September 2, 2023 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

We often take for granted the very things that deserve our gratitude.

Cynthia Ozick

What are some of the most valuable things that you take for granted, every day?

Your health? Your loved ones? Your friends? Your ability to make a living? Your ability to pursue the dreams that matter to you?

There are countless variables in our life which are omnipresent, and which receive very little regular attention or gratitude. As we get older, and we have opportunity to watch one of these myriad variables, wane or disappear entirely, it shines a bright spotlight on that which we have so regularly assumed would always be in place.

Have you ever hurt a small part of your body, (like jamming a finger) and every time you go to do something (like reaching into your pocket) there is a pain that reminds you that something in your body is hurt, that wasn’t hurt, and now calls attention to itself with regularity, until it heals (assuming it will heal).

These contrasting experiences give us stimuli to recognize, and therefore appreciate, all that the world of gratitude would encompass, if we were fully awake, and aware of the details.

Even the ability to take a clean breath of air is, in and of itself, a luxury that some people in some parts of the world are not regularly able to avail themselves of.

Our opportunities to perhaps take a step back from the complexities of our daily lives, and pause long enough to express our gratitude for the people we love, the people who care about us, those who are by our side, through thick and thin, and so many other variables, is worthy of a brief moment, every morning.

In doing so, we take an inventory of these things that are so readily available to us, and acknowledge how fortunate we are to have all of that in our world.

Happy Saturday!

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Cynthia Ozick

Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!