Interview Essay - Murray Meisels

1704 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Personality traits and leadership style

Interview Essay - Murray Meisels

Murray Meisels was born on April 19, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in New York City and came to California in 1941 to attend college at USC. After graduating from USC, he attended the University of Oregon Dental School and the University of Buffalo Dental School. Murray served in the military during WWII and the Korean War. In 1948, he married Francis and they made their home in Buffalo, New York. They raised two children, and Murray owned a dental practice for over 40 years. While raising a family and practicing dentistry, he completed a Masters degree and taught at the University of Buffalo Dental School. In 1991 Murray retired from private practice, but continued teaching part time at the dental school. During this time he and his wife spent winters in California. In 1996 they decided to make California their permanent home, and are very happy living here. They are proud parents and grandparents. Murray is very active and enjoys the Emeritus program, exercising regularly, stamp collecting, golf and craft works. He creates beautiful ceramic, glass and sculptured pieces.

The key elements in Murray's definition of happiness are peace, quiet, a lack of arguing, good health, and security. His definition of happiness has changed through the years, and he finds himself content with allowing people and situations to be the way they are. He is happier when he doesn't let things bother him. He has learned over time not to worry and aggravate himself unnecessarily. Selfish and opinionated people used to bother him terribly and he felt the need to respond, argue, or simply avoid them. But now he can handle these types of situations without feeling stressed.

Having too many requests at h...

... middle of paper ...

...w and you'll see the results in your life."

He feels that this advice is consistent with his philosophy on life. "I try to be fair and honest with everyone, sometimes to a fault. I like people to be honest and fair with me. I have always loved and done right by my family. I worked hard to do the best job that I could and I didn't take advantage of anyone in my practice."

I truly enjoyed my time spent with Murray. Both he and his wife Francis graciously welcomed us into their home, and made us feel like familiar friends. It was wonderful to hear him share stories from his life and I thank him for his openness and honesty. His insights about the trials and tribulations of life were applicable to a person of any age. Many times over the last few weeks, I have found myself thinking about something that he said. Murray is truly full of life and has a lot of spirit!

Show More
Related

  • Labor Unions for Nurses in the United States

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    Labor unions have a long and colorful history in the United States. A union is an organized group of workers who work together and use their strength to have a voice in the workplace. As a union, workers are able to have an impact on benefits, hours, safety and many other work-related issues. Many Americans involved in unions have an understanding of the process and what exactly it does, although those who are not, have some idea but not a complete understanding. The unionization of Registered Nurses has been an ongoing debate for years. In the United States many nurses, doctors and hospitals have unionized. As with all other labor issues, there are pros and cons to this issue. In the following, the positives and negatives of being a part of a union will be addressed as it pertains to Nurses.

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Biography

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lowell Dean Rogne was born in the year 1949, just less than twenty years before he got drafted into the Vietnam War in 1969. He lived in Linn Grove, Iowa, a little farming town, which is located about 35 miles south of MIlford, settled almost exactly halfway between Storm Lake, Iowa, and Spencer, Iowa. He lived with his family on a farm. He had three brothers, one older and two younger. His older brother was drafted into the war like he was, but his younger brothers were young enough to not be drafted. He had a mother and a father as well, and he worked on the family farm with them and his brothers. He also had a second job as a heavy construction worker and helped build a few of the buildings that are still up today in Spencer, like the Spencer YMCA and the Catholic Church. Lowell received a full education, meaning we went to school for all twelve years (grades k-12), although he never attended college. While in school he met his wife Debra. They were high school sweethearts and to this day they are still married and going on forty-five years this coming October. He never got much...

    Read More

  • Role of Non-violence in Reducing Juvenile Gangs and Crime

    1695 Words  | 4 Pages

    Our society incorporates violence into nearly every aspect of its existence.  We pick up the newspaper or turn on the television and find details of the latest violent crimes.  More often these crimes involve children.  Recently two young boys murdered a young girl for her bicycle.  They valued a material object more than a human life.  At some point in their lives they learned it was okay to harm another individual.  No one provoked them and they were not defending themselves.  They acted out of pure selfishness.  Sadly this scenario has become all too familiar over the last few years.  In the past two decades violent crime among juveniles ages 14-17 has increased tremendously.  Between 1983 and 1992 juvenile arrests increased 117% (U.S. Department of Justice, 12).  This suggests an increase in the growing involvement of young people in violent crimes.   To relieve this problem nationally and globally, we need to adapt the use of nonviolence into our culture.  We can do this by understanding the basic principles of nonviolence our peace leaders have practiced and develop strategies for their incorporation into our daily lives.

    Read More

  • Increasing Violence in Youth Culture

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is true that due to the positive learning atmosphere, schools have been regarded as a safe place for many years. Even today students and parents believe that schools are safe. If violence is increasing in youth culture, schools would be considered a dangerous place, but yet it remains known as secure. In addition, security has increased tremendously, within airports, major league sporting events, and upgraded police surveillance at American schools. Knowing this a logical assumption would be that violence has decreased. However, in my opinion, youth’s culture is changing and as a result violence is rising.

    Read More

  • The Attitudes Towards Violence and Guns

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Any person can type in the words violence and youth in a search engine on the internet and get a host of replies. The person can type in causes of youth violence and the responses narrow in number. If the person types in assessments and interventions for youth violence the number becomes even small. The violence involving the youth of the United States continues to rise. Violence among youths and young adults results in emotional, physical, social, and economic stress (CDC,2010). Homicide is the second leading cause of death among America’s young. It is also a major cause of non-fatal injuries. There were 650.843 youth injuries related to violence seen in the emergency rooms across the United States.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Stumbling On Happiness

    1501 Words  | 4 Pages

    He seems to imply that happiness is simply a relative state, which is entered by seeing one of the more positive aspects of a situation. Overall, Gilbert argues a strong case for happiness comes from our interpretations of our experiences. However, happiness also takes into account a wide range of other aspects of our lives, including our thoughts and actions, and even genetics. Therefore, happiness should be defined as the amalgamation of how we think and act, and how we interpret our experiences as positive or negative. What this means is that in order to become happier, we must simply force ourselves to become more optimistic.

    Read More

  • Labor Unions

    1479 Words  | 3 Pages

    The basis of today’s opposition’s argument is that unions have outgrown their usefulness and can be harmful to American businesses and the economy as a whole. The opposition’s argument has some merit and supporting evidence albeit with personal and political bias.

    Read More

  • Labor Unions

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s world of employment, one can choose to work in a unionized or a non unionized workplace; both situations have positive and negative attributes. In a unionized situation, members experience benefits such as union representation, and aversions such as layoffs and strikes. In a non-union situation, workers experience benefits such as better treatment by management, and aversions such as decreased benefits and overall decreased wages. Although over the last few decades union membership and growth have decreased, organized labor is becoming popular.

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Happiness in Fahrenheit 451

    2866 Words  | 6 Pages

    Before we look into specifics, we’ll examine the history and development of “happiness” as a philosophy. Of course, the emotion of happiness has always existed, but it began to be seriously contemplated around 2,500 years ago by philosophers like Confucius, Buddha, Socrates and Aristotle. Shortly after Buddha taught his followers his Noble Eight Fold Path (which we will talk about later), Aristotle was teaching that happiness is “dependent on the individual” (Aristotle).

    Read More

  • Ayn Rand Rexicon Analysis

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Ayn Rand Lexicon, happiness is defined as a state of being, not a feeling that comes and goes, that is lived morally and based on your values. They claim that a person should not sacrifice their own happiness for someone else ever because it is a disrespectful rejection of morality. In addition, the definition states that happiness should not be based on unreasonable, sudden changes and that a person should not live a life of deception because it will bring about difficulties. If a person follows this lifestyle they can achieve an enjoyable and successful life of happiness.

    Read More

  • “Are You Happy Now?”

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Happiness is a term that typically has different definitions. Some define happiness, as the things one possess; others may define it as doing a good deed and the feeling one has after doing a good deed. Merriam-Webster defines happiness as, “a state of well-being and contentment” . Even Aristotle acknowledges that everyone disagrees on the definition of happiness because we all have a different thought-process and prior knowledge. Even though there are many definitions to happiness, both Aristotle and John Stuart Mill take a similar approach when attempting to define happiness in their books. Aristotle and Mill discuss their theories of happiness and pleasure, and their views of virtue in ethics and its relation to happiness. Aristotle and Mill may have been writing at different times, and did not necessarily have the same beliefs, but both philosophers took a similar position when defining happiness.

    Read More

  • Speech on Happiness

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    But in this debate, one question still raises its head - What is happiness? Happiness is not actually leading a luxurious life, but the luxury of living a life. Happiness is not actually about expanding your business, but it lies in expanding the horizons of life. Happiness is not having a meal in the most famous restaurant, but having it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties, but to attend a party with honor.

    Read More

  • Happiness in Aristotle’s work: The Nicomachean Ethics

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    The definition of happiness has long been disputed. According to Aristotle, happiness is the highest good and the ultimate end goal—for it is self-reliant. This idea contradicted other common beliefs and philosophical theories. Aristotle opens his work by describing the various theories, neutrally examines each idea, and discloses how he thinks the theory is wrong and why his idea of happiness is more accurate.

    Read More

  • The Definition of Happiness

    481 Words  | 1 Pages

    According to the Webster dictionary, the word happiness is defined as enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy. When people think of happiness, they think about having a good feeling inside. There are many types of happiness, which are expressed in many ways. Happiness is something that you can't just get; it comes from your soul. Happiness can be changed through many things that happen in our everyday lives.

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Happiness

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Happiness is a feeling that humans naturally desire. Without it, one feels incomplete. In this generation, happiness has taken on a definition by how we are presented to one another. It is measured by how much money we have, how famous we are, or the things we possess. When in reality, none of these things guarantee a happy life. Happiness is something that cannot be bought with money, but rather, it must be found, earned, sought after. Each and every one of us has our own list of things that we consider to make us happy. However, happiness shines brightest through the relationships we create, and the goals we make for ourselves to strive after. Along with these two essential sources, we then can mix and match those things in life that we enjoy to create our own unique formula for happiness.

    Read More

More about Interview Essay - Murray Meisels

Open Document