Ray's Daily

In the end, it’s not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away

shing xiong

Even though I am temporally moving in slow motion I did attend a memorial service this past weekend that honored an old and dear friend who had passed some months ago. The event was a celebration of his life and it brought back many fond memories of all we shared over our more than twenty year friendship.

One of the things that made my friend special was that he never gave up. Over the years we were friends he had bouts of major cardiac and cancer problems. I can tell you his treatments would have taken me down, but it didn’t take my friend Peter down, at least not for long. He had retired from his primary vocation when we first met and while he did pursue some income producing opportunities he never let his health or material needs keep him from helping others, and he helped hundreds.

As I mentally reviewed the years that I knew him I realized for the first time just how much my life and the lives of most others has changed since I was a child. Back in the day, some seventy years ago, people had but one life, you worked hard until you could work no longer and then you slowly survived a few years until the end of life. In my case my first life ended when I first retired in 1990, more than twenty years ago, my second life allowed me to work for many years with Kiwanis International as we worked to help UNICEF’s effort to virtually eliminate the global problems of iodine deficiency that affected millions each year. My third life started when I retired from Kiwanis and was free to learn, volunteer, contribute, enjoy and truly have the best years of my life. I never believed in physical reincarnation but I have become a believer in lifestyle reincarnation, and you know what it does not take place because it is imposed on us externally it takes place because we chose to move on.

I have traveled extensively and in recent years I have been amazed at how many folks in their eighties behave and act younger than people did in their fifties those years so long ago. The sad part is that I think too many have been conditioned to believe they are only allowed one life and just succumb to the old model and sit on the sidelines withering away as the reborn are out having fun. I know from watching my friend Peter as he did what he did even when he was in pain that it is up to us how we chose to go on. Meanwhile I am having too much fun to end my third life just yet, what about you?

~~~

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.

Unknown

~~~

A man having lunch at a Chinese restaurant noticed that the table had been set with forks, not chopsticks. He asked why. The waiter said “Chopsticks are provided only on request.” “But,” the man countered, “if you gave your patrons chopsticks, you wouldn’t have to pay someone to wash all the forks.” “True,” the waiter shot back, “but we would have to hire three more people to clean up the mess.”

~~~

“Economy” today means a large container of detergent or a small car.

~~~

She said about having and raising kids that:

* If it was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor!

* Shouting to make your children obey is like using the horn to steer your car, and you get about the same results.

* To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.

* The smartest advice on raising children is to enjoy them while they are still on your side.

* The best way to keep kids at home is to give it a loving atmosphere ~ and hide the keys to the car.

* The right temperature in a home is maintained by warm hearts, not by hot heads.

* The joy of motherhood: What a woman experiences when all the children are finally in bed.

* A child outgrows your lap, but never outgrows your heart.

* There are three ways to get something done: Do it yourself, hire someone to do it, or forbid your children to do it.

* Adolescence is the age at which children stop asking questions because they know all the answers.

~~~

A bore is a person who talks so much about himself that you don’t get a chance to talk about yourself.

~~~

Friends took their first-grader on a car trip to Canada.  To help pass the time, the boy practiced his reading skills by calling out road signs. He fell asleep just before they entered Quebec.

When he awoke, he saw the French highway signs and said, in a worried tone, “I think I forgot how to read while I was asleep.”

~~~

Everyone hears what you say.

Friends listen to what you say.

Best friends listen to what you don’t say.

~~~

Teacher: Little Johnny, go to the map and find North America. Little Johnny: Here it is!

Teacher: Correct. Now, class, who discovered America?

Class: Little Johnny!

~~~

All generalizations are bad.

R.H. Grenier

~~~

A man is recovering from surgery when a nurse asks him how he is feeling.

“I’m O.K. but I didn’t like the four-letter-word the doctor used in surgery,” he answered.

“What did he say,” asked the nurse.

“OOPS!”

~~~

Life is the sum of all your choices.

Albert Camus

~~~

She said: Using a new painting program on my computer, I managed to come up with a very credible still life of fruit. I made a color printout and sent it to my daughter, a graphic designer. She called when it arrived.

“Isn’t it good?” I asked.

She chuckled and in a tone that echoed mine from years ago, replied, “Mom, it’s beautiful. We put it on the refrigerator.”

~~~

The world is a playground, and life is pushing my swing.

Natalie Kocsis

~~~

Stay well, do good work, and have fun.

Ray Mitchell

Indianapolis, Indiana

Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.

This daily is sent only to special people who want to start their day on an upbeat. If you have system overload because of our daily clutter, let me know and I will send you the information via mental telepathy. If you have not been getting our daily you can request to be added by e-mailing me at raykiwsp@yahoo.com. Back issues are posted at http://raykiwsp.multiply.com/journal and https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are about 2000 readers from around the world.