Ray's Daily

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”

Malcolm S. Forbes

 

 

One of the great things about my last few years has been the super people I have met, people from all walks of life with a wide variety of jobs and interests. The tough thing for me is how many of these special people are so much better than they think they are. In fact it sometimes seems like the majority don’t place as much value on who they are and what they do as they should. It would not be so bad if it wasn’t that their lack of belief in themselves often keeps them from things that would benefit them either in a job or by enriching their lives.

The other day I was watching an English movie where the male lead said something like “We need to tell people how much we value them as soon as we can because it would be a tragedy if we waited until they gave up and it was too late”. The people I know are often better than the people I read about, they do little things for others without expecting anything in return, they help others and seldom hurt anyone, I guess the one thing they have in common is that they care. And like the guy said it behooves us to let them know how special they are.

 If the truth be known few of us will ever be famous, win big trophies, or become wealthy in the eyes of others, but all of us can be true to ourselves and recognize our own value and be proud not only of what we do but also because of what we don’t do. So my friends hold your head high and have sympathy for those who measure life only in material terms for they will never find the key that you have in you, the key to a truly successful life.

I think Ralph Marston is one of the smartest guys around. Here is something he wrote a number of years ago about confidence that I think has great value.

 

The strongest confidence is quiet confidence. It does not boast and is not arrogant. Quiet confidence pays no attention to those who ridicule it simply because of their own insecurities. Quiet confidence does what is right, no matter what others may think.

Quiet confidence is built from substance, and is not just made for show. It is genuine and as such, it is powerful. Quiet confidence does not seek the easy way out. Quiet confidence finds the true and the right way through whatever situations or obstacles there are. It makes no grand promises. Yet it delivers much value.

Quiet confidence is not overly concerned with appearances. Quiet confidence simply gets things done. You don’t always see it, nor do you often think about it. Yet quiet confidence works tirelessly behind the scenes, bringing you many good and valuable things.

Quiet confidence is real, persistent confidence that makes a positive difference every day. Try some yourself, and see how much real and lasting value it can add to your world.

~~~

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

 Mark Victor Hansen quotes

~~~

"Boys and Girls Are Born Equal But Not the Same"

"Equal" is not always synonymous with "the same." Men and women are created equal. But, boys and girls are not born the same.

1. You throw a little girl a ball, and it will hit her in the nose. You throw a little boy a ball, and he will try to catch it. Then it will hit him in the nose.

2. You dress your little girl in her Easter Sunday best, and she’ll look just as pretty when you finally make it to church an hour later. You dress a boy in his Easter Sunday best, and he’ll somehow find every mud puddle from your home to the church, even if you’re driving there.

3. Boys’ rooms are usually messy. Girls’ rooms are usually messy, except it’s a good smelling mess.

4. A baby girl will pick up a stick and look in wonderment at what nature has made. A baby boy will pick up a stick and turn it into a gun.

5. When girls play with Barbie and Ken dolls, they like to dress them up and play house with them. When boys play with Barbie and Ken dolls, they like to tear off their appendages.

6. Boys couldn’t care less if their hair is unruly. If their bangs got cut a quarter-inch too short, girls would rather lock themselves in their room for two weeks than be seen in public.

7. Baby girls find mommy’s makeup and almost instinctively start painting their face. Baby boys find mommy’s makeup and almost instinctively start painting the walls.

8. If a girl accidently burps, she will be embarrassed. If a boy accidently burps, he will follow it with a dozen fake belches.

9. Boys grow their fingernails long because because they’re too lazy to cut them. Girls grow their fingernails long – not because they look nice – but because they can dig them into a boys arm.

10. Girls are attracted to boys, even at an early age. At an early age, boys are attracted to dirt.

11. By the age of 6, boys will stop giving their dad kisses. By the age of 6, girls will stop giving their dad kisses unless he bribes them with candy.

12. Most baby girls talk before boys do. Before boys talk, they learn how to make machine-gun noises.

13. Girls will cry if someone dies in a movie. Boys will cry if you turn off the VCR after they’ve watched "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie three times in a row.

14. Girls turn into women. Boys turn into bigger boys.

~~~

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

Calvin and Hobbes

~~~

A sign at a fast food restaurant read: "Fat Free French Fries."

Fascinated, I decided to give them a try. I was dismayed when the basket of fries was dripping with fat from the fryer.

"Just a minute! Those aren’t fat free."

"Yes, they are. We only charge for the potatoes. The fat is free."

~~~

If you can’t be a good example — then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.

~~~

A jockey is in the parade ring discussing race tactics with the horse’s trainer. The trainer tells the jockey that this is the worst horse he has in training. It has had 23 races and finished last in every one of them. If it doesn’t win today, the milkman will be using it for deliveries in the morning.

The jockey mounts up and takes the horse down to the start. The race begins and the horse is 30 lengths behind the pack after only half a furlong. He gives the horse a great backhand on the rump.

Nothing.

He then gives him a series of sharp slaps on the shoulder.

Nothing.

He then gives him two wallops right on the hindquarters.

The horse comes to a sudden stop, turns to the jockey and says, "Will you stop it with that whip? I have to be up at four in the morning to deliver the milk!"

~~~

The best manner of avenging ourselves is by not resembling him who has injured us.

Jane Porter

~~~

I heard about a lady who was speeding and an officer pulled her to the side of the road. She didn’t have her seat belt on so as soon as she stopped, she quickly slipped it on before the officer got to her window.

After talking to her about speeding, the officer said, "I see you are wearing your seat belt. Do you believe in wearing it at all times?"

"Yes, I do, officer," she replied.

"Well," asked the officer, "do you always do it up with it looped through your steering wheel?"

~~~

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

Henri Bergson

~~~

Stay well, do good work, and have fun.

 Ray Mitchell

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies.

The editor is somewhat senile.