October 6th, 2023. Yesterday I finally understood the concept of mindfulness. It’s only taken me 78 years. Mindfulness is removing all thoughts of the past or future and just observing the present without judgement. It’s a lot like meditation. When you do it, worry, regret, anger, all the emotions derived from your past and concerns about your future disappear, at least for the moment. You might want to give it a try. This day is designated as Come and Take it Day, Garlic Lover’s Day, Kid’s Music Day, Mad Hatter Day, National Badger Day, National Diversity Day (probably not celebrated in Tallahassee), National Noodle Day, and World Smile Day. Onto the history of this day. We start with the Battle of Arausio which was fought between two Roman armies and the Cimbri which was a migratory tribe moving through Roman territory. The year was 105 BC and the Roman armies lost with casualties of 120,000. Remember, only swords, spears, clubs and arrows. On this day in 1863 the 1st public bath opened in the US (Brooklyn). On this day in 1927 “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson was released. It was the 1st film with a soundtrack and signaled the end of silent movies. On this day in 1939 Adolf Hitler announced plans to regulate the Jewish population. To put his in context, in 1939 Germany had a population of nearly 87 million people. There were 210,000 Jews which was 00.2% of the population. In America today we have an estimated 00.7% population of transgender individuals. On this day in 1993, Michael Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA after 9 seasons and 3 NBA titles. He returned in 1995 and lead the Bulls to another 3 NBA titles. Today’s quotes come from Alfred Lord Tennyson who died on this day in 1892. He said, “No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant doesn’t knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don’t knock your friends. Don’t knock your enemies. Don’t knock yourself.” Good advice. Abide.
