Ray's Daily

Just do what you can

Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem.

Virginia Satir

Do you ever feel like you are overloaded? I often have and find I no longer can the handle the loads I once did. I am doing better in matching my commitments with my likes and capabilities having learned not to get too stressed by what I am not doing or won’t do.

That’s not to say that there are mot some no choice mandatory things in my life and sometimes when combined other activities they start to tip the scale into the overload range. I have made peace with the fact I sometimes can’t do it all so I just do what I can.

Here is an edited article written by Henrik Edberg of the Positivity Blog that includes tips that have helped my cope, they might be of value to you as well.

 How I Turn an Overwhelming and Stressed Day Around

The days when you feel the pressure and stress rising inside of you. When you become unfocused and dark thoughts start to brew and fill your mind. But such days don’t have to continue that way. You can often turn them around or at least make them a lot less uncomfortable and more focused again.

Here’s what I do when I feel trapped in one of those days.

Breathe.

First, just breathe and calm your mind and body down a bit so that you can think a

little more clearly. I do this by first sitting down. Then I breathe with my stomach for a minute or two.

During this time I keep 100% of my focus on the air going in and out of my nostrils.

Zoom out.

I have often found that zooming out a bit alleviates stress and inner pressure. When you feel trapped and like the world is pressing down on you then it is easy to get a very unhelpful perspective on things. So I ask myself: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 months? This allows me to see things from a broader perspective.

Unclutter your focus.

When you feel overwhelmed and stressed out it’s easy to get stuck in thinking you have to do 5 things at once to get a handle on things and to get back on track. So I ask myself: Honestly, which ones of these things can wait until tomorrow or next week with no or small consequences?

Go for just taking care of the rest of today one small step at a time.

After I have alleviated pressure, overwhelm and stress by using the three steps above I narrow my focus.

I do not look forward because then I’ll see all the things I have to do to reach my goal or get all the way to done with a project. Instead, I go smaller and focus on just taking care of the rest of today. Nothing more. Tomorrow will come in time and then I will take care of it too. But for now I only focus on what is most important today.

~~~

Thinking too long about doing something is often the reason it never gets done.

Marc Chernoff

~~~

A teenager is:

* A person who can’t remember to walk the dog but never forgets a phone number.

* A weight watcher who goes on a diet by giving up candy bars before breakfast.

* Someone who can hear his favorite singer 3 blocks away but not his mother calling from the next room.

* A whiz who can operate the latest computer without a lesson but can’t make a bed.

* A student who spends 12 minutes studying history and 12 hours studying for her driver’s license.

* A connoisseur of 2 kinds of fine music–loud and very loud.

* A young woman who loves the cat and tolerates the brother.

* A romantic who never falls in love more than once a week.

* A budding beauty who never smiles until her braces come off.

* A boy who can sleep till noon on any Saturday he suspects the lawn needs mowing.

* An original thinker who is positive that her mother was never a teenager.

~~~

Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.

Wayne Dyer

~~~

There was this West Va. sheriff and his deputy riding along the small town.  They spot a car with out of town plates and decided to pull it over. The sheriff says “Where you from boy?”

The man says Chicago. Sheriff says, “Don’t lie to me son I saw them Illinois tags.”

~~~

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.

William James

~~~

• Have you ever realized that children are like dogs—loyal and affectionate, but teenagers are like cats?
• It’s so easy to be a dog owner. You feed it, train it, boss it around. And yet it still puts its head on your knee and gazes at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting and bounds indoors with enthusiasm when you call it.
• Then around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed, as if wondering who died and made you emperor. Instead of dogging your doorsteps, it disappears. You won’t see it again until it gets hungry. Then it pauses on its sprint through the kitchen long enough to turn its nose up at whatever you’re serving. When you reach out to ruffle its head, in that old affectionate gesture, it twists away from you, then gives you a blank stare, as if trying to remember where it has seen you before. You, not realizing that the dog is now a cat, think something must be desperately wrong. It seems so antisocial, so distant. It won’t go on family outings.
• Instead of continuing to act like a dog owner, you should learn to behave like a cat owner. Put a dish of food near the door, and let it come to you. Sit still, and it will come, seeking that warm, comforting lap it has not entirely forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.

~~~

It’s lonely at the top, but you eat better.

~~~

I was listening to a lady who called a radio minister. The minister was a wise, grandfatherly gentlemen who had that calm reassuring voice that can melt all fear.

The lady, who was obviously crying, says, “I was born blind, and I’ve been blind all my life. I don’t mind so much being blind but I have some well-meaning friends who tell me if I had more faith I could be healed and see again.”

The minister asked her, “Tell me, do you carry one of those white canes?”

“Why, yes, I do,” she replied.

“Well, then… the next time someone says that to you, hit them over the head with your cane,” he said. “Then tell them… ‘If you had more faith, that wouldn’t hurt!’ ”

~~~

Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions – Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

Chanakya

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

I want to be like him

Kind people are the best kind of people.

I have been a little more sluggish these past few days than normal. My rear end has been dragging so much I am considering the purchase of Teflon coated pants. My team of Doctors are working on adjusting my daily mix of medical potions to assist in my rejuvenation. I hope it won’t take too long as I really need to get back into the swing of things.

One of the things I like to use at times like this is antidotes for the blahs and here is one of my all-time favorites. I want to grow up to be like this boy so that folks will say when all is said and done “He cared.”

The Tip

Two Nickels and Five Pennies In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?”

“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. “How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he inquired.

Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies – her tip.

~~~

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

James Matthew Barrie

~~~

At the pub, a little blonde guy exchanged words with a big bald guy, and it looked like they were about to go to blows.   “You’ve got a lot of nerve for such a shrimp!” snarled the big guy.

“Look, you big jerk,” barked the little blonde guy, “I’m not scared of anybody, or anything! I come from a long line of jumpers. My great-grandfather jumped with no parachute from a balloon. My grand-father jumped without a ‘chute from a biplane.

My mother and father both jumped from a jet. And tomorrow, I jump from a rocket!”

“You’re crazy, you little twerp,” said the big guy. “You could be killed!”

“So what?” said the little blonde guy. “I have no family!”

~~~

“What’s going on in the inside shows on the outside.”

Earl Nightingale

~~~

David wasn’t feeling well and so he went to the doctor to get himself checked.

After a thorough examination, the doctor said, “Well David, based on my examination, the best thing for you is to cut out all sweets and fatty foods, give up alcohol, and stop smoking.”

“I see,” said David.  “Well, to be honest with you Doc, I don’t deserve the best.  What’s the second best?”

~~~

Middle age is when you know your way around but don’t feel like going!

~~~

A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication for her daughter. When returning to her car she found that she had locked her keys in the car. She was in a hurry to get home to her sick daughter.

She didn’t know what to do, so she called her home and told the babysitter what had happened and that she did not know what to do. The baby sitter told her that her daughter was getting worse.

She said, “You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door.”

The woman looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been thrown down on the ground, possibly by someone else who at some time or other had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, “I don’t know how to use this.” So she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help. Within five minutes an old rusty car pulled up, with a dirty, greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull rag on his head.

The woman thought, “This is what you sent to help me?” But, she was desperate, so she was also very thankful.

The man got out of his car and asked her if he could help. She said, “Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?”

He said, “Sure”. He walked over to the car, and in less than one minute the car was opened.

She hugged the man and through her tears she said, “Thank You So Much!  You are a very nice man.”

The man replied, “Lady, I am not a nice man I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out for about an hour.”

The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, “Oh, Thank you, thank you, God! You even sent me a Professional.”

~~~

I believe in honesty and integrity. Someone asked me what I would do if I found $1 million in the street. If it belonged to a poor person, I’d give it back.

~~~

A young man was sitting next to me in one of the two “husband chairs” in a ladies’ clothing store.

After 30 minutes and five outfits, the fellow’s wife came out of the change room again.

He looked at her and immediately said: “That looks good on you. Get that one.”

“Honey,” she replied, “this is what I was wearing when we came in.”

~~~

If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy.

~~~

If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver’s license; if it says “Florida”, you live in a low-lying area.)

The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.

Good luck, and remember: It’s great living in Paradise

~~~

When you can be the sunshine in someone’s life, or the warm rain, why would you be the cold north wind?

Robert Brault

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

Be Wise

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.

David Starr Jordan:

I am in extreme low energy mode today while the doctors work on my rejuvenation I am going to send you a Daily from one of my better days. Ray

Ray’s Daily first published on April 27. 2010

One day last week I shared some thoughts from a friend who had just reached fifty, they were reported to be some of his learned life lessons. I thought I would pull up a few more for me to think about and to share with you, so here goes.

• Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good. – In my case I think it is fair more times than not, but there are times when it’s not and then we have a choice. Linger with it and getting bogged down or not letting it get to us and moving on. I have found it is just not worth letting unfairness takes its toll.
• When in doubt, just take the next small step. – I have learned that stopping can be fatal, it becomes too easy to just give up, always putting off moving on. Read a book, see a neighbor, start an easy project, there is always something to be done on your way to the next big step.
• Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. – I am dismayed by how much hatred I see around me every day. Haters provide me a choice, I can walk away from those who try to install their hate in my mind or I can give them the opportunity to steal my happiness. We can solve problems constructively together or we can fall into the trap of feeling that success requires tearing down those we don’t like. Fortunately life rewards the builders and leaves the destroyers behind amidst the rubble they create.
• Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does. – Like I have often said, this is as good as I get, take me or leave me, it is up to you. I promise to always do my best but I know I often stumble, but that’s fine with me. Anyway I’d rather be a little silly and not always serious.
• You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. – A friend told me one time that he thought I had the ability to lose gracefully and that as a result I was always allowed to come back and play another day, I think it was one of the best complements I have ever received. I even like to lose when I am wrong for I will have learned something.
• Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present. – Don’t underestimate the importance of this advice. If you are like I am you know all kinds of folks who carry the burden of their past pain, some lasting from their childhood. I have made many mistakes and have often felt pain in the past, but I cannot change history so I’ll not waste time living it down, I am much happier writing a new history page each day.

~~~

The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

~~~

She said, I a Dominican sister, I lived in a convent named for a deceased pope. One day while I was wearing contemporary clothes instead of my habit, I drove into a gas station to get the communal car filled up. After the young attendant topped off the tank, he walked toward my car window to return my credit card.  It was clear from his furrowed brow that he had something on his mind.

The young man looked at me shyly and pointed to the convent’s name, John XXIII Hall, imprinted on the card. “Pardon me,” he asked hesitantly, “but how do you pronounce your husband’s middle name?”

~~~

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

~~~

They say that a preacher’s wife is always his number one assistant. An example of this comes one Sunday morning after the preacher had just finished his sermon. He went and sat down with his wife and she asked him how he thought the church service went.

The Preacher shrugged and said, “The worship was excellent, and I think the prayer time went quite well, but,” he continued, “I just don’t think the sermon ever got off the ground.”

The wife looked over at him, and before she could stop herself, she said, “Well, it sure did taxi long enough!”

~~~

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

Sigmund Freud

~~~

Morris and Rachel are sweethearts. Morris lives in a small village out in the country and Rachel lives in town. One day, they go to see the Rabbi and set a date for their wedding. Before they leave, the Rabbi asks them whether they want a contemporary or traditional service. After a short discussion, they opt for the contemporary service.

Their day arrives but the weather is rotten and a storm forces Morris to take an alternate route to the synagogue. The village streets are flooded, so he rolls up his trouser legs to keep his trousers dry.

When at last he reaches the shul, his best man immediately rushes him up the aisle. As the ceremony starts, the Rabbi whispers to Morris, “Pull down your trousers.”

“Rabbi, I’ve changed my mind,” says Morris, “I think I prefer the traditional service.”

~~~

Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.

~~~

A gal was shopping at a Target Store and came across a silver thermos.  She was quite fascinated by it, so she picked it up and brought it over to the clerk to ask what it was.

The clerk said, “Why, that’s a thermos…..it keeps things hot and some things cold.”

“Wow, said the blonde, “that’s amazing….I’m going to buy it !” So she bought the thermos and took it to work the next day. Her boss saw it on her desk. “What’s that,’ he asked? “Why, that’s a thermos…..it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold,” she replied.

Her boss inquired, “What do you have in it?”

The blond replied, “Two popsicles, and some coffee.”

~~~

Why is it called ‘after dark’, when it is really after light?

~~~

A man looked at the menu at the airport restaurant, and saw that the sandwiches were named for planes.  “I’ll have a Jumbo Jet,” he said.  When the order arrived, he was disappointed to see how small his burger was, but he ate it anyway.

He called his waiter over and asked, “Was that the Jumbo Jet?”

“Yeah,” the waiter answered.  “Went pretty fast, didn’t it?”

~~~

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it.

Maya Angelou

~~~

Jill: What happened to you and your last boyfriend?

Mary: Well, you know how men are supposed to be hunters and women are supposed to be gatherers?

Jill: Yeah, I know about that.

Mary: Well, he couldn’t hunt enough money to keep up with my gathering.

~~~

One’s first step in wisdom is to question everything – and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

Do you know how good you can be?

The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.

Marcel Proust

Why so many people better than the think they are or could be. The following article makes me wonder if the problem isn’t that too many of us have been conditioned to minimize our self-worth. I wish many of my friends and acquaintances would think as well of themselves as I do of them.

Dr. Paul provides plenty of food for thought on how we might break away from the anchors that keep us from brighter days.

Are You Making These 4 Mistakes?

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

I, like many of you, was brought up and programmed to believe in a number of ideas that have turned out to be untrue. These false beliefs led me to make various life and relationship mistakes. I didn’t like making mistakes any more than you do, but it is from my mistakes that I’ve learned so much.

In this article, I’m going to discuss the 4 major mistakes that I used to make and that so many of my counseling clients make before working with me.

Self-judgment

I used to judge and shame myself unmercifully, although mostly unconsciously. Until I started to pay attention to my anxiety, stress, and insecurity, I never realized how much I judged and shamed myself.

Now I know that self-judgments create so much inner stress that it makes it harder to do well – not easier. Now I know that people treat me the way I treat myself, so the more I judge myself, the more others judge me. Now I know that my passion and creativity flow when I’m accepting of myself, and that self-acceptance creates an inward motivation to be all I can be.

Giving Myself Up

I was taught that the way to get love and approval was to please others – to give myself up and be what they wanted me to be. Now I know that giving myself up is a form of controlling others, and that while I might get some temporary approval, I never feel loved when I compromise myself. Now I know that when I disrespected myself so much as to give myself up for approval, others also disrespected me. Now I know that when I love myself and approve of myself, I also experience others’ genuine love for me. Now I know that others treat me the way I treat myself. 

Competition vs. Cooperation

I never particularly liked to compete, but I was taught to compete for grades, for attention and for approval. I was taught that my value was in my looks and performance, not in my goodness, kindness, caring and compassion. Now I know that there is far more joy and achievement in cooperation than competition. Now I know that I can define my own worth through my intrinsic qualities of goodness, gentleness, kindness, creativity, caring and compassion, rather than competing to be seen as worthy through others’ eyes.

Controlling vs. Learning About Loving Myself and Others

Because love was conditional in my family of origin, I learned various ways of trying to have control over getting love and avoiding pain. Judging myself, giving myself up, looking right and achieving were all ways to control how my parents and others felt about me. But with all of this, I never felt inwardly safe, secure, lovable or worthy – no matter how much approval I got.

Now I know that self-esteem comes from learning to love myself and others, rather than from getting approval. Now I know that my sense of inner safety and worth comes from how I treat myself and others rather than from how others treat me.

~~~

“Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now, and if the past cant prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?”

Eckhart Tolle

~~~

He said: Recently launched into the “real world” and shocked by the expenses that came with it, my brother Dustin was complaining about the high cost of auto insurance.

“If you got married,” teased my dad, “the premium would be lower.”

Dustin smiled and said, “That would be like buying an airline just to get free peanuts.”

~~~

It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t remember anything.

~~~

After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother 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 the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, “Who was THAT?”

~~~

At my age flowers scare me

George Burns

~~~

His mother was away all weekend at a business conference. During a break, she decided to call home collect. His six-year-old brother picked up the phone and heard a stranger’s voice say, “We have a Marcia on the line. Will you accept the charges?”

Frantic, he dropped the receiver and came charging outside screaming, “Dad! They’ve got Mom! And they want money!”

~~~

She said: DON’T TREAT ME ANY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU WOULD THE QUEEN I’M OUT OF ESTROGEN AND I HAVE A GUN

~~~

Several women were visiting elderly Mrs. Diamond who was very ill.

After a while, they rose to leave and told her, “Esther, we will keep you in our prayers.”

“Just wash the dishes in the kitchen,” the ailing woman said, “I can do my own praying.”

~~~

A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than men who mention it.

~~~

Marvin was in his usual place in the morning sitting at the table, reading the paper after breakfast. He came across an article about a beautiful actress that was about to marry a football player who was known primarily for his lack of IQ and common sense.

He turned to his wife with a look of question on his face. “I’ll never understand why the biggest jerks get the most attractive wives.”

His wife replies, “Why thank you, dear!”.

~~~

Sometimes it is when you become exhausted of your old habits where you then observe all the dislikes in your life and you begin living more consciously. You realize that you have a choice in every matter. That your life becomes that which you focus on and that at any time you can assert your personal will power to become what you want to be and not become what the outside circumstances may attempt to mold you into.”

Jason Micheal Ratliff

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

There is always hope

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast.”

Alexander Pope

I have been accused on occasion of being overly optimistic since I prefer to believe that things will turn out OK as they usually do. I prefer to minimize worry and maximize a belief in positive outcomes. If in fact things don’t work out then it is time to moderate worry with hope.

I have a few maladies that are uncorrectable but there impact is moderated by appropriate therapies allowing life to continue with only minimal and really inconsequential impact on my daily activities. I have found that hope opens the door to effective coping with life’s challenges. I recently read an article by Saul Levine M.D. that talked about the value of hope. I have slightly abridged the article for space reasons, here is what he wrote:

“Hope Springs Eternal”

Hope is a powerful life force which enables us to face and overcome challenges.

Hope is of course the belief one holds during difficult circumstances that things will get better. It is unique to our species because it requires words and thoughts to contemplate possible future events. There are countless dramatic stories of hope existing in people even in the most dire of circumstances. My late father was raised in destitute circumstances, yet never lost hope, which enabled him to withstand, overcome, heal and grow as a person.

Physicians present encouraging possibilities when breaking bad news to patients because hope during serious illness fosters healing and recovery. Hope helps to envision that a challenge or threat can ameliorate, and that there will be a “better tomorrow.” Hope is by its very nature optimistic and encourages us to work towards goals of overcoming.

Hope provides a haven from pessimism and fear. It galvanizes our courage and mobilizes our energy and vitality. It enhances our mood and our creative thinking. Hope also contributes to the human propensity to help others who are in distress, including loved ones as well as strangers. It is one of the great human motivators, engendering a sense of purpose and aspirations during desperate times.

Of course, there are ‘false hopes,’ which can be misguided or even destructive. False hopes are based on faulty assumptions or misinformation, or on the hubris or delusions of a charismatic but crazed individual. Merely waiting for an impossible situation to resolve can be demoralizing and self-defeating.

Hope in the face of unpleasant fates enables people to create important works and to help others. Stories of hope and fortitude abound: Anne Frank, Florence Nightingale, Londoners during the Blitz, slaves during the Jim Crowe years, survivors of natural disasters, East Germans under Stasi, and so many others.

When we are in deep turmoil, we all “light our internal candles” of hope. There have surely been times in your own life when your problems seemed insurmountable, yet you retained your inner hope which enabled you to overcome, turn things around, and grow in personal wisdom and as a person.

~~~

“Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make our time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope.”

Tom Head

~~~

She said, I Love Him But

* He gives out the phone number to innumerable business acquaintances – then when the phone rings, tells me to say he’s not home….

* He swears he gave me the registration papers to the truck then finds them in his tackle box a week later. Apology? Not in this life time!

* He ‘Channel surfs’ – right in the middle of something I’m trying to write down.

* He tells me my new outfit is OK – then gripes to everyone that it cost way too much & doesn’t do a thing for me.

~~~

If some people said what they thought, they’d be speechless.

~~~

As a drunk guy staggers out of the bar one Friday evening, a fire engine races past, siren wailing and lights flashing. Immediately, the drunk starts chasing the engine, running as fast as he can until eventually he collapses, gasping for breath.  In a last act of desperation he shouts after the fire engine, “If that’s the way you want it, you can keep your bloody ice cream!”

~~~

Heck is where people go when they don’t believe in gosh.

~~~

A young man called his mother and announced excitedly that he had just met a young lady of excellent character and virtue that interested him very much. What should he do to try to impress her?

His mother had an idea: “Why don’t you send her flowers, and on the card invite her to your apartment for a home-cooked meal?”

He thought this was a great idea, and a week later, the woman came to dinner. His mother called the next day to see how things had gone.

“I was totally humiliated,” he moaned. “She insisted on washing the dishes.”

“Why, what’s wrong with that?” asked his mother.

“Mom, we hadn’t even started eating yet.”

~~~

I just read that last year 4,153,237 people got married.

I don’t want to start any trouble, but shouldn’t that be an even number?

~~~

Jill was out driving her car and while stopped at a red light, the car just died.  It was a busy intersection and the traffic behind her starting growing.  The guy in the car directly behind her started honking his horn continuously as Jill continued to try getting the car to start up again.

Finally Jill gets out of her car and approaches the guy in the car behind her.

“I can’t seem to get my car started,” Jill said, smiling.  “Would you be a sweetheart and go and see if you can get it started for me.  I’ll stay here in your car and lean on your horn for you.”

~~~

In seeking truth you have to get both sides of the story.

~~~

Airport Security alerted an airline crew to keep an eye a blonde passenger who appeared excessively nervous and shifty-eyed.  Soon after takeoff, the blonde man called a stewardess to his seat and said, “I have a live grenade in my pocket.  I’ll blow up the plane if you do not divert to Cairo.”

Perplexed, the stewardess said, “But, sir. This is Delta flight 1219 to Cairo.”

“Damn!” replied the blonde passenger, “I got on the wrong plane.”

~~~

If at first you don’t succeed, try looking in the waste basket for the directions.

~~~

In the cafeteria on the first day of spring semester at Kent State University, I saw three students hard at work on their calculators.

Stunned that they had received such an obviously tough problem so early in the semester, I asked them what their assignment was.  One girl looked at me and replied, “We’re figuring out how many days until spring break.”

~~~

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”

Norman Cousins

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

Today will be great

LIVE NOW!

It is Friday and we made it through another day, I think when you get to be my age you will value each day as I do. It does not require anything special just twenty four hours of trouble free living, Sure it often includes aches and pains but we can still breathe, think, read and so much more. Days that include some time with a friend or two are always a joy.

Sure there are things we might not be able to as well as we did when we were younger but in reality there is a lot to be said for the more leisurely life. I find the secret is to focus on what you can do and enjoy it while you can,

A few years ago I copied some quotes that should help us to focus on the present rather than dwelling on the past or waiting for the future. Here is what I saved.

Focusing on the present

• Dream as if you live forever, live as if you’ll die today.
• There are seven days a week and someday is not one of them.
• A year from now, you will wish you had started today. – Karen Lamb
• Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass….It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
• If not now then when? If not you, then who? – Robin Sharma
• One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now. – Paul Coelho
• People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer, all life for happiness.
• Do it now. The future is promised to no one.
• The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW. – Chinese Proverb
• The time for the action is now. It’s never too late to do something.
• Spending today, complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any better.
• Enjoy life now. This is not a rehearsal.
• The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is NOW. -Robert Ingersoll
• Live now, believe me wait not till tomorrow; gather the roses of life today. -Pierre De Ronsard
• Don’t live life hiding behind your past, live for right now. -Nichole William
• Enjoy these moments now, because they don’t last forever.
• The past is gone, the future is only imaginary. We have little choice…Now is the only place we CAN exist.
• Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift; that’s why it’s called a present.

~~~

“You’re cheating yourself out of today. Today is calling to you, trying to get your attention, but you’re stuck on tomorrow, and today trickles away like water down a drain. You wake up the next morning and that today that you wasted is gone forever. It’s now yesterday. Some of those moments may have had wonderful things in store for you, but you’ll never know.”

Jerry Spinelli

~~~

There was this man who, many years ago, worked for a large business. That was his lifetime employment, but he wasn’t happy there. He wanted to go into business for himself. He saved his money and finally had enough so that he could quit and start his own business.

About two years later, I was on vacation and was going through the town where his business was located, so I stopped by for a visit. “Hey, John! I heard that the first year is the hardest for a new business.”

“Yeah, the first year was pretty rough, but we are doing pretty good now. In fact, I’m getting to where I only have to work half a day.”

“Wow, that’s pretty nice. Maybe I should think about going into business for myself.”

“Yeah, and the nicest part of it is that it doesn’t matter which twelve hours you work!”

~~~

There are two schools of thought on the leather jacket…one of them from the cow.

~~~

When it comes to tunes, my local music shop prefers the sound of silence. A sign prominently displayed on a grand piano reads, “The management is not responsible for the actions of its employees if your child plays “Heart and Soul” or “Chopsticks” on this instrument.

~~~

Half the secret of getting along with people is consideration of their views; the other half is tolerance in one’s own views.

Daniel Frohmann

~~~

My English professor was stopped for speeding. When asked why she was driving so fast, she quoted Robert Frost: “I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”

“But Miss,” replied the officer, obviously familiar with the poet. “Frost chose the road less traveled and unfortunately for you, this wasn’t it!”

~~~

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.

Lord Byron

~~~

A visitor to a college campus paused to admire the new Hemingway Hall. “It’s a pleasure to see a building named for Ernest Hemingway.”

“Actually,” said the guide, “it’s named for Joshua Hemingway. No relation.”

“Oh? Was Joshua Hemingway a writer also?”

“Yes, indeed. He wrote a check.”

~~~

A synonym is a word you use in place of one you can’t spell

~~~

A woman, her husband and their three rambunctious young sons were in their car waiting at a traffic light. The woman glanced over at the car next to them and noticed a blissfully happy mother with her baby daughter.

Looking at her husband, she said, “As soon as I lose my weight from the last baby, I want to try for a daughter.”

The husband reached up to the dash, grabbed an open box of snacks and said, “Here. Have another cookie.”

~~~

I love being over 80.   I learn something new every day……. and forget at least 5 others.

~~~

A woman meant to call a record store but dialed the wrong number and got a private home instead. “Do you have ‘Eyes of Blue’ and ‘A Love Supreme’?” she asked.

“Well, no,” answered the puzzled homeowner. “But I have a wife and eleven children.”

“Is that a record?” she inquired.

“I don’t think so,” replied the man, “but it’s as close as I want to get.”

~~~

“Happiness is achieved when you stop waiting for your life to begin and start making the most of the moment you are in.”

Germany Kent

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

My Memory

Memory is the mother of all wisdom.

AESCHYLUS

Good morning; I am back. One of the things I did over the last few days was undergo a rigorous seven hours of mental performance tests. They tested my linguistic skills, my reasoning ability, my analytical aptitude, memory retention and more. It wore me out and my body kept asking when I was going to take my daily nap.

The good news is that I did well for “For a guy your age” in fact they said I was above average and there is no sign of any of the deterioration associated with early stage dementia. The bad news is that when I asked about my difficulty remembering names and words they said it was because I had an old brain.

When I asked about what I might do to recover my previous memory function they said the only solution was reincarnation. Since I am not ready to leave this life I will just continue calling folks whose names do not surface quickly, buddy, pall, friend or the like. What I thought was interesting is that I have other doctors who have said the only way I could correct a chronic malady was to start life over again. So my friends I will continue walking a little slower, live with my delayed recall of names and continue to enjoy the friendship of so many of you, thanks for the memories.

I recently read the following recommendations from Dr. Alex Lickerman that may help if I can remember what they are.

Strategies for Remembering

Become interested in what you’re learning. We’re all better remembering what interests us. Few people, for example, have a difficult time remembering the names of people they find attractive. If you’re not intrinsically interested in what you’re learning or trying to remember, you must find a way to become so.

Find a way to leverage your visual memory. You’ll be astounded by how much more this will enable you to remember. For example, imagine you’re at a party and are introduced to five people in quick succession. How can you quickly memorize their names? Pick out a single defining visual characteristic of each person and connect it to a visual representation of their name, preferably through an action of some kind. For example, you can remember It requires mental effort to do this, but if you practice you’ll be surprised how quickly you can come up with creative ways to generate these images. Here’s another example: How often do you forget where you left your keys, your sunglasses, or your wallet? The next time you put something down somewhere, pause a moment to notice where you’ve placed it, and then in your mind blow it up. If you visualize the explosion in enough detail, you won’t forget where you put it.

Write out the items to be memorized over and over and over. Writing out facts in lists improves recall if you make yourself learn the lists actively instead of passively. In other words, don’t just copy the list of facts you’re trying to learn but actively recall each item you wish to learn and then write it down again and again and again.

Get adequate sleep to consolidate and retain memories. Not just at night after you’ve studied but the day before you study as well. Far better to do this than to stay up cramming all night for an exam.

~~~

We do not remember days; we remember moments.

Cesare Pavese

~~~

A woman goes to the local psychic in hopes of contacting her dearly departed grandmother. The psychic’s eyelids begin fluttering, her voice begins warbling, her hands float up above the table, and she begins moaning. Eventually, a coherent voice emanates, saying, “Granddaughter? Are you there?”

The customer, wide-eyed and on the edge of her seat, responds, “Grandmother? Is that you?”

“Yes granddaughter, it’s me.”

“It’s really, really you, grandmother?”, the woman repeats.

“Yes, it’s really me, granddaughter.”

The woman looks puzzled, “You’re sure it’s you, grandmother?”

“Yes, granddaughter, I’m sure it’s me.”

The woman pauses a moment, “Grandmother, I have just one question for you.”

“Anything, my child.”

“Grandmother, when did you learn to speak English?”

~~~

He said: I moved from Chicago to Houston and was nervous about the summers in this new city. My queries got this reply from a native Houstonian. “Sir, we have four seasons here: almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.”

~~~

My dad told me that life is like a big game of solitaire. Until you get married. Then it’s like a big game of solitaire with a partner telling you you’re playing it wrong.

~~~

In a stationery store, I quickly picked out a card for my wife for our anniversary. The clerk was surprised by how little time it took me, and she began relating a story about another customer who spent a half-hour searching for the right anniversary greeting.

Noticing the man lingering over one card after another, the clerk went to see if she could help. “Is there a problem?” she asked.

“Yes, there is,” he replied ruefully. “I can’t find one my wife will believe.”

~~~

“I’m not a fatalist. But even if I were, what could I do about it?”

Emo Philips

~~~

She said: According to Leah, my mother, she and Dad decided to start a family soon after he became an office manager. When months went by without success, they consulted a noted physician, who chose to examine Mom right then and there. “Please disrobe,” the doctor told her.

“With him in the room??” she yelled, pointing to my father.

Turning to Dad, the doctor said, “Aaron, I think I found the problem.”

~~~

“You may think your boss is stupid, but remember if he was smart you probably wouldn’t have a job”

John Gotti

~~~

He was extremely nervous about his first funeral service as a Navy chaplain, but the undertaker assured him that he would prompt him. All went well until, at the close, the undertaker whispered to him to instruct the family to come up and view the body.

“Will the family now come forward and pass around the bier,” he said. He cringed inwardly when he heard his own words.

Later, as he was leaving, he overheard two of the cemetery workers talking. “I didn’t get any beer,” one said. “Did you?”

“You heard the chaplain,” the other replied. “It was just for the family.”

~~~

We don’t forget…. Our heads may be small, but they are as full of memories as the sky may sometimes be full of swarming bees, thousands and thousands of memories, of smells, of places, of little things that happened to us and which came back, unexpectedly, to remind us who we are.

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

The secret of happiness

“No road is long with good company.”

Turkish Proverb

Note: There will be no Daily tomorrow or Wednesday, I have to go for tests.

I have learned, as I am sure many of you have, that real happiness comes from the quality of our relationships and not from the things we collect over our lifetime. It is our loved ones and our friends who provide us the setting where we can find hope, happiness and even serenity. It is a shame that it takes many of us so long to appreciate those around us.

Here are excerpts of an article written by Candy Sagon that is worth reading. Remember you really don’t have to wait until old age  to appreciate the gifts others give you.

What’s the Secret to a Happy Life? It’s Not What You Think

When you’re in your 20s and just starting out, money and fame may seem the key to a happy life. But as you age, that viewpoint changes considerably. The real secret, according to a Harvard study that’s been going on since the 1930s, has nothing to do with your bank account or your career.

“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period,” the study’s current director, Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said in a recent TED Talk that’s been viewed more than 7 million times.

The research doesn’t prove that happier relationships cause better health. It could be that those who are happier and healthier are more likely to make and maintain satisfying relationships, while those struggling with health problems are more likely to become isolated and depressed.

Keep making friends after you retire. Those who were the happiest in retirement were the people who had actively worked to replace workplace friends and colleagues with new friends.

Social connections are really good for us, and loneliness kills. “People who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community, are happier, physically healthier, and they live longer than people who are less well connected,” Waldinger said. People who are more isolated are less happy and have shorter lives.

It’s the quality of your close relationships that matters. “High-conflict marriages, for example, without much affection, turn out to be very bad for our health, perhaps worse than getting divorced,” he said. Having good, warm relationships was protective of our health.

A secure relationship helps your brain. Those in relationships where they felt they could count on the other person in time of need had memories that stayed sharper longer. Even the octogenarian couples who bickered daily remained sharp “as long as they felt that they could really count on the other one when the going got tough,” said Waldinger.

~~~

“Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings.”

Miles Franklin

~~~

Two old guys are pushing their carts around Wal-Mart when they collide. The first old guy says to the second guy, “Sorry about that. I’m looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

The second old guy says, “That’s OK, It’s a coincidence. I’m looking for my wife, too. I can’t find her and I’m getting a little desperate.”

The first old guy says, “Well, maybe I can help you find her. What does she look like?”

The second old guy says, “Well, she is 27 yrs. old, tall, with red hair, blue eyes, long legs, big busted, and is wearing short shorts. What does your wife look like?”

To which the first old guy says, “Doesn’t matter, — let’s look for yours.”

~~~

“There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.”

Frederick William Faber

~~~

These two couples play golf together regularly at their club, and on the sixth hole, a par four, the second shot to the green must carry 80 yards over water.

One of the women, Mrs. Smith, for over a year, could never carry the water, and would always hit into it, totally psyched out by the presence of the water.

Her friend in the group suggested that she might want to see a hypnotherapist to overcome her anxiety near the water. So the woman went to a hypnotherapist for four sessions. In those sessions, the woman was hypnotized and the therapist would “plant suggestions” that when playing the second shot on the sixth hole, she would not see water, but rather a plush green fairway leading all the way up to the green.

About six months later, a woman at the club asked whatever happened to Mrs. Smith, that she hadn’t seen her playing golf at the club for almost four months now.

She was informed that five months earlier, Mrs. Smith had *drowned* at the first leg of the sixth hole!!

~~~

If you cannot hear a pin drop, you are a lousy bowler.

~~~

A child asks his mother, “Do all fairy tales begin with, ‘Once upon a time?’ ”

His mother answers, “No, dear. Once in a while they begin with ‘I’ll be working late at the office tonight.'”

“Does Daddy tell you fairy tales like that ?”

“He used to.”

“What made him stop ?”

“One day he told me he’d be working late, and I said, ‘Can I depend on that ?'”

~~~

Success, for some people, depends on becoming well known; for others, it depends on never being found out.

~~~

An absent-minded husband thought he had conquered his problem of trying to remember his wife’s birthday and their anniversary. He opened an account with a florist, provided that florist with the dates and instructions to send flowers to his wife on these dates along with an appropriate note signed,

“Your loving husband.”

His wife was thrilled by this new display of attention and all went well until next year, on their anniversary, when he came home, kissed his wife and said off-handedly, “Nice flowers, honey.  Where’d you get them?”

~~~

Some people eat from the three basic food groups – canned, frozen and take out.

~~~

Some members of a health club were having their first meeting.

The director of the group said, “Now, I’d like each of you to give the facts of your daily routine.”

Several people spoke, admitting their excesses, and then one obviously overweight member said, “I eat moderately, I drink moderately, and I exercise frequently.”

“Hmm?” said the manager. “And are you sure you having nothing else to add?”

“Well, yes,” said the member. “I lie extensively.”

~~~

It is no use waiting for your ship to come in unless you have sent one out.

Belgian Proverb

~~~

A certain little girl, when asked her name, would reply, “I’m Mr. Sugarbrown’s daughter.”

Her mother told her this was wrong, she must say,  “I’m Jane Sugarbrown.”

The Minister spoke to her in Sunday School and said, “Aren’t you Mr. Sugarbrown’s daughter?”

She replied, “I thought was, but mother says I’m not.”

~~~

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”

Donna Roberts

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

Enjoy the day

True happiness is… to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

While I have been purposely cutting down on some of my activities I still find times when I need an alternative to just lounging in my recliner. One of the things you find when you retire is that many of your friends are still working so most of the time when you’re free they are not. Since age has reduced my nocturnal activities to an absolute minimum I often find myself looking for something to fil an hour or two during the day.

If that ever happens to you here are some suggestions for things we can do on our own, I found them on the Bldg 25 Blog.

Things To Do Alone… For A Change

Go for a drive. Grab your film camera and take yourself for a scenic drive, with no destination in sight. Roll down the windows, blast that song again and again, and truly experience the freedom you’ve been given. Stop often, or not at all. If something you see sparks your interest, pull over. Maybe it’s a retro-looking diner up ahead, or a field of flowers you spot in the distance. Go there, be there, and take it all in.

Hang out at a cafe. You know that cafe, the one with an atmosphere so cozy you could just live in it. Go there, sans computer. Bring a book or some watercolors , bring your headphones… or not. Sip slowly, taking in not just the beautiful flavor and aroma, but also the warm, calming energy around you. Allow yourself to sink into that perfectly worn-in cushion, and stay all afternoon.

Relax at the library. Choose the oldest looking fiction book you can find, and open it midway. Sit on the floor, crossed-legged, between two bookcases. Maybe even take your shoes off. Start reading and don’t stop. Make up the first half of the book in your mind. Pretend you’re one of the characters. Allow yourself to get lost in the world that exists on those pages before your eyes

Wander through a museum. It could be an old favorite, or one you’ve never before experienced. In either case, go with a fresh perspective. Seek to learn something new and to be inspired to think, make, or do in a brand new way. Don’t feel the need to visit every room or stay for a certain amount of time. Go to experience it as it comes, and when you come to a point where you feel fulfilled, head on home.

Treat yourself to a fancy meal. Get dressed up for a date with no one but yourself. Feel confident, and go. Order something you can’t pronounce. Save room for dessert. Take every bite as if it were your first. Learn your waiter’s name. When you say “thank you,” mean it. Feel gratitude for all of those who partook in making this meal possible, from the person who planted that tomato seed that became part of your salad, all the way to the one who delivered the chair on which you sit. Marvel at the incredible skills possessed by each of those people, and then marvel at all of your own.

Go to a show. Music is a powerful thing. Choose a band that you know will make you feel something. Go alone and ready to dance. Close your eyes, let the beautiful vibrations move you, internally and externally. Make a new friend, just for the night. Leave feeling refreshed and full of positivity.

See a movie. Get a huge bucket of popcorn (or sneak in your own). Get there early. Find the best seat. Watch every preview. Look around from time to time, at this room filled with strangers who are all sharing a similar experience at once. Feel comfort in this sense of community, as you all laugh and cry together. Realize that, while you may be by yourself, you’re certainly not alone.

~~~

Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it. Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it. Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy it.

Sai Baba

~~~

On a business trip to India, a colleague of mine arrived at the airport in Delhi. He took a taxi to his hotel, where his hospitable Indian host greeted him.

The cab driver requested the equivalent of eight dollars U.S. for the fare, which seemed reasonable, so my friend handed him the money.

But the host grabbed the bills and initiated a verbal assault upon the cabby, calling him a worthless parasite and a disgrace to their country for trying to over- charge visitors. The host threw half the amount at the driver and told him never to return. As the taxi sped off, the host gave the remaining bills to my colleague and asked him how his trip had been.

“Fine,” the businessman replied, “until you chased the cab away with my luggage in the trunk.”

~~~

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

Dale Carnegie

~~~

Wanting to lose weight, a woman placed a picture of a shapely, pinup model INSIDE her refrigerator to remind her of her goal. It worked like a charm as the woman discovered that she had lost ten pounds in the first month of using this method.

The downside to this was that her husband spent so much time going into the fridge to look at the picture that he ended up gaining fifteen pounds!

~~~

Some people are discovered, others are found out.

~~~

During the Second World War, when many young men were being trained for combat, they were stationed in the south, and it was the custom for some of the local residents to offer some Southern Hospitality to our fighting men.

One day, in a camp that will remain nameless, the phone rang; a woman at a local woman’s school offered to entertain a dozen soldiers at a party being held the upcoming weekend, and would the captain send some of her best behaved men over? The captain agreed, but before he could finalize the agreements, the woman made a request: “Please, suh, don’t send any Jewish boys.”

The captain agreed … no Jews.

The day of the party, the soldiers were dropped off at the school, and knocked on the door. The hostess opened the door … to the sight of a dozen Black soldiers, all in dress uniforms.

“Why, th-there m-must be some kind of m-mistake,” she stammered.

“No, ma’am,” said one of the soldiers, “Captain Rabinowitz, he doesn’t make mistakes.”

~~~

“Everyone is born a genius, but the process of living de-geniuses them.”

Richard Buckminster Fuller

~~~

Joe: Why don’t you play golf with Bob any more?

Mike: Would you play with someone who curses after each shot, cheats in the bunkers and enters false scores on his card?

Joe: No!

Mike: Neither will Bob.

~~~

“I read somewhere that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I’m more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves.”

Emo Philips

I think I know who some of them are. Ray

~~~

Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don’t get so worked up about things.

Kenneth Branagh

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.

You can enjoy it

“It`s not how old you are, it`s how you are old.”

Jules Renard

I had breakfast with a special friend the other morning. This is a person who has faced more trials and tribulations than almost anyone I know and yet she stays positive. She radiates kindness and goodwill making new friends as she does. She sees the sun on even the darkest days and it rubs off on folks like me.

I am finding as Betty Davis once said old age is not for sissies. Things in my body that I did even know I had ache and I sure move a lot slower than I use to but I too appreciate the bright side of life. Like my friend I find little use dwelling on what is wrong when there is so much that is right especially in the friendship I receive from my family and acquaintances.

Here is a piece I copied from the Inspire 21 web page that explains the value of graceful aging.

Old Friends Forever

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, and my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend. I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70’s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love… I will. I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

~~~

Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it.

Clint Eastwood

~~~

A doctor and a lawyer were talking at a party. Their conversation was constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice.

After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, “What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice when you’re out of the office?”

“I give it to them,” replied the lawyer, “and then I send them a bill.”

The doctor was shocked, but agreed to give it a try. The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepared the bills. When he went to place them in his mailbox, he found a bill from the lawyer.

~~~

I live in my own little world, but it’s ok, they know me here.

~~~

A church choir was putting on a car wash to raise money for a special trip to Bethlehem.

They made a large sign that read: CAR WASH FOR CHOIR TRIP. On the scheduled Saturday, business was very good. But, by two o’clock the sky clouded, the rain poured, and there were hardly any customers.

Finally, one of the soprano singers had an idea. She printed a very large poster with the words: WE WASH. GOD RINSES. (Next to the words was an arrow pointing skyward.) Business boomed!

~~~

“Always be sincere, even when you don’t mean it.”

Irene Peter

~~~

On his eightieth birthday party, the famous writer gave a small speech, he started “At such an age actually, a man has a lot of advantages” he paused. The pause lasted for a while, and then he added “Well I am just trying to remember what they are!”

~~~

“My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.”

Rich Jeni

~~~

Doctors are used to getting calls at any hour. One night a man phoned his doctor, waking him up. “I’m really sorry to bother you so late,” he said, “but I think my wife has appendicitis.”

Still half asleep, the doctor reminded him that he had removed hs wife’s inflamed appendix a couple of years before.

“Whoever heard of a second appendix?” the doctor asked.

“You may not have heard of a second appendix, doc,” the man replied, “but surely you’ve heard of a second wife!”

~~~

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

-Arthur Rubenstein

~~~

A minister was planning a wedding at the close of the Sunday morning service.

After the benediction he had planned to call the couple down to be married for a brief ceremony before the congregation.

For the life of him, he couldn’t think of the names of those who were to be married.

“Will those wanting to get married please come to the front?” he requested.

Immediately, nine single ladies, three widows, four widowers, and six single men stepped to the front.

~~~

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

Sophia Loren

~~~

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.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen years to 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@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at https://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.