Opinion

I am writing this in a part of our apartment that looks much the same as it always has. But in the next room, the boxes are piled high in preparation for the move of a lifetime. By the time you read this, that move will already have taken place.

When California governor Gavin Newsom announced a first-in-the-nation COVID vaccine mandate for K-12 students, he claimed that “this is just another vaccine.” His words reflected those of Dr. Anthony Fauci back in August, who said, “I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea. We’ve done this for decades and decades, requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis [vaccinations].” Were a Republican to say this, fact-checkers would rate these claims as “mostly false” because they are “missing context.”

COVID is over.  Everyone who is vulnerable to the virus has had the ability to protect themselves for at least six months.  Anyone who wants to get a vaccination can get one, and everyone who is still worried can access an N95 mask.  There is nothing more the government can do to protect anyone.  So there are two ways for people to get back to normal: Either wait until you get permission, or just live your life. 

This month’s anniversary of the 1953 battle of Qibya has triggered yet another outpouring of Jewish guilt feelings. But Israel has no more reason to feel guilty about Qibya than the Allies do for bombing Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki.

The path to greatness seems simple enough. But when we look around, how many people do we see who are on that path to greatness? How many people do you know who are pushing their limits, living at their peak, and achieving the extraordinary? Shockingly few, probably. This begs the question: Why are there so few people who are living this way, at their highest level? While studying at Harvard, UChicago, and Yeshiva University, I saw many of my colleagues striving for greatness. But even at these great institutions, so many of my colleagues were simply trying to survive and get by. While some were writing books, conducting ground-breaking research, and planning their futures, others had no idea why they were there to begin with. After speaking around the world and coaching countless clients, I found so many people who struggled to even begin the journey towards their greatness. The more I thought about this question, the more fascinated I became by this enigma. From both research and experience, I found five different reasons that come up again and again for why people don’t become great, which we will cover in the next couple of articles. When we understand and think about these obstacles, we can ensure that we are armed and ready to overcome them as we embark on our own journey towards greatness.

In an odd-numbered year made odder by the consistent and endless takeover of personal liberties, people don’t think they have the ability to make the necessary changes to government until 2022 or 2024.  To the contrary, the election of 2021 will affect the lives of Nassau County residents far more than either of those cycles.