He called himself the Facebooker Rebbe and for a brief moment in time we engaged in a series of interactions online and in email.
It started out in a friendly manner and then he told me he and others thought I was a threat to Jews and that he was very concerned about what I believed. He said because I used a pseudonym I made people uncomfortable and suggested that I could ease his discomfort by calling him.
I told him I didn’t owe him or anyone else anything and that if they had no obligation to engage with me. He made a couple of cracks and said he knew I would refuse.
So I told him I would send him a special picture of myself that would prove the mohel had done a proper job and suggested if he was going to try to manipulate me he wasn’t going to get very far.
He tried a couple more times to make it happen and included me in a group chat and I told him the funny girl was unlikely to make him feel more comfortable about me.
I hadn’t thought about him in years but I came across some of what we exchanged and remembered a few things such as he and a friend were on some sort of podcast together.
Anyhoo, the Facebooker Rebbe (spelled differently than listed here) died in a car crash a number of years ago. I think he blocked me when I said he was angry he couldn’t beat me in a debate using verifiable facts.
I Don’t Know How Not To
When I first came across this post I snorted because I don’t know how not to carry the fire. The one that burns in my belly never goes away, it ebbs and flows but it never disappears.
I am ok with that, I know who I am.
The people who love me are ok with it too and those that don’t, well let them be what they will. I can’t control anyone and though I might try to influence them that is all I can do.
Someone has been hanging out on this post or so it appears to me in the stats though I can’t tell if they just left the browser open and forgot about it. I think the headline might have grabbed them but the headline isn’t the post.
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My father’s yahrzeit candle kept going out and I kept relighting it. I looked up, down and around to see if I could find his spirit hanging out but I didn’t see him.
It didn’t stop me from muttering “you’re starting to aggravate me.” I half bit my lip the way he used to do for emphasis and remembered how two of the nurses in the hospice told me how strong he must be because he lasted longer than they thought he would.
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Yesterday someone asked me if I ever get angry or lose my temper and I laughed. “I’ll introduce you to my family and friends who know me well. I get angry and occasionally I lose my temper.”
They said they had never heard me sound rattled or upset. “It feels like you let everything go.”
That made me snort and I told them about a boy who rolled a tire on top of me in kindergarten. “I still owe him. Fifty years later if I had the opportunity I’d consider rolling a tire on him to see how he likes it. Probably take him a thousand years to recover, he might feel it for the next 50 years.”
I laughed at the thought because I doubt I’d do it, but I remember. Some things stick with me like the redneck attorney who spent time following me around online and the redneck from Arkansas who said if we ever me he would bite my shoulder.
Did I mention I figured if he bit my shoulder it would make it really easy to pound his head a half dozen times or poke him in the eye.
Yes, it is a ridiculous idea but so is saying you’ll bite my shoulder. But I am a guy who has an idea about how to handle many things including what I’d do if shark, gorilla or giraffe attacked me.
So why wouldn’t I be prepared for the rabid shoulder biter.
Where You Start Doesn’t Indicate Where You’ll Finish
I showed the video above to my children and said it is a good reminder that where you start doesn’t always indicate where you’ll finish.
If we’re connected on LinkedIn there is a good chance you saw it there too because I think business needs to remember this too.
Sometimes we get caught up in a fast paced world and lose sight of the big picture. Sometimes we mistake minor hurdles for major ones and lose sight.
Hell sometimes we look at the major hurdles as being insurmountable and forget that if we focus on doing what needs to be done to move forward we can make significant advancements on our goals.
Sometimes that focus pays off in a big way, mental toughness is underrated.
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It also reminds me that I have told my children to pay attention to the pictures they put online. I remind them that sometimes we see the reflections of the people who are taking the pictures.
I have seen half dressed people or the unannounced boyfriend/girlfriend and all sorts of other stuff in those reflections.
You can inadvertently give away lots of information with the pictures we share and while it may not make a difference it is good to be aware.
Sometimes details matter.
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