Ray’s Daily
March 8, 2013
Our greatest achievement in life is being happy with the little things that probably means nothing to others.
Hermann J Steinherr
I know many young people and not so young people who seem to be searching for life satisfaction in a career. They feel happiness can be found in prestigious job title and recognition. I know it took me a long time before I learned that it was the content of my days and what I did that satisfied and not only what I did in my job.
It was the discovery that I could enlarge the box that contained my activities by going beyond job description and societal norms through volunteerism and more. I even turned down a major promotion because the content of my life’s activities was much more than just my job.
I like the following story because it reminds us that it is what’s in the cup that counts.
Are you looking for a Cup or a Coffee?
A group of computer engineers, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups, some ordinary looking, some expensive, some exquisite. He told them to help themselves to hot coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in their hands, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap looking ones.
“While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and worse, you were eyeing each other’s cups.”
“Now if life is coffee , then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it. “
So the moral of this story is: don’t let the cups drive you, enjoy the coffee instead.
~~~
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
Mark Twain
~~~
Stress Prayers
Lord, help me to relax about insignificant details, beginning tomorrow at 7:41:23 a.m. EST.
God, help me to consider people’s feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive.
God, help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they are usually NOT my fault.
God, help me not to try to RUN everything, but if you need some help, please feel free to ASK ME!
Lord, help me to be more laid back, and help me to do it EXACTLY RIGHT.
God, give me patience, and I mean NOW!
Lord, help me not be a perfectionist. (Did I write that correctly?)
God, help me to finish everything that I sta. . .
Lord, keep me open to others’ ideas, WRONG though they may be.
Amen.
~~~
Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said.
~~~
Herbert A Millington
Chair – Search Committee
Whitson University
College Hill, MA 34109
Dear Professor Millington,
Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me an assistant professor position in your department.
This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.
Despite Whitson’s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.
Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.
Sincerely,
Chris L. Jensen
~~~
The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you’re doing, someone else does.
~~~
A very tight man was looking for a gift for a friend. Everything was too expensive except for a glass vase that had been broken, which he could purchase for almost nothing. He asked the store to send it, hoping his friend would think it has been broken in transit. In due time, he received an acknowledgement. “Thanks for the vase,” it read. “It was so thoughtful of you to wrap each piece separately.”
~~~
Half our live is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.
~~~
The manager of a large office noticed a new man one day and told him to come into his office. “What is your name?” was the first thing the manager asked the new guy.
“John,” the new guy replied.
The manager scowled, “Look, I don’t know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked at before, but I don’t call anyone by their first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only – Smith, Jones, Baker – that’s all. I am to be referred to only as Mr. Robertson. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?”
The new guy sighed and said, “Darling. My name is John Darling.”
“Okay, John, the next thing I want to tell you is…”
~~~
In this busy, electronic, impersonal world in which we all live today… If you ever feel like you need a break and want some warm personal human contact… Just call me… And be sure to leave a message after the tone…
~~~
An agitated patient was stomping around the psychiatrist’s office, running his hands through his hair, almost in tears. “Doctor, my memory’s gone. Gone! I can’t remember my wife’s name. I can’t remember my children’s names. I can’t remember what kind of car I drive. I can’t remember where I work. It was all I could do to find my way here.”
“Calm down. How long have you been like this?”
“Like what?”
~~~
The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them… Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.
Michel de Montaigne
~~~
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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