Ray's Daily

“The sun beams are always there. The trick is in seeing them.”

Laurence Gonzales

I last left you about a month ago for what was going to be a brief period so I could be in the hospital for two days for some surgery. As it turned out the operation was a success and I was released in the early evening the next day only to return to the hospital the next morning with what turned out to be consumptive heart failure and pneumonia. I only remember the first few hours on admission day and became fully aware a couple of days later when I awoke in the intensive care unit. I do have brief memories of the discomfort caused by the pipe down my throat and the like. To make a long story short I am told it was a near thing and that fortunately I survived. After my total of nine days in the hospital I was moved to a rehabilitation facility where I spent the next three weeks receiving physical and occupational therapy. And now I am home and back with you and it is great. I will be doing further recovery activities but as an outpatient.

I now understand I may not be immortal after all so I will have to moderate my plans somewhat and tweak my lifestyle and that is probably a good thing. I am sorry I missed most of November and part of December as that is when I usually work with the Salvation Army, my Kiwanis club and other organizations doing good works in the spirit of the season. While I hope to soon be fully recovered I will have to restrict some of my more adventurous activities.

As I was recovering a week or so ago I wrote the following to a few friends and family members:

My recovery status

My recovery from my heart failure is progressing. I have two sessions of physical therapy each day that are rapidly returning me to mobility. My eighteen pound weight loss helps too.

I have decided that the days ahead are each important and rather than just letting them go by I plan on living them to the fullest. I will treat each day as if it may be my last.

Here are some random thoughts from my recovery:

• I will not take on responsibilities or tasks that I may not be able to finish.
• I will continue to help all l can whenever I can.
• I will appreciate my friends and others I meet and let them know that I do.
• I will continue to maintain my workouts to maintain my health.
• I will continue to explore and learn all I can.

Now my best to you all.

Stay well. Do well and fare well.

I am sure as I adjust my activities some may think I am reducing some of my commitments because of a lack of interest in what is being done. Rather I want to make sure I don’t take responsibility for doing something and then having to let others down. I fully intend to provide as much help and support as they want me to but I will not take on a slot that would be better filled by someone who can reliably do what needs to be done.

You have often heard me say that I never worry until it is too late and then if there is a problem I try to deal with it as an event and do the best I can. In this case I am glad that I did not worry for if I had known I was about to face one of the toughest periods of my life I probably would have worried far too much.

So now my friends we move on to better days, both you and I have a lot to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead.

~~~

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.

Aristotle

~~~

More health definitions for those of us who are not in the profession:

Diarrhea — journal of daily events

Dilate — to live long

Enema — not a friend

Fester — quicker

Fibula — a small lie

Genital — non-Jewish

G.I. Series — soldiers’ ball game

Grippe — suitcase

~~~

How do you get off a non-stop flight?

~~~

“Your Honor, I want to bring to your attention how unfair it is for my client to be accused of theft. He arrived in New York City a week ago and barely knows his way around. What’s more, he only speaks a few words of English.”

The Judge looked at the defendant and asked, “How much English can you speak?”

The defendant looked up and said, “Give me your wallet!”

~~~

Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.

~~~

A psychology student was to help a professor in conducting a personality test. The room was set up with various props in order to move through the assessment quickly. The first person to enter the room started through the test.

“How does this glass of water look to you?”

Person 1: It is half empty.

Student writes ‘pessimist’ in his report.

Person 2 enters the room. “How does this glass of water look to you?”

Person 2: It is half full.

Student writes ‘optimist’ in his report.

Person 3 enters the room. “How does this glass of water look to you?”

Person 3: Looks like you have twice as much glass as you need there.

The student looks totally blank and goes to consult with the professor. “Oh them!” the professor says, “I forgot to warn you about the engineers! They have no personality.”

~~~

The way I see it, if you want to see the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

Dolly Parton

~~~

She said:

After directory assistance gave me my boyfriend’s new telephone number, I dialed him — and got a woman.

“Is Mike there?” I asked.

“He’s in the shower,” she responded.

“Please tell him his girlfriend called,” I said and hung up.

When he didn’t return the call, I dialed again. This time a man answered. “This is Mike,” he said.

“You’re not my boyfriend!” I exclaimed.

“I know,” he replied. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell my wife for the past half-hour.”

~~~

It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.

Robert H. Schuller

~~~

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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