Tuesday's Psychology Tip: Make Time Your Best Friend (Part I)

Thought for the Day: I started this post yesterday, but am not even sharing what I wrote. Ironically, I had too little time to complete it. Perhaps the scope was too broad for a simple psychology tip and I will use it some other time. Since the Jewish High Holidays start this evening, I saw most of my clients on Monday and Tuesday leaving too little time to write a post I would be willing to publish. Either way, it serves as a lesson about making time your best friend. Best friends are flexible and forgiving with one another. I hope you will be as well. So today, I will be posting Tuesday's Psychology Tip right now, followed by Wednesday's Words of Wisdom later today. To do this, I need your help.

I'm also going to do something slightly different today. I always try to make my posts thought provoking. Today, I want you, my readers, to do more than just think about the post. I'd like to give you an thought provoking assignment. Although it could take longer, all I ask is that you spend one to five minutes on the assignment today. You can come back to it when you have more time, but for today, take just a few minutes. It will help you turn time into your best friend.   Read on to see the assignment...

Flashback Monday & Tuesday: Life's Festival Goes On Rain or Shine With No Refunds for Unused Tickets

Thought for the Day: I have a very busy week & decided to repost this post for both Monday and Tuesday this week. I wrote it last September. Sometimes it's a good idea to look back & reflect. This post is well worth paying attention to more than once a year. Here's what I wrote back then:
 On Friday night I went to services. I do not go on a regular basis, but it was Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, which is the holiest day of the year for Jewish people. Originally, our plan was to go to services in Boston, but plans changed. Jerry, my partner, has been swamped in a new position in school. He was too tired to travel & we would have missed the Friday night service anyway. When a friend called & was planning to go in White Plains with her daughter, son-in-law & 4 month old grand son, I decided to join them. They were going to a service at Beit Am Shalom, a reconstructionist synagogue, which holds their services in a huge tent beside their building. They do not require tickets & only ask for a donation. They do not want anyone to avoid participation due to the high cost of membership. The service was beautiful. The music was both traditional & creative. The Rabbi & his wife, who is the Cantor (musical leader), add beautiful harmonies to the prayers. The entire congregation joined in. It was both welcoming & inspiring.

The service was a bit too long for our youngest group member. Therefore, unfortunately, I missed everything but the introduction to the sermon. The Rabbi spoke about being at a music festival at the end of the summer. The words on the ticket resonated with him in relation to the Day of Atonement. The tickets said that the gates to the venue would be open from 10 AM till 10 PM, that the concert would be held, Rain or Shine & there would be no refunds. He repeated those phrases a few times before I had to leave. The parallel to life, however, seemed fairly clear to me. We all get one ticket to the festival. The show goes on rain or shine for a limited time. The only difference is that we only know when the event gates open. No one knows the exact time that the gates will close on our lives. We can't get a refund or a second chance in life as far as we know.

     I don't know where the Rabbi took this message, but yesterday, while answering questions on HealthTap a few of the questions & answers I gave took on a different meaning when seen through the metaphor of life as a summer music festival. 

     A 27 year-old male on HealthTap asked:

        " I am anxious to the point I can't even leave my couch for more than daily needs. I'm so scared  about my health .1mg xanax won't even work?"
Read on to see how I answered him and two others who may be missing out on the festival of life;..