Ray's Daily

Ray’s Daily

January 8, 2020

http://rays-daily.com

“It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.”

Seneca

I hope you are enjoying your life these days; I know I am. A lot of my happiness is due to the people who continue to provide friendship and support. While I have lost many old friends, that goes with old age, they have been replaced by many new friends. Some are readers of the Daily, while most are fellow residents of our senior living facility.

Yesterday I had an enjoyable lunch with a number of these seniors at a local restaurant and as usual it was a pleasant experience. As always spending time with happy folks is a warming experience. I have come to the point that I don’t spend much time with the unhappy, I do not need their shared woes and prefer to offer a more positive outlook. If they prefer to wallow in their misery, I wish them well and walk away.

Here is a short piece that offers us alternatives to misery.

What makes us happy?

There is an ever-growing body of knowledge about the nature and causes of happiness. For one thing, it’s clear that happiness is a feeling, not a circumstance. Happiness is more than just fun or pleasure. It’s a more durable sense of wellbeing.

Our happiness depends not on what happens to us, but what happens in us. In other words, it’s the way we choose to think about our lives. Abe Lincoln said, ‘People are generally about as happy as they’re willing to be.’ A Buddhist proverb tells us that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

So, what are the most common attributes of happy people? Well, it’s not money, fame, or good looks. It’s not even intelligence or talent. No, the two most important factors are gratitude and rewarding personal relationships.

The formula is simple: count your blessings and enjoy your family and friends. Sadly, simple is not always easy.

People whose natural instincts produce a gloomy outlook and pessimism need to re-train their minds. It’s one thing to say happiness is not getting what you want but wanting what you get; it’s quite another to really be satisfied with what we have. For many people, it takes discipline and practice to think positively.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of changing one’s perspective, choosing to see and appreciate the silver lining, the half full glass. In other cases, what’s required is refusing to dwell on pain, disappointment, or envy, and instead force one’s mind toward good thoughts, including all the things we should be grateful for.

Interestingly, the ability to maintain a positive attitude is also important in forming and sustaining meaningful relationships – seeing and bringing out the best.

Written by Michael Josephson

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“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”

Dale Carnegie

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A porter loaded down with suitcases followed the couple to the airline check-in counter. As they approached the line, the husband glanced at the pile of luggage and said to the wife, “Why didn’t you bring the piano, too?”

“Are you trying to be funny?” she replied.

“No,” he sighed forlornly. “I left the tickets on it.”

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“No man is happy who does not think himself so.”

Publilius Syrus

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Mary:  My last ex mastered the art of having the last word in an argument.

Jill:  You’re kidding!

Mary:  I’m not!  He learned to say, “I’m sorry!”

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I love to go shopping. I love to freak out salespeople. They ask me if they can help me, and I say,’ Have you got anything I’d like?’ Then they ask me what size I need, and I say, ‘ Extra medium.’

Steven Wright

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Mrs. Goldberg was shopping at a produce stand in her neighborhood.  She approached the vendor and asked, “How much are these oranges?”

“Two for a quarter,” answered the vendor.

“How much is just one?” she asked.

“Fifteen cents,” answered the vendor.

“Then I’ll take the other one,” said Mrs. Goldberg.

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He said: As we grow older, do we tend to gesture more or less with our hands while talking?

She said: Ask me one more growing old riddle and I’ll give you a gesture you won’t forget in a hurry.

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You Know You’re Getting Old When:

• you find yourself standing next to your car with your keys in your hand, but you can’t remember whether you’re going somewhere, or you just got back. ..
• you walk out to the parking lot of the mall, and not only did you forget where you parked, but you forgot what car you were driving.
• your daughter takes you out to dinner, and the cashier takes one look and gives you both Senior discounts.
• everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt, doesn’t work.
• you reach down to pull up your wrinkled stockings and realize you don’t have any on.
• when you raise your arm, and you find your “muscle” is now on the bottom side.
• when you have as students the grandchildren of your former students.
• when you sit down to the breakfast table, and the snap, crackle, pop you hear isn’t your breakfast cereal.
• when you bend over to tie your shoes and ask yourself, “Is there anything else I need to do while I’m down here?”

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You know you’re getting old when you order stewed prunes and the waiter say, “excellent choice!”

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I don’t think I’ll ever have a mother’s intuition. My sister left me alone in a restaurant with my 10-month old nephew. I said, “What do I do if he cries?”

She said, “Give him some vegetables.”

It turns out that jalapeno is not his favorite.

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“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different.”

Stacey Charter

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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.