Thursday, January 12, 2012

Wake up and be amazing

A few years ago I saw this commercial and thought it was pretty amazing.


My mother hates that word. Amazing is hackneyed and tired. At some point this word, born of biblical experience, became just some shit girls and boys say.* I have long tired to keep this unfortunately trite word out of my daily lexicon. However, sometimes it is needed.

This commercial was aired in the Fall of 2010. You may remember the Fall of 2010 being a pretty horrific time for the economy. All signs pointed in the wrong direction. It was getting easy to say that America was past its prime and that nothing we were doing was going to make this country great again.

When I watched this commercial it was most likely as I was getting ready for work or I was sitting on the couch with my lovely wife after a long day at work. But I wasn't being amazing, I was just doing my job and coming home. Not much in the way of risk, nor in the way of reward.

Now, I am taking a huge risk and we will see about that reward. And most days, my wife and my couch will be 3,000 miles away.

However, the reason this commercial stuck with me was that it had a message of get up and do something. It was the American Dream all wrapped up in a commercial for oatmeal (which is pretty good too). Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, as we are taught in grade school. But it is also the way to start your day. Sure you can have a good breakfast and do nothing with the rest of your day...but somehow I think that when you get up with a goal, no matter what you have for breakfast, it is going to be good.

Yes, this is a lame-ass-feel-good-bullshit blog post. But we are all permitted those from time to time. And I deserve one. So there.


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*So sue me, I wanted my Google ranking to go up.

2 comments:

Paul said...

Okay, so it is sappy, and gooey, and all American dream, etc. Pulls on the heart strings and all that.

If we factor out the happy yet cynical use of this uplifting message to sell a product - oatmeal, it is a great message.

The chassidic teachers, and my yoga master, encourage us to set an intention - create some kavannah - before we do what we do. That way we are aiming at a target. That way, the successes are even more meaningful.

Here's to making your day worthwhile and special...

Unknown said...

Thanks Rabbi. A good way to look at it. I really like the message and feel like the commercial was one of the best I have seen in a long time.