Ray's Daily

“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.

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“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

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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.

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

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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!”

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

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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.”

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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?

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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.”

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

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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.”

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

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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.”

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“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

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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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