“Creative adjustment.”
“What is that?”
“As humans, we have an uncanny way of adjusting to situations. It’s like improvisation. I have many
examples, but the one that comes to mind is my stint as a substitute teacher at the New York City Board
of education. It started like this: I was a stage actor at the age of 23, mostly Shakespeare. I realized that
there were times when I had no acting gigs (which was most of the time) and I had to pay the rent. I
contacted the NYC Education Committee and told them that I had a B.A. in English Literature and
applied and passed all the tests to be the recipient of a substitute license. It paid well and was perfect
since I could agree to standby for a teacher who failed to show up, or not.
The first call I got was from a junior high school in the Bronx. They requested that I teach 7 th grade math
for six weeks because the regular teacher had broken her leg while skiing. Math? Are you serious? I
accepted anyway and showed up to teach a subject that I had failed in high school.
On the very first day I was challenged by a youth, William (never forget a Nudnik) who caught me faking
it for the tenth time. Without even thinking I handed him the chalk and smilingly asked him to teach
(smarty pants) in my place. William accepted my challenge. He was brilliant and it was a very successful
day. Then I had this clue. I asked directly, ‘who wants to teach tomorrow’s lesson?’ I couldn’t believe it.
At least nine little professors raised their hands; and so it went all week.
Whenever they struggled with a formula they would all turn to me for the solution. My reaction was,
since I hadn’t an inkling, ‘A good teacher never offers his/her students answers. You must work it out for
yourselves.’ They bought it! They turned around and went back to work.
At the end of the six week teaching gig (Teaching, for crying out loud!) I appointed a student to create a
final exam (on your honor) and another group to correct it (on your honor). They all passed with tubas
blaring and fireworks. And that, my dear is ‘creative adjustment.’ ”
Just then my wife came home from shopping. I introduced the two of them among smiles and hugs.
The interviewer packed up her camera, tripod and water bottle. Before leaving she turned to me to
thank me. “I will be sure to send you the link of our conversation.”
“Please do,” I responded and slowly closed the door.
So my dears, if you are interested in watching our interview: (Part 1) Here ya’ go.

And/or (Part 2) Enjoy. It was fun.

Thanks for spending time with me. I am most grateful.
www.Lennyravich.org
I Dunno!

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A few weeks ago I was invited to give a webinar on “The Influence of Martin Buber on Gestalt Therapy” to a large group of psychotherapists from over the globe. It was fun. A week later I received a message from one of the participants who said that she was in my home town, Tel Aviv and asked if she could come to over to film me for a broadcast on Enlightenment. Enlightenment? What do I know about enlightenment? But my motto is: when the cosmos offers you an opportunity you become the “Yes Man.”

She showed up at my door with a camera, a tripod and a bottle of water. As we entered my study she mentioned that she had read my book, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Enlightenment” that I had written about 20 years ago. I would have been 67 years old then, and now I’m…You do the math.

She aimed her camera directly at me and asked briskly, “So what is enlightenment?”

“It’s waking up from the nightmare”

“What?”

“You’re living the nightmare by believing the noise in your head. Enlightenment is not a thing but a process. It’s nothing you reach for. It’s a route you take to spiritual growth,”

“So what’s the process? Walk me through it” she retorted.

“Ok, so let’s begin with surrendering.”

“Surrendering…?”

“You begin by surrendering the control of your life to the flow and listening intensely to what your body is telling you as opposed to your mind. You learn to distinguish between the voice of God and the noise in your head. A caterpillar morphs into a cocoon and then into a butterfly by going with the flow. She doesn’t pay attention to the noise, “Who are you to become a butterfly? You really believe you can fly? Get a day job.” Etc.

“I told my wife she was perfect. (What?!!) If she isn’t perfect I’m going to suffer. I’m okay with pain but I’m not going to choose to agonize. How did I do that? I decided to accept everything as perfect just the way it is. If I refuse to fall in love with the ‘the here and now’ I will be doomed to the lurid and dwell in hell.”

“Is that enlightenment?”

“I Dunno.”

She adjusted the camera and blurted, “How can you say that? Aren’t there crimes to humanity, homelessness and sickness in the world?”

“Yes. And it has been like that since the Big Bang. The Buddha said, ‘There is suffering in the world.’ I could whimper and whine that life is not fair and become a victim. If there is such a thing as heaven, I don’t think there are many of those there. Victimhood sucks and it’s a great way to manipulate others.  It also causes resentment and that’s a horrible way to live.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Gratefulness. It’s the best antidote to victimhood and resentment. Visualize living in a constant state of grace by being grateful for everything. Imagine waking up in the morning and giving thanks for this wonderful, temporary gift called life. I am grateful for this breath I am breathing, for the colors I’m seeing, for the food I am tasting. I am appreciative of living in the abundance of love, joy, wisdom, optimism good health and wealth. Try that for a few days and pay attention to how you feel. Einstein said, ‘Either everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle.’ I choose to believe that everything is a miracle.”

“How do you simply ‘choose’ to believe that?”

“Awareness, or some call it mindfulness.”

“Is that enlightenment?”

“I Dunno, but becoming aware offers you options on how you want to be in the world. A few years back I went to a twelve-day silent meditation retreat. You just sit with your cute self all day and concentrate on your breathing and notice what comes up. I would look over at someone and automatically criticize and judge without ever having met them: ‘This woman reminds me of a cockroach, that guy is an asshole and this one next to me is a schmuck.’

The day before exiting the retreat and entering the ‘real’ world we were invited to spend a good part of the day meeting talking to one another. I got personal with all those I had judged, and realized that they were fantastic, smart and loving people. I suddenly became aware of how this behavior was negatively effecting my relationships. I made the conscious decision that same day to never judge, criticize or compare anyone ever again. From then on I would experience every encounter with love and positive regard.

And you know what? Everyone is me in drag anyway. There is something in me I refuse to accept and so I project that part of myself onto others. This is a great way to learn and take possession of disowned parts of myself. To love everyone as myself. That’s part of the process.”

“Is that enlightenment?”

“I Dunno”.

She became silent. I asked, “How do you feel right now?”

Silence

Ok, dear reader. You’ve had enough for today and thanks for coming this far. I will continue with “Enlightenment is…I Dunno” Part two in my next blog. See you then.

I am you and you are me and we are one, oop duppi doo.

I love you

www.lennyravich.org

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I returned a few weeks ago from Chennai, India, where I presented a keynote to The Professional Speakers Association India, titled, “You Don’t Have to Be Entertaining Unless You Want to Get Paid”. It was a hoot. We danced, sang and laughed the entire weekend. I found the Indian people to be warm, loving and accepting. Every minute was a pleasure.

Damaging My Success

There was a time in my life where I could not go after my dream without screwing up. It’s like I could never get to a “ten” without sabotaging myself. I had talent, but never truly accepted that fact. I felt as if I didn’t deserve the accolades, compliments, adoration and the money. I would always do something negative in order to avoid having to deal with complete success or total joy. 

When I realized that I was making destructive choices, I decided to observe my behavior. Not to stop what I was doing, but merely to supervise myself without criticism and to witness how I incapacitated my accomplishments.  

I was offered the privilege of directing a large-scale musical comedy for the local community. It was back in the eighties when the populations would invest hugely, especially when it came to a theatrical production.

 Things were going so smoothly; I couldn’t stand it. I kept asking myself, “When will I start taking steps to mess this up?”

 I witnessed myself, as if from standing on the outside as a spectator, and began to notice where those places were that I would normally have harmed my total victory and pleasure. I simply chose not to go where I would have normally gone to interfere with my triumph. I just wanted to see what would happen if I had dared to remain entirely happy and positive. It was scary as hell. I never believed that I could actually experience self-worth, success, and accomplishments without paying a terrible price. 

The evening of the show had arrived, and I still hadn’t managed to muddle up, even though I kept noticing all the times I could have and would have done it if I hadn’t been monitoring myself. I scrutinized all the tiny opportunities I would have taken in the past in order to destroy what I had built and, at the very moment of this awareness, merely chose not to. “It can’t be!” I thought to myself. “I have never let myself enjoy a full win. What’s going to happen?” 

I looked to my rear and saw a packed audience waiting in great anticipation for the huge, major musical production about to take place. My wife was sitting with my three young kids, waving and smiling at me. “This is too much! This is too good to be true! I must ruin it”, I kept saying to myself over and over.

This time I allowed myself to thrive big time; received the compliments, the hugs and the kisses, and even the handsome payment without debilitating myself. 

Then I waited for the sky to cave in. I waited and waited, but it never materialized; nor were there floods, lightening, tsunamis and earthquakes. And God was not angry at me for having it all, as was expected. No punishment or something terrible had transpired, which is what I believed would happen! 

I realized then that I had, all these years, been scaring myself into believing I didn’t deserve what I had earned. My baseless fear was that if I would have dared to allow myself to have it so good, I would surely be penalized for it. 

Most of all, I understood that I could win, flourish, feel good and nothing, absolutely nothing bad would happen. Actually, the opposite was true. The more I allowed myself the best that life has to offer, the better my life has gotten. What a revelation!  

Does what I had experienced most of my life speak to you in any way? Can you just stand to the side and witness yourself without criticism or judgment? I often tell my audiences in London and Hong Kong that your simple awareness could offer you more positive choices. Oh, and yeah. Be kind to yourself. The sky won’t fall. You and I are a work in progress.  

Let me know how things are going for you.

www.lennyravich.org

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Hello, my dear reader. I am Lenny Ravich, the author of the best-selling book “Everlasting Optimism” and Humoristic, Inspirational Keynote Speaker in London and Hong Kong. Some people ask me how one becomes an optimist. Well, like everything else, it’s a choice. At 86, I might have some experience. May I walk you through just one of many positive, optimistic days?

Choosing Optimism

It was Valentine’s Day 2001, in London. This had been my third invitation to deliver a humoristic keynote speech, “You Can Dance Life or Drag It.” As is my usual habit, I arrived a day earlier to rest, lay back and hang out with the “here and now”. I like to walk around and observe what my higher spirit has to offer. My “Buddha Walk” led me to an attractive shopping center. I decided to check it out and perhaps buy a stylish hat that I had had in mind.

Upon entering the store, I spotted my “dream”. I tried it on. It was “me”. The store owner approached and asked, “Do you like that hat? It’s from Italy. It looks very nice on you”.

I asked this stranger if he believed in God. He smiled when I told him that HE had led me to his store to get exactly what I wanted. He said, as he put my handsome purchase in a bag, “You are a very lucky man.” As I was leaving the store I replied “Yes, I am.  The Life-Force is forever sending me to places to get exactly what I need.” We shared a laugh as I walked away.

While out on the street I suddenly remembered that I needed an after shave lotion. I found a store with a cute, young sales girl. She asked me what kind of shaving lotion I had in mind. “Something that you would like.” She didn’t miss a beat and was behind the counter fetching me the lotion of her choice. I asked her to wrap it up for me. “Don’t you even want to smell it first?” she questioned.  I beamed, “If you like it, I don’t have to test it.” She blushed, “Yes, I like it.” I looked up at her and chuckled, “It’s Valentine’s Day. Aren’t you going to tell me something about love?” She said, quite assertively, “No, I don’t think so.”

As I turned to leave she blurted, “How about something for your lady?”

“I already bought her something.”

“Did she like it?”

“I haven’t given it to her yet.”

“I hope she likes it.”

“She will.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s from me. She’ll love anything as long as it’s from me.”

Now that’s Choosing Optimism

As I wandered aimlessly, it became obvious that I had lost the way to my hotel. I came upon two female police officers and asked them for directions. One brusquely asked, “Don’t you have a map?”. “Yes I do, but how else could I talk to two lovely ladies without being a male in distress?” I grinned. They both giggled and pointed out the route.

Along the way back I noticed a hot dog vendor and ordered a huge one, the likes of which I hadn’t eaten since I was a young boy, with mustard and sauerkraut. I bit into it, heard the crackle in my mouth and tasted a wave of delight right up to my eyes.

I meditated on the thought that if we would just let things happen and accept our Supernatural being’s unexpected gifts of each and every moment, and let go of the need to control “what is”, we could choose to be optimistic. Sometimes we need to let things happen rather than trying to make them happen. I keep this in mind whenever I prepare for my humorous, inspirational keynote speeches in London and Hong Kong where I remind my audiences that, “Optimism isn’t the important thing. It’s the only thing”.

What about you? May I challenge you to purposely choose optimism every day of your life?

Keep in touch and let me know how it works for you.

Lenny.ravich@gmail.com

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The Actor as a Young, Young man

When I was in my early twenties I lived in Greenwich Village in New York City. I was a budding Shakespearean Actor. I needed to have a day job for when I wasn’t working in the theater, (which was all the time) and I noticed an ad from the New York City Board of Education seeking qualified substitute teachers for junior high and high schools. Since I had a BA in English Literature, I took a battery of tests and succeeded in receiving my substitute English teacher’s license. This gift came with a challenge: I was called to teach everything BUT English. I substituted for a sewing class, gym classes and even taught French. But this was a perfect gig since I could always refuse a request to substitute if I had an audition that day or, most unlikely, a rehearsal. On the days that I was free, well the pay was quite handsome.

Fake it till you make it

One day I was called and asked to sub for an 8th-grade math class. The regular teacher had broken her leg in a skiing accident and would be laid up for six weeks. I hadn’t the slightest idea how to teach math for even an hour, and here I went and committed to doing it for six weeks. Definition of “Chutzpah”, anyone?

I spent almost every day of those six weeks in a constant state of humiliation. If you’re going to fake it, be ready to face the consequences.

Life and the Art of Improvisation

No matter how you perceive it, life is one huge, ongoing improvisation.  None of us gets an orientation manual when we’re born. There is no one to direct us on how to handle every single situation that might cross our path throughout our lifetime. Therefore, we are all improvisational actors whether we want to be or not.

One of my students, William (bless his heart) caught me “faking it” for about the 22nd time. I immediately went into improve mode, handed him the chalk and challenged him to teach the class himself, “smarty pants!” To my astonishment, he agreed. He proceeded to give a fabulous math lesson. I understood nothing, but the kids were inspired. Before the closing bell, I asked if someone else might be interested in teaching the next day’s lesson. Over twenty hands flew up and I gave the assignment to another mini genius.

Since my challenge to William turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I promised the class that I would continue this process on a daily basis as long as they behaved. Without a moment’s hesitation all the students agreed to abide by my terms. I even assigned the best achieving student to design, correct and grade the weekly quizzes.  I would sit in the back and try my best, to no avail, to decipher their explanations and formulas. They had no idea of my total bewilderment.

Whenever they got stuck and turned to me for help, my answer to them was a very confident, “I’m sorry, but if I help you I’m afraid you’ll become dependent on me. A good teacher challenges students and never offer answers.” That seemed to have worked because they became as busy as ants while sat down to resume reading my “MAD MAGAZINE” comic books.

My dear mentor Thiagi taught us this method which he labeled, “Have the inmates run the asylum.”

Gestalt therapists call this “creative adjustment.” Some people call it “lying and cheating”. I call it “the art of improvisation”.

I am always ready to invite someone from the audience to improvise with me during my Funny, Motivational Keynotes in Hong Kong and London.

Let’s begin living life in the here and now, without an agenda, while making others look good; just like the best improvisational artists do.

The ball is in your court. Smile and enjoy the show.

www. Lennyravich.org

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