Ray’s Daily
January 3, 2020
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”
Lao Tzu
Over the years I have met many special people. Some where talented musicians others were artists, humanitarians, skilled craftsmen and many who were really smart. I have learned to appreciate these folks for their skills and how they use them. Thankfully I was never jealous of their achievements. In fact, while I may not have achieved fame I have been pleased with what I have done.
Someone doing well or having more does not detract from what we have or do. We are unique and have our own lifes that we can fill anyway we choose. Today I want to share with you an abridged article on how we can get over comparing our selves to others.
3 Simple Steps to Stop Comparing Yourself to Other People
by HENRIK EDBERG
One of the most common and destructive daily habit is to constantly compare your life and yourself to other people and their lives. Well, today I’d like to share 3 steps that have helped me to move away from this – it does take some time though so be patient with yourself – and towards a healthier outlook and view of myself and life.
Step 1: Just realize that you can’t win if you compare yourself to others. Just consciously realizing this is helpful. No matter what you do you can pretty much always find someone else in the world that has more than you or is better than you at something. Yes, you may feel good for a while when you get a nicer car than your neighbor. But a week or two later you’ll see someone from the next block with an even finer car than yours.
Step 2: Compare yourself to yourself. Instead of comparing yourself to other people create the habit of comparing yourself to yourself. See how much you have grown, what you have achieved and what progress you have made towards your goals. You feel good about yourself without having to think less of other people.
Step 3: Be kinder towards other people. In my experience, the way you behave and think towards others seems to have a big effect on how you behave towards yourself and think about yourself. Judge and criticize people more and you tend to judge and criticize yourself more (often almost automatically). Be kinder to other people and help them and you tend to be kinder and more helpful to yourself. So focus your mind on helping people and being kind.
Focus on the positive things in yourself and in the people around you. And appreciate what is positive in yourself and in others. This way you become more OK with yourself and the people in your world instead of ranking them and yourself in your mind. You are OK and so are they.
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Stop Comparing Yourself to Others (and Start Empowering Yourself).“Comparison is the death of joy.”
Mark Twain
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A lawyer was trying to console a weeping widow. Her husband had passed away without a will. “Did the deceased have any last words?” asked the lawyer.
“You mean right before he died?” sobbed the widow.
“Yes,” replied the lawyer. “They might be helpful if it’s not too painful for you to recall.”
“Well,” she began, “he said ‘Don’t try to scare me! You couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with that gun.'”
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An appreciative heart attracts more of what it appreciates.
~~~
There once was a blind man who decided to visit Texas. When he arrived on the plane, he felt the seats and said, “Wow, these seats are big!”
The person next to him answered, “Everything is big in Texas.”
When he finally arrived in Texas, he decided to visit a bar. Upon arriving in the bar, he ordered a beer and got a mug placed between his hands. He exclaimed, “Wow these mugs are big!”
The bartender replied, “Everything is big in Texas.”
After a couple of beers, the blind man asked the bartender where the bathroom was located.
The bartender replied, “Second door to the right.”
The blind man headed for the bathroom, but accidentally entered the third door, which lead to the swimming pool and fell into the pool by accident.
Scared to death, the blind man started shouting, “Don’t flush, don’t flush!”
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“If genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, I wind up sharing elevators with a lot of bright people.”
~~~
One Christmas, a parent decreed that she was no longer going to remind her children of their thank-you note duties. As a result their grandmother never received acknowledgments of the generous checks she had given. The next year things were different, however.
“The children came over in person to thank me,” the grandparent told a friend triumphantly.
“How wonderful!” the friend exclaimed. “What do you think caused the change in behavior?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” the grandmother replied. “This year I didn’t sign the checks.”
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A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean question: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well or ill?
John Steinbeck
~~~
Norman and Esther Melman of New Haven, CT, newly married friends of mine, were visiting us when the topic of children came up.
Esther said she wanted three children, while Norman said two would be enough for him.
They discussed this discrepancy for a few minutes until the husband thought he’d put an end to things by saying boldly, “After our second child, I’ll just have a vasectomy.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, his new wife retorted, “Well, I hope you’ll love the third one as if it’s your own.”
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If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.
Frank A. Clark
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An elderly husband and wife noticed that they were beginning to forget many little things around the house. They were afraid that this could be dangerous, as one of them may accidently forget to turn off the stove and thus cause a fire. So, they decided to go see their physician to get some help. Their physician told them that many people their age find it useful to write themselves little notes as reminders. The elderly couple thought this sounded wonderful, and left the doctor’s office very pleased with the advice.
When they got home, the wife said, “Dear, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? And why don’t you write that down so you won’t forget?”
“Nonsense,” said the husband, “I can remember a dish of ice cream!”
“Well,” said the wife, “I’d also like some strawberries on it. You better write that down, because I know you’ll forget.”
“Don’t be silly,” replied the husband. “A dish of ice cream and some strawberries. I can remember that!”
“OK, dear, but I’d like you to put some whipped cream on top. Now you’d really better write it down now. You’ll forget,” said the wife.
“Come now, my memory’s not all that bad,” said the husband. “No problem — a dish of ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream.”
With that, the husband shut the kitchen door behind him. The wife could hear him getting out pots and pans, and making some noise inconsistent with his preparing a dish of ice cream, strawberries, and whipped cream. He emerged from the kitchen about 15 minutes later. Walking over to his wife, he presented her with a plate of bacon and eggs.
The wife took one look at the plate, glanced up at her husband and said, “I knew you wouldn’t get it right!! Where’s the toast??”
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You just have to find that thing that’s special about you that distinguishes you from all the others, and through true talent, hard work, and passion, anything can happen.
Dr. Dre
~~~
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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