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Find Reasons To Smile

5

omeone once made my face turn
a weird shade of green. I was
marveling at how time seems to
fly by so fast and someone five years
younger than I pointed out that maybe
it's because time seems to speed up as
we get closer to the finish line.
In theory, we all know that life is a
gift and to enjoy the people in our lives
and our many blessings. Reality-wise,
who has time for that? I've got a mil-
lion things on my to-do list, and the last
time I did my happy dance was when I
realized I had accidentally written one
item twice and could cross something
off!
We're all so busy we have to
find joy in the small things, like
when your husband acciden-
tally uses his athlete's foot spray
instead of his deodorant or
when your friend's grandmother
borrows a blue Sharpie, think-
ing it's eye liner.
There also was the time my
friend Sheina Rivkah decided to
surprise her parents one steaming sum-
mer day and mow the lawn. She untan-
gled the lawnmower from the jumble of
tools and machines in the garage and
got to work. As she mowed, neighbors

strolled by and stared, but she attrib-
uted it to them feeling faintly jealous
of her lucky parents who had such a
helpful, wonderful daughter. When her
parents came home, she discovered that
wasn't quite the case. It turned out she
was mowing the lawn with the snow
blower.
There's no doubt about it, there is so
much joy in laughing at other people's
mistakes! But you can only get away
with it if you laugh at your own mis-
takes, too.
Once, I asked for assistance in Target
only to be told, "I don't work here. I just
happen to be wearing a red
shirt today:' And there was the
time I dressed up with some
friends as "nerds:' I was the
one who took it an extra step
and wrote the word NERD
with lipstick in large block
letters on my forehead. The
only thing was that I'd copied
exactly what I'd seen in the
mirror, so it ended up being
written backwards and reversed, thus
proving my point!
There are the many times we wave
back at people who, it turns out, are
not waving at us. Then there are times

we don't wave back to people who are
waving at us because we're really sure
they're waving at someone behind us.
Not to mention the times we're wav-
ing at someone and then realize it's not
the person we thought and quickly do
that middle-of-the-head scratch/stretch
I-really-didn't-mean-to-wave move.
There are funny things all over the
place if we're looking.
You could get a smile from a sign
gone amok. Anyone else make hilarious
deodorant jokes when the first F in the
Farm Fresh supermarket sign fell off a
few years ago? Or from your mail, like
if you get a check for less than the price
of the stamp on the envelope.
Sometimes you might find yourself
laughing to yourself, like when you've
stripped down for a physical, but find
yourself hiding your undies so your
doctor won't see them.
Laughter is the best medicine, has no
foreign accent, is the shortest distance
between two people and does a mil-
lion wonderful things. It lights up the
backdrop of our lives like lightning —
"weather" we flash a grin, crack a smile,
burst into giggles or crack up laughing,
life is just too short to take a raincheck
on a smile. *

Commentary

We Will Not Succumb

erusalem is a special city and
Jerusalemites are a unique and
extraordinary people. Jerusalem
is a large city, and when necessary, we
know how to function as a warm and
embracing community. We band together,
becoming one family, putting into prac-
tice the adage of our sages, "All the people
of Israel are responsible for one other:'
The wave of terrorism that we are
experiencing in Jerusalem is brutal and
cruel. Inflammatory incitement and lies
from mosques, Palestinian leaders and
the Islamic Movement are resulting in the
murder of innocent civilians and terror in
the streets of Jerusalem that attempts to
disrupt our daily routine.
To our shock and horror, there's no
limit to the cruelty of murderers who use
meat cleavers and kitchen knives to attack
innocent young children on bikes on their
way home from school. Jerusalemites are
strong, united and determined. We have
survived and overcome harder times.
The care, responsiveness and empathy

of Jerusalem's residents is exempla-
requires us to overcome our
ry. Our security forces and police
fear and anxiety, to pursue
are combating terrorists in the field
our daily lives and to continue
planning for the future.
and saving lives on a daily basis.
People who take responsibility and
Jerusalem is sending a loud
act quickly and decisively are pro-
and clear message to all the
tecting the innocent.
people of Israel: Do not let
We feel the pain of the families
the murderers get what they
Nir B arkat
who have lost their loved ones; we
want. We must continue with
our lives. Citizens from all of
care for and support our wounded;
we stand tall and we move forward.
Israel and people from across
That is how it has always been and this
the globe must come and visit Jerusalem,
will always be our answer to terrorism.
especially now Come and pray at our holy
That is why we will emerge victorious this sites and at the Western Wall. Enjoy our
time as well. When we stand united and
abundant cultural events, museums and
strong, we are invincible.
tourist sites. Walk around the city center
The emergency routine in which we
and the Old City. This is how we will
find ourselves requires us to be alert
show our enemies that they will not win.
and responsible and, most of all, uni-
When we demonstrate unity, strength
fied, strong and determined in the cur-
and determination, I have no doubt that
rent struggle against terrorists and the
we will get through this because you can
shocking forms of evil that we are being
always count on Jerusalemites. *
confronted with. But it also requires us
Nir Barkat is mayor of Jerusalem, the united and
to continue with our daily routines and
eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people.
to build and strengthen Jerusalem. It

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October 22 .2015

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