Ray’s Daily
November 28, 3018
A true friend sees the first tear… catches the second… and stops the third
Angelique
It is another day when I have run out of time so I’m sending you another reprint.
Ray’s Daily first published on November 28, 2014
I don’t think I ever told you about my special friend. For most of my life I convinced myself I was too busy to spend much time with him. That changed about twenty years ago when I realized I really needed his friendship. Now he is with me all the time. If I start to do something questionable he is the one who asks “do you really want to do this?” Often that is all it takes to rethink what I was doing and more times than not make a change.
He is the one who brought me through my many serious medical encounters by reminding me that they were only temporary interruptions in my pretty good life and that I would recover and move on. In our more leisure time he reminds me that most people are good people and many can use a friend so I should be one if they will let me. Sometimes he can be a little pushy when he wakes me to make sure I get up to exercise early each weekday morning.
In truth I owe a lot of my good fortune to my special friend. You see my special friend is me and I am grateful that he decided to stay with me all these years.
Here is something Marc Chernoff has written that includes the kind of things my special friend tells me each day.
- You are educated enough to read this. Believe it or not, there are roughly 774 million people in the world who don’t have this ability. That’s a significant percentage of the human population. Literacy is the bridge that closes the gap between discouragement and confidence, between confusion and understanding, and between sadness and hope. It’s the greatest platform of personal growth, and the means by which every human being can realize their full potential.
- You are reasonably healthy. – In other words, if you got sick today you could recover. Never underestimate the gift of your health. It’s the greatest wealth you will ever own. It’s the foundation for every chance at happiness and success life has to offer. Your body is the only place you will truly ever live. Too often we focus on the negatives. We think about how hard it will be and all the sacrifices that must be made. But one of life’s greatest joys and one the primary benefits of good health comes from focusing on the positives of a healthy lifestyle – what we gain through living and feeling well.
- You have the freedom to choose. – If you often worry about what you’re going to do with your life – your career, your family, the next step, etc., be grateful. All details aside, this means you have ambition, passion, drive, and the freedom to make your own decisions. In the space between your yes and no, there’s liberation. It’s the difference between the path you walk and the one others want you to walk; it’s the gap between who you could become and who you want to be.
- You have enough wealth to live comfortably. – You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. You awoke this morning with a roof over your head. You had a choice of what clothes to wear. You have access to clean drinking water and electricity. You are online right now. You have plenty to be comfortable. Being wealthy is a mindset. Be sure you understand this. Want less and appreciate more.
- You still have a chance. – Time is precious. Everything you know is ending. Not yet, but soon enough. What you must decide is what you want to do with the time you have left. If your lifespan were to expire this evening at the stroke of midnight, would you be at ease with how you have spent your time today? Nothing is guaranteed. Someday, like many others are experiencing right this second, your time will expire. Don’t be afraid. Be alive in this moment and make the most of it. Right now is your chance.
~~~
“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”
William Shakespeare
~~~
More signs in our time:
Veterinarians Waiting Room: Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!
The Electric Company: We would be delighted if you send in your bill. However, if you don’t, you will be.
Diner Window: Don’t stand there and be hungry, come in and get fed up.
Cafeteria: Shoes are required to eat in the cafeteria. Socks can eat any place they want.
Funeral Home: Drive carefully, we’ll wait.
~~~
Looking at his portly patient, the doctor hands him a prescription and says, “Mr. Jones, you should make sure that you try to take these pills on an empty stomach…if such an opportunity ever presents itself!”
~~~
A customer was continually bothering the waiter in a restaurant; first, he’d asked that the air conditioning be turned up because he was too hot, then he asked it be turned down cause he was too cold, and so on for about half an hour.
Surprisingly, the waiter was very patient, walking back and forth and never once getting angry. So finally, a second customer asked why didn’t they just throw out the pest.
“Oh I don’t care.” said the waiter with a smile. “We don’t even have an air conditioner.”
~~~
The trouble with alarm clocks is that they always go off when you’re asleep.
~~~
“An abstract noun,” the teacher said, “is something you can think of, but you can’t touch it. Can you give me an example of one?”
“Sure,” a teenage boy replied. “My father’s new car.”
~~~
When I’m good, I’m very, very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better!
Mae West
~~~
My six-year-old grandson called his mother from his friend Charlie’s house and confessed he had broken a lamp when he threw a football in their living room.
“But, Mom,” he said, brightening, “you don’t have to worry about buying another one. Charlie’s mother said it was irreplaceable.”
~~~
Sometimes in life, you find a special friend. Someone who changes your life just by being part of it. Someone who makes you laugh until you can’t stop. Someone who makes you believe that there really is good in the world. Someone who convinces you that there really is an unlocked door just waiting for you to open it. This is forever friendship. When you’re down and the world seems dark and empty, your forever friend lifts you up in spirit and makes that dark and empty world suddenly seem bright and full. Your forever friend gets you through the hard times, the sad times and the confused times. If you turn and walk away, your forever friend follows. If you lose your way, your forever friend guides you and cheers you on. Your forever friend hold your hand and tells you that everything is going to be okay. And if you find such a friend, you feel happy and complete because you need not worry. You have a forever friend, and forever has no end.
Author Unknown
~~~
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 http://rays-daily,com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.
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