Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of doing, seeing, or hearing something and suddenly you start experiencing that “something” over and over via other people, places, or times?

It seems to be everywhere – all at the same time. Maybe, it’s bumping across people from your home state… like an extended version of The Sopranos in New Jersey. Or maybe it’s your new car suddenly seems like everyone is driving…or possibly it’s when couples become pregnant…or EVEN hearing a NEW ubiquitous word (like “ubiquitous”) repeated over and over again. Something happens and just keeps happening to (or at) you. And it seems it’s happening to many people around you at the same time – it seems to be an individual tipping point for you. Or does it?

You’re not crazy. Neither am I. Yet it IS the reality of the “I’m from Jersey, you from Jersey?” sort of thing.

(True confessions - My family actually is from Jersey, but they’re not a part of SNL nor The Sopranos, ha.)

Here’s a ubiquitous example from my life. As you know, I’m scheduled to have heart surgery in late November, to correct a congenital heart valve defect and to “sleeve” an aortic aneurysm caused by the defective valve. Originally it was set to happen at a well known hospital in LA, with the recovery following in Palm Springs. When originally presented to me, I wasn’t fond of the idea of surgery or recovering so far from home. Ah, but that’s not the point of this newsletter, now, is it? Well, actually, the two facts ARE connected.

You see, at the same moment in time, I was processing the acts of the terrorist organization, Hamas, and their barbarous October 7th attack against Jews in Israel. It was a profound moment of sadness for me so I sought out Tim Cowles - my mentor on all things Israel, a travel agent friend. I have traveled to Israel several times as a co-leader with him and he is a wealth of knowledge about Israel.

As we met at a coffee shop to discuss the Israel issue, something very different happened. At an odd, throw-away moment in the discussion my Israeli expert explained he had recently had the EXACT heart operation that I am scheduled to have.

Exact!

I sat stunned. From that VERY discussion came an entire change of plans for my operation, allowing me to remain in my hometown under the care of the nationally-known-yet-local heart surgeon who operated on Tim and had also done thousands of these types of operations. I’ll even be able to recover in my own residence over the holidays.

Soon after, another friend from years ago, JJ, told me of his own recent heart operation and EVEN opened his shirt (obviously without my prodding! Ha!) to show me his scar, done by the very same heart surgeon that Tim used and who I will soon use! “Everybody’s having open heart surgery!” I said to myself. “I’m from Jersey, you from Jersey?” also began to sound in my inner ear…

What was going on? A form of a tipping point was happening.

Has that type of repeated coincidence happened to you in your life? Maybe it was with cars, clothes, vacation spots, being pregnant…or anything else that seemed immediately coincidental? It’s really an interesting experience. And it’s real. No kidding. Oh…and why did I include the Hamas terrorist group when I began this line of questioning?

It may seem strange, but a terrorism group is connected to this form of thinking; the phenomenon is named after the German terrorist group, Baader-Meinhof. As HowStuffWorks.com writes,

So, my questions are these:

1. What are you pretending not to know about tipping points that seem new to you? Are they really new; or is it a frequency illusion and your subconscious is elevating it as if it is really important?
2. Have you put an inordinate amount of time desiring things (like fancy cars and expensive houses) that SEEMED like better places to live or own? Could it be that your thinking patterns were just jumbled up because of the very elements described in frequency illusions?
3. What can you do to make yourself more aware of the marketing that is manipulating your choices in the media that you consume?

Let’s unpack these thoughts:

Stop pretending.

It’s an amazing question to ask yourself: “What am I pretending not to know about certain tipping points?” In his 2002 book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell writes of small moments that changed history. He calls them tipping points.

What are you pretending NOT to push into, to change your world?

Stop desiring far-away things.

We tend to think often about things that will improve our social standing. Our minds subconsciously move us towards people and things that we think are important. Fan magazines have long held the key to understanding the drawing power of desire for which we do not have:

But do we really need/desire more than what we already have? “Desiring” is best understood by breaking down the word:

Stop being manipulated by the media.

Finally, when you come across trash, throw it out. Prior to preparing this newsletter I watched the episodic series The Perfect Couple. I saw that the global numbers of viewers was quite astounding. The show itself was just plain stupid, nasty and icky.

Netflix manipulated itself and all who watched it in a way that one person on Reddit summed it up:

My take-away of the experience of watching this terrible show was that I will exit stage right on every Netflix episodic trash show in the future, no matter the quality of the cast – which this one had some VERY talented folks.

But that’s not all, as our presidential political season comes to a close in early November, the media bias against conservatives leaves me speechless – and THAT’S saying something after 40+ years of active conservative political involvement. All I can hear myself saying is “Turn it off!”

Here’s why: listen to the first three minutes of this link by an old associate of mine, Brent Bozell, as he gives a terrific overview of why we must choose to stop being manipulated by the national media.

Here are the goals:

• Choose to watch and read things that are uplifting and challenge your thinking; don’t just recycle old things and pretend they’re new.
• Re-focus your wants to be equal to your needs. Choose contentment. Hold firm to the things that you currently can reach with your hands instead of letting your heart move you in the direction of the stars.
• Stop believing the media. Think deeper. Think longer. Think holistically. Think critically. And quit consuming trash.

More later,

Den

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• Go back to the Brent Bozell video piece above and finish the remaining time on the interview. It’s worth it. A long time ago I knew Brent personally and worked with him for a while. I still appreciate the hard work he does for conservative causes. He’s a faithful soldier.
• Buy The Tipping Point on Amazon here. It is an older book; one that still packs a punch for those of us who like facts.
• Please keep me in your prayers for healing of my heart, so that I might just not have to have the operation after all; now wouldn’t that be ubiquitous? (Definition FINALLY here)