Don’t succumb to the false assumption that these times or your circumstances will never change or end.  That type of thinking either brings about a self defeatist attitude or an arrogant and blind overconfidence. 

Believe that change can and will happen, and plan accordingly and intelligently.  For change will happen, and when it does you will have had a part in either effecting that change or being ready for it.     

Modesty and humility are qualities to be regarded with esteem.  However, pride should not be taken as negative when it is truly warranted.  It is a spiritually elevating shirt which we may wear from time to time as we walk along the path of life.

There is a wonderful word in Yiddish which I love, called “haimish”.  It usually refers to one’s home.  It loosely translates into something which is homey, cozy and friendly. 

I get such a deep feeling of warmth and satisfaction when someone comes through my door for the first time and uses that word to describe how they feel about my home.  For if someone comes in to my home and says it is haimish, they are not commenting on how it looks but how it feels.  I would have a sense of loss if someone could not feel haimish when in my home, no matter how impressive or unimpressive it might look.

One can have a mansion and feel proud when people come in and say how impressive or gorgeous it looks.  But it is just that, it is simply how it looks.  It is superficial. 
A person who has spent exorbitant amounts of money on fixtures and furnishings may feel a sense of pride when walking into their home, but it is a shallow feeling unless their home is also haimish.  In that case, they have achieved the best of both worlds.   

Where you live is not just an apartment, a bungalow, a house or a mansion.  It is your home.  It is where your spirit should be at peace.  Do not feel embarrassed if it doesn’t look fancy or impressive.  Just make it haimish and you can feel good about your home, just as others will feel when they are in it. 

You are an integral part of a family, a team, a group, a society, of life.  Therefore, you should love the work which you do.  Your work is beneficial to you and to others, so you have a purpose.

You also have authority, whether over one or many.  However, you should not love this power which has been granted to you.  It is a burden shared by you and by those with who you use it.  So use your authority in a manner that your beliefs or sentience would obligate you in order to make your purpose a good one.

If you believe in Creation according to the Bible, then in my view God created our world as a gift for us.  That gift was given to us in the fashion of a jigsaw puzzle, in many pieces.  It is up to us to put the puzzle together, so we can see the whole picture and help to form a more perfect world.