Ray's Daily

“Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible.”

Cherie Carter-Scott

 

 

I was listening to National Public Radio recently when it was reported that many people these days are in a quandary created by their economic problems. I expected to hear about the difficulty in meeting their basic needs which I thought would be food, shelter and the like. What it turned out to be was that they had been so conditioned to fill every available moment of their time that their inability to fund their traditional leisure activities had resulted in their experiencing real stress. I was taken aback that we had come to the point where some have become so addicted to the toys, clubs, travel and other material pursuits that they failed to find equally, if not more rewarding things to do. I am sorry that they will miss so many of the wonderful things available to them if they don’t give the alternatives a chance.

I thought about what I heard off and on as the weekend went by only have the thought brought more into focus at a grandsons High School graduation yesterday. One of the speakers asked the graduates to think about life off line. His concern was that too many have substituted social networks such as Facebook or Twitter for real human interaction. Having experienced some of the social network traffic I can understand his concern. Between reporting every minute of activity coupled with thousands of text messages, little time is left for much else. And sadly this problem is not limited to only young people, I have older friends who have told me that they spend hours connecting on line to the exclusion of live interaction.

Sadly I have seen how this addition to finding just anyone to communicate with has resulted in isolation that often leads to loneliness. Trust me, avatars are not substitutes for real people, they don’t shake your hand, give hugs, or when needed empathy and understanding that is only expressed during human contact. And if that was not enough I heard today about a group of teens that gave up their cell phones and laptops for a period of time. They reported that study was easier, some even saw brief grade improvement and best of all they found that there was much to enjoy in the real world. I just wish everyone would learn the same lesson for they would find the true beauty that life has to offer rather than a make believe existence that provides only activity with little joy.

~~~

“Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself.”

Robert F. Bennett

~~~

Moe and Lenny are strolling home from Shul one Saturday morning. Suddenly a cab speeds past, and their friend, Irving, is running frantically behind it, flailing his arms wildly.

"Well," said Lenny. "I never imagined our good friend Irving was a Sabbath violator! Look at him running for that taxi."

"Wait a minute," Moe replied. "Didn’t you read that book I lent you. ‘The Other Side of the Story,’ about the command to judge other people favorably? I’ll bet we can think of hundreds of excuses for Irving’s behavior."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Maybe he’s sick and needs to go to the hospital."

"Come on! He was running 60 miles an hour after that cab, he’s healthier than Arnold Schwartzennegger."

"Well, maybe his wife’s having a baby."

"She had one last week."

"Well, maybe he needs to visit her in the hospital."

"She’s home."

"Well, maybe he’s running to the hospital to get a doctor."

"He is a doctor."

"Well, maybe he needs supplies from the hospital."

"The hospital is a three minute walk in the opposite direction."

"Well, maybe he forgot that it’s Shabbos!"

"Of course he knows it’s Shabbos. Didn’t you see his tie? It was his paisley beige l00% silk Giovanni tie from Italy. He never wears it during the week."

"Wow, you’re really observant! I didn’t even notice he was wearing a tie."

"How could you not notice? Didn’t you see how it was caught on the back fender of the taxi?"

~~~

"Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused."

~~~

Jill complained to Nina, "Rosey told me that you told her the secret I told you not to tell her."  

"Well," replied Nina in a hurt tone, "I told her not to tell you I told her."  

"Oh dear!" sighed Jill. "Well, don’t tell her I told you that she told me."  

~~~

If I won’t be myself, who will?

Alfred Hitchcock

~~~

The minister of a city church enjoyed a drink now and then, but his passion was for peach brandy. One of his congregants would make him a bottle each Christmas. One year, when the minister went to visit his friend, hoping for his usual Christmas present, he was not disappointed, but his friend told him that he had to thank him for the peach brandy from the pulpit the next Sunday.

In his haste to get the bottle, the minister hurriedly agreed and left. So the next Sunday the minister suddenly remembered that he had to make a public announcement that he was being supplied alcohol from a member of the church. That morning, his friend sat in the church with a grin on his face, waiting to see the minister’s embarrassment.

The minister climbed into the pulpit and said, "Before we begin, I have an announcement. I would very much like to thank my friend, Joe, for his kind gift of peaches …and for the spirit in which they were given!"

~~~

You can tell how old you are by remembering when a family went for a Sunday drive and everyone got in the same car.

~~~

A surgical patient was given the usual post-operative instructions. That night, she called wanting to know if her mother could visit.

"Any time," the doctor replied. "Why do you ask?"

"It says here in your instructions: ‘No relations until after your post-op checkup.’"

~~~

A beggar asked me for 50¢ for a sandwich. I said, "First let me see the sandwich."

~~~

The day I started my construction job, I was in the office filling out an employee form when I came to the section that asked: Single____ Married____ Divorced____.

I marked single. Glancing at the man next to me, who was also filling out a form, I noticed he hadn’t marked any of the blanks. Instead, he had written, "Yes, in that order."

~~~

The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who got there first.

Unknown

~~~

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"

The mother smiled. "I can’t dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy’s room."

The little boy replied with a shaking voice, "The big sissy!"

~~~

We need to teach the next generation of children from Day One that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

~~~

Stay well, do good work, and have fun.