Ray’s Daily
October 11, 2019
“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
Dalai Lama XIV
My wife missed lunch yesterday and my usual lunch partners were elsewhere so I ate with three pleasant ladies. They made my day These upbeat women are up in age but you would never know it.
One plays in a band, loves to dance and has more energy than most people I know. She misses the long bike rides she use to take. All she does these days is uses her energy to entertain others. She is the youngest 94-year-old I have ever met.
The other two are up in age too. One I think is a hundred years old. She and I often kid each other and I love her sense of humor.
The third spends her time appreciating what she has and shared why she enjoys living in our community. She brushes off her difficulties and concentrates on what is good about her life.
I have high regard for these spirited ladies and their optimism. They don’t need the tips from this abridged article but some of us do.
We can shift our mindset toward more optimism and happiness.
BY CATHERINE A. SANDERSON
- Reframe stressors – Stress is unavoidable. We all experience daily hassles—like long lines, irritating coworkers, and endless to-do lists. While we can’t eliminate all stress, we can choose how we think about the challenges we face and adopt a new, more positive mindset around them.
If positive reframing doesn’t come naturally to you, start by trying to focus on what’s good about your daily life stressors instead of what’s bad about them.
- Practice self-compassion – Some people have a tendency to beat themselves up when things don’t go their way—which, not surprisingly, doesn’t make them feel better. To shift our mindset in a more positive direction, we can simply give ourselves a break and treat ourselves with kindness, the same way we’d treat a close friend who’s having a hard time.
- Let it go – Besides blaming themselves for setbacks, people can also fall into the trap of ruminating on bad events long after they’re over. Rather than accepting what’s happened and moving on, they get stuck in their negative feelings—then, to make matters worse, they beat themselves up for feeling bad!
People who criticize themselves for having negative thoughts and feelings have higher levels of depression and anxiety, and lower levels of psychological well-being and life satisfaction. That’s because when you blame yourself for your feelings, it creates a vicious cycle, where ruminating leads to bad feelings which lead to more ruminating.
- Avoid comparisons and practice gratitude instead – There’s a great poem by Kurt Vonnegut about his conversation with author Joseph Heller during a party hosted by a billionaire. When Vonnegut asks Heller how he feels knowing that this billionaire makes more money in a single day than Heller will ever earn from sales of his novel Catch-22, Heller responds that he has something that the billionaire will never have: the knowledge that he’s got enough.
- Find some (any) humor – In virtually any situation, it is possible to find some humor, and making an effort to do so can help you adopt a more positive mindset later on. Finding humor helps people cope with the small irritations of daily life, but it is particularly important in coping with serious life circumstances.
If this type of positive mindset doesn’t come naturally to you, don’t despair. Try to find someone who can help you cultivate this skill by being a role model.
~~~
Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.
Richard M. DeVos
~~~
By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.
~ George Burns ~
~~~
Here is a report from the retirement center.
Age FAVORITE FANTASY
17 tall, dark and handsome
25 tall, dark and handsome with money
35 tall, dark and handsome with money and a brain
48 a man with hair
66 a man
~~~
A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows the corners.
~~~
A large truck was tailing my son as he drove through town with a female classmate. The truck matched them turn for turn, down every street.
My son’s concern grew to alarm when the menacing-looking driver pulled next to him at a light, leaned out his window, and glared into his car. After a long, hard stare, the man grinned and yelled to his co-worker, “That’s not my daughter.”
~~~
“Virus is a Latin word used by doctors to mean ‘your guess is as good as mine.'”
Bob Hope
~~~
A devout farmhand loses his favorite Bible while he is out mending fences on the dairy farm.
Three weeks later, a cow walks up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The farmhand can’t believe his eyes.
He takes his precious book out of the cow’s mouth, raises his eyes toward heaven, and exclaims with great joy, “It’s a miracle!”
“Not really,” says the cow. “Your name is written inside the cover.”
~~~
“In spite of the cost of living, it’s still popular.”
– Kathleen Norris
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“Procrastination is my sin.
It brings me naught but sorrow.
I know that I should stop it.
In fact, I will – tomorrow!”
Gloria Pitzer
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“Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism. It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved. It is a type of confidence. And it is fragile.
Bernard Beckett:
~~~
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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