Ray's Daily

When you are through changing, you are through.

Bruce Barton

I wish these were easier times for some of the people I meet. So often the setbacks they have experienced mostly through no fault of their own have taken them to a lonely place. It is as if the depression brought on by adversity has them believing that they are in a dark hole with no way to get out. I have learned that those who have given up on themselves stand little chance of starting a better life. And you know what? I have yet to meet anyone who has reason to give up on themselves. They may have been in the wrong place, or were the victim of events beyond their control or they even may have been guilty of a mistake but if they see those events as reason for pessimism they will pay an awful price.

Why is it that we punish ourselves way beyond a reasonable level of penance and then use our behavior as a rationale for not taking positive action?

Some time ago David Loker actor, singer, life-coach, and the founder of Passion For A Living found himself in the doldrums and his wife told him “You have to fix this.” Those five words triggered him to reexamine his life and take action and in the process he found these three tips to be keys that can open the door to brighter days. After reading them I think they are worth a regular reread as all of us at one time or another need to decide that we have to fix whatever is bothering us.

3 Tips to Start Changing Your Life

Realize That You Have the Power to Change Your Life

You have the power to change your life. Whether you realize it yet or not, you can do it. Further, you are only one who can do it. Others can help, but the bulk of the work is up to you. Don’t look at that as a negative—realize that you are in control of your own life, and how important it is that you alone have that power! Realizing that the responsibility to change your life is yours might seem intimidating at first, but it is actually very empowering. If your responsibilities to others leave you feeling powerless, then keep reading.

Quit Sacrificing Your Life for Others

First of all, it isn’t helping them either. Anyone who is worth your time, anyone who really cares about you, wants you to be happy. When we are down, when our life feels beyond our control, then we cannot bring joy to others. It is when we’re happy that we can bring happiness to the lives of others.

Do Something, No Matter How Small

Don’t wait. You’ve already waited long enough. Take a step, no matter how small, in the direction that you want your life to go. Don’t focus on the mountain, or you may be too intimidated. Instead, figure out the smallest step you can do right now, and one tiny step at a time, you will climb to the top of the tallest mountain that your imagination can conceive.

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God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Reinhold Niebuhr

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A woman whose fondness for the good life had taken its toll in added pounds – and girth – was being shown a Jeep by a salesman at an auto dealership. When the salesman’s pitch had run its course, he sought to close with the typical line, “Now what would it take to get you into one of these?”

Looking at the Jeep’s high front seat, the woman replied, “Probably a crowbar.”

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“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.”

Benjamin Franklin

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She said: Working as a pediatric nurse, I had the difficult assignment of giving immunization shots to children. One day I entered the examining room to give four-year-old Lizzie her shot.

“NO!  NO!  NO!” she screamed.

“Lizzie,” her mother scolded.  “That’s not polite behavior.”

At that, the girl yelled even louder, “NO, THANK YOU!  NO, THANK YOU!”

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“Extend to each person, no matter how trivial the contact, all the care and kindness and understanding and love that you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.”

Og Mandino

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After putting her children to bed, a mother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. At last she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings.

As she left the room, she heard her three-year-old say with a trembling voice, “Who was THAT?”

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“Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.”

Anthony Trollope

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At the end of the college year, a star football player celebrated the relaxation of team curfew by attending a late night campus party. Soon after arriving, he became captivated by a beautiful coed and eased into a conversation with her by asking if she met many guys at these parties that she’d date.

“Oh, I have a 3.8, so I’m much more attracted to the strong academic types than to dumb party animals,” she said. “What’s your G. P. A.?”

Grinning from ear to ear, the jock boasted, “I get about 25 in the city and 40 on the highway.”

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“Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.”

Will Rogers

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A worried father asked his daughter if her latest beau was serious about their relationship.

“I’ll say he is, Daddy,” responded the girl. “Just last night he asked me how much you make, what kind of meals Mom serves, and if you two are easy to get along with.”

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Science is true. Don’t be misled by fact.

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A small boy was looking at the red ripe tomatoes growing in the farmer’s garden.  “I’ll give you my two pennies for that tomato,” said the boy pointing to a beautiful, large, ripe fruit hanging on the vine. “No,” said the farmer, “I get a dime for a tomato like that one.” The small boy pointed to a smaller green one, “Will you take two pennies for that one?”

“Yes,” replied the farmer, “I’ll give you that one for two cents.”

“OK,” said the lad, sealing the deal by putting the coins in the farmer’s hand, “I’ll pick it up in about a week.”

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

Henri Bergson

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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.

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