September 2017 – Inside The Mind of a Psychiatrist

I think a reprise is in order.

Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of atonement, the day when God will either write you into the “Book of life” or not. Holy Moses! (To coin an appropriate cliche). This is serious business. If you don’t make the godly cut, you’re no longer counted as one of 13.75 million jews that make up 0.2% of the 7 billion world population. You are officially part of the stuff that helps plants grow.

Obviously, I’m making light of the most solemn day of the Jewish year, but because I don’t believe that God has a GPS unit tied to all 7 billion of us doesn’t mean that I don’t think there are valuable aspects to this day and valuable moral and ethical things to learn. It is a day of coming together with family and friends, a day of reflection and tradition, a day when we are encouraged to make amends for any hurts and wounds we might have inflicted on another person. It is a day of personal reflection.

In my opinion, the key here is MAKING AMENDS AND REFLECTING ON OUR LIVES AND OUR BEHAVIOR. (Sadly, since the man in The White House never mistakes and is always right, he’s exempt.)

You aren’t absolved of your transgressions by a high-priest rabbi and you don’t have to kill any non-believers. You simply have to do what you should have done all along, fix whatever bad thing you might have done. In some cases, “sorry” may be enough. In others, you may need to do some real cash reimbursing or spend whatever time and effort is necessary to right the wrong.

If indeed there is a god who has all 7 billion of us hooked up to his Garmin or Google Maps, we’d be making him/her very proud. What a relief that he doesn’t have to keep a record of all our good and bad deeds or whether we paid 14% or 50% on our taxes. Acting like a decent human being will take a lot of pressure off the “big guy or big gal”.

If you enjoyed reading, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy Dr. Smukler’s novels, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist.

The best leader is a humble listener and willing to be a student. How can a person provide leadership if he/she doesn’t really understand the issues?

We didn’t understand how supporting slavery would create chaos and hate over 200 years after it was abolished.

We didn’t understand the issues in Vietnam and thousands of young men and women were killed and damaged.

We didn’t understand the issues in Iraq and thousands of young men and women were killed and damaged..

So here we are with a president who won’t read or listen and only wants the world to know what a wonderful man he is — how smart, how rich, how powerful, blah blah blah.

He says whatever he wants without working out a strategy with his team (except for the manipulators and cowards who spend their lives sucking up to him). Because actually his team is our country. This narcissist who feels he has the right to blab whatever comes into his head doesn’t understand that he doesn’t just speak for himself, but he represents all of us!

When will someone in congress or the military or the justice system do the right thing and using rules of law, protect all of us from this immature narcissist?