Consider The Roses

I drove by a funeral today.

Forty or so people were crowded around a tombstone with their heads down.

I was driving my mom’s convertible, blasting the Oceans 13 soundtrack, and until a moment before, smiling my ass off.

If I were one of the mourners seeing me drive by with the top down and music blasting, I’d probably think, “Jeez, look at that guy. I hope he knows how good he’s got it right now.”

Trust me man, I do. I’ve been exactly where you are.

So, dear reader, do you know how good you’ve got it right now?

I hope so.

Maybe this is a good time to take inventory of your prevailing thoughts.

Because, as much as I hope this doesn’t happen, you might one day find yourself praying for the “problems” you may now have.

In other words, if you have time to stop and smell the roses, do so.

Rip mirrors off the walls, chop the red petals into dust with a razor blade, and snort the fine, flowery lines with a rolled up C-note.

There really isn’t time for anything else and this is the youngest you’ll ever be.

This. Is. The. Youngest. You’ll. Ever. Be

“In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” — Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

www.LiveLikeAFruitFly.com

www.WeightLossCoffeeMiracle.com

www.WhereIsGodWhenOurLovedOnesGetSick.com

The City Of Angels

Since I’m the nicest guy since sliced bread, I drove my friend John to the airport.

He jetted off to Los Angeles because his house was Hurricane Sandyized and it’s finally being fixed up.

I schlepped some of his stuff to my place so it would remain unscathed, and in the car to the airport, John turned to me and said, “Hey man, if by chance something happens when I’m out there and I don’t make it back, keep my things. I trust you to make good use of them.”

I blew that off with, “Whatever man, I’ll see you when you get back in two months.”

We were listening to my dad’s copy of Sgt. Pepper’s and Paul just sang: Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty-four?

John said, “I was around seventeen when I first heard this album. Sixty-four sounded like light years away. Because man, it was. And now I’ll be sixty-four in three months.”

Looking like an older Jim Morrison and holding a guitar in one hand and his cat Minnie in the other, John walked through the doors of the Delta terminal after we hugged goodbye.

I know I’ll see him again and we’ll get back to talking business in Starbucks. You know: Rumi, writing, the reading of the tarot etc.

But the truth is, maybe he will meet his maker out there. Or maybe, I’ll meet mine here.

It happens to all of us eventually. And just like it is with meeting your one true love, it’s usually when you least expect it.

I remember watching a Louie C.K. special on TV in the middle of the night. My dad was sleeping and I was sitting next to his bed in the hospital.

Louie said something like, “You’re all laughing now, but at least some of you will be dead soon.”

Everyone laughed, but I’m sure some of the audience thought about it later that evening. Probably as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

This reminds me of a Charles Bukowski quote someone once emailed me, “We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”

Thankfully, this doesn’t apply to John. And it’s applying less and less to me.

Anyone else like to join us?

Evolution is in our own hands…

“In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” — Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

www.LiveLikeAFruitFly.com

www.WhereIsGodWhenOurLovedOnesGetSick.com

www.WeightLossCoffeeMiralce.com

Words I Wish I Wrote

“You can play the game and you can act out the part
Though you know it wasn’t written for you
But tell me, how can you stand there with your broken heart
Ashamed of playing the fool
One thing can lead to another; it doesn’t take any sacrifice
Oh, father and mother, sister and brother
if it feels nice, don’t think twice

Just shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine if you only will
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way you feel
Things are gonna be much better if you only will…”
– James Taylor “Shower The People”

FYI – the first version of Live Like A Fruit Fly ended with JT’s line, “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.”

The truly great writers need very few words.

“In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” — Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

www.LiveLikeAFruitFly.com

www.WeightLossCoffeeMiracle.com

Fish Are People Too

My sister’s neighbor knocked on the door yesterday. She was holding a fish.

Not in the palm of her hand mind you, but in a bowl.

It’s purple. Or purplish. And standard pet-fish size.

His name is Sushi.

My sister’s neighbor said, “Can you guys watch him for a week?”

“Sure,” I said.

She handed him to me and said, “If he ever looks dead, just tap on the glass.”

To that I asked, “But lets say he is dead?”

She didn’t respond.

I almost asked again, but she was already knee deep in the snow, halfway back to her house. I think she said she was going to Tampa.

I put the bowl on the dining room table, and then wrestled with my sister’s golden retriever in the den until we were both out of breath.

We were nose to nose on the floor. Staring into each other’s eyes.

I thought, “What’s the difference between this beautiful dog and Sushi? What’s the difference between me and Sushi?”

Gills aside, nothing.

So I did what I knew I had to.

I got up off of the floor and took a seat at the dining room table. It was just me and the fish.

But what do you say to a fish? A fish who lives alone, in a universe composed of only a couple of cups of water?

I felt a little weird, but I said the one thing I’d want to hear if roles we reversed.

I established eye contact as best I could, and with all sincerity I said, “I love you.”

I said it again and again and again.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

For about twenty seconds.

I swear he started to swim with more vigor.

As for me, I felt less of the world’s weight. At least for a little while.

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle

www.LiveLikeAFrutiFly.com

www.WeightLossCoffeeMiracle.com

For Everyone Alone On Valentine’s Day

I have such sympathy for people who feel alone.

I used to feel that way, and it’s awful.

You stand there in CVS, looking at everyone picking out Valentine’s Day cards, and you think, “Why not me?”

It sucks. I know.

But to that I say, as I would say to just about anything else, all in due time.

If you’ve been patiently waiting for your soulmate for forever, what I’m about to tell you isn’t going to make you feel any better about it. Nevertheless, it doesn’t make it less true.

You’re not alone.

It’s scientific fact. We’re all connected and it’s unequivocally proven by physicists worldwide.

The separation you sense is pure illusion.

If you allow yourself to become aware of this, if you allow yourself to know this, maybe, just maybe, you won’t be “alone” for much longer.

This is an aspect of the law of attraction. And the law of attraction isn’t something you get to believe in or not. It’s as real – as gravity.

Happy Valentine’s Day. From me to you (me).

love/thanks,
gabe (you)

“In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” —Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

www.LiveLikeAFruitFly.com

www.WeightLossCoffeeMiracle.com

The Buddha Begged For…

The Buddha, and his disciples, begged for food.

Old men with old robes on their backs, shuffled into town with their wooden bowls and begged for food to keep starvation at bay.

Why did these spiritual masters need to do this?

The answer can be found in an ancient zen poem, “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.”

Nirvana is nourishment for the soul, not for the stomach.

My books have helped many people, and I am so grateful to be a part of that.

But as of today, the ratio of books being sold to food on my table is not in proper balance.

In addition, the mere act of writing of my book Where Is God When Our Loved Ones Get Sick?, has brought me even closer to being completely “awake” after twenty-five years of searching and striving.

But I’ll still need to chop wood and carry water. And I prefer not to end up as a destitute, old man.

I promised my soul that I will never ever go back to the soulless prison of the corporate world, so I recently asked the universe to show me another way. Within due time, a completely unexpected path was revealed through a string of “coincidences”.

I followed my gut, set off on this new path and it’s already working out.

Extraordinarily.

Maybe it will work for you as well. Take a look here.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

Attempted Murder and a Death In The Family

“I’m holding a bottle of Fabreze,” my mom said in complete panic.

“Why? Does it smell musty?” I replied calmly.

In between laughter and passing out from fear she said, “No…I’ll try to spray it.”

This was part of our conversation last night. She called at around 11:30pm from her condo in Boca Raton because a gargantuan bug was taking a midnight stroll in her bathroom and she didn’t know what to do.

Not that I wished harm on the little guy, but my dad should have been there to kill it.

I still can’t believe he’s not.

Live like a fruit fly.

www.WeightLossCoffeeMiracle.com
www.LiveLikeAFruitFly.com

Today Is My Anniversary

I started writing Live Like A Fruit Fly on the ninth of February a few years back.

I called my friend Rob, who ended up making a few appearances in the book, and said, “Hey man. I know it’s your birthday, so, happy birthday. But you need to do me a favor. I’m starting to write a book today. A book that can change the world. If I’m not done in a year from today, I need you to come over and blow my head off with a shotgun.”

Gruesome, I know. But without hardcore incentive, I’d procrastinate my life away.

I wrote for a few days and then put it aside for a few weeks. I wrote for a few weeks and then put it aside for a few months.

Sometimes it flowed with ease. Other times it was like forcing water from a stone.

Finally, I typed, “The End.”

With my masterpiece manifested, I looked to the lower righthand corner of my computer screen to see the date. Without planning, it was a year later, the ninth of February.

Live Like A Fruit Fly hasn’t changed the world.

Yet.

But I’m grateful to say that it is changing lives – one by one.

For example, I became close friends with a fan of my book and I introduced her to a close friend of mine from back home. They’re now living together and she took him today for a full day at the spa.

Why today?

Because it’s Rob. And today is his birthday.

“In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” —Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

Byron Katie = The Buddha

“No one knows what’s good and what’s bad. No one knows what death is. Maybe it’s not a something; maybe it’s not even a nothing. It’s the pure unknown, and I love that. We imagine that death is a state of being or a state of nothingness, and we frighten ourselves with our own concepts. I’m a lover of what is: I love sickness and health, coming and going, life and death. I see life and death as equal. Reality is good; so death must be good, whatever it is, if it’s anything at all.” – Byron Katie – from her book: A Thousand Names For Joy

You see, Buddha wasn’t a name. It isn’t a name. It’s a state of being.

It’s the state of being awake. And I assure you, it’s your birthright.

You = The Buddha (underneath your thoughts and what your body is feeling).

love/thanks,
gabe

Raise Children As Christians?

Two older women at the table next to me at Starbucks were talking about wallpaper. Or maybe it was about gift-wrapping paper. I was only idly listening.

That is, until one of them closed the wallpaper (gift-wrapping?) catalog and said, “And that’s why I believe it’s so important to raise children as Christians.”

I was tempted to ask, “But which Christianity? The Republican version based on the false gods of Guns & Greed? Or the unconditionally loving and forgiving versions of Dr. Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ himself?”

Although, of course, Jesus wasn’t a Christian in the religious sense of the word. Nor was he white. Nor would he be a racist. Or homophobic. Or against healthcare for all. Or for the fetishizing over assault rifles. Or for lining the pockets of the rich at the expense of the middle class.

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” – said by a very dark skinned Jew over two thousand years ago

“In Live Like a Fruit Fly, Gabe Berman shares his recipe for living a more joyful, worthwhile, and abundant life in every way. A witty, entertaining, and insightful read.” — Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success