole world out there to explore!" I've always interpreted that to mean there's a whole world right outside your door! Don't be afraid to open it and walk down a new path!
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Friday, February 5, 2010

A Gift That Never Grew Old

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Growing up near the ocean was like a gift that never grew old. I remember riding my bike to the beach and sitting along the shore, squinting to see the ships far out in the sea. I would stare for hours, my mind drifting like the waves. And I would write volumes of poetic verse...

I sit alone by the seashore
gazing out into the horizon
(greedily devouring this glorious view)
Rippling waters...The sun's shimmering rays
a jewel-like reflection
on the ocean's surface.

So much has changed since those days.

My father's restaurant, a landmark on Miami Beach, was torn down. A high-rise stands in its place. I call these buildings "concrete monsters". They have spread like wildfire over the old neighborhood, casting dark shadows over the beaches.

On South Beach, the music pulsates, beautiful people are everywhere. They rush expressionless from place to place, talking on their cell phones, oblivious to their surroundings. Too busy to peel away the glitzy facades and perhaps discover a hidden treasure!

1968
The Tsatske (knick-knack) store, a movie theater with a .25 matinee, the family owned food market, the bakery, the butcher, the elderly lined up for the early bird special, the sounds of Yiddish and Spanish, blending together like a woven tapestry.

The Miami Beach of yesteryear that I hold in my heart forever!





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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Fran Drescher...I'm Your Greatest Fan!

I've been a Fran Drescher fan since the first time I watched her sitcom, The Nanny. Being a Jewish woman of the same generation, I laugh my way through every episode, no matter how many times I watch them. I love that our names are similar...Drescher...Drecksler!! And best of all, I love what a caring, human being she is!
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Fran is a uterine cancer survivor and the creator of Cancer Schmancer, a movement designed to educate women about all types of cancer. She writes:

The Cancer Schmancer Movement is dedicated to lowering cancer mortality rates by: • transforming women from patients into informed medical consumers • educating women on the importance and methods of early detection • shifting this nation’s priority from just looking for a cure, to prevention and early detection.

Fran Drescher is what they call in Yiddish a mensch!

Her efforts as an outspoken healthcare advocate in Washington DC helped get unanimous passage for H.R. 1245 (also known as Johanna's Law).

Drescher has been the recipient of the John Wayne Institute’s Woman of Achievement Award, the Gilda Award, the City of Hope Woman of the Year Award, the Hebrew University Humanitarian Award,the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Spirit of Achievement Award and most recently, the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award.

For more information about Fran Drescher's fight against cancer, please visit the Cancer Shmancer website.

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