Ray's Daily

Ray’s Daily

March 13. 2020

“‘Worry’ is a word that I don’t allow myself to use.

Dwight Eisenhower

We are experiencing difficult times. The Coronavirus has had a major impact. We have seen a major reduction in the value of our retirement nest egg while we curtail our activities. One of our closest friends has temporarily moved to avoid as much human contact as she can,

Our senior living facility is in somewhat of a lock down with no uncleared visitors allowed in. We have also implemented a number of measures to reduce the risk of infection,

It is important that we not let today’s challenges get us down. There are things we cannot change so we need to focus on what we can do and what is still good. I will continue the Daily in hope that it will give you some pleasure.

Here is an edited piece that I think is worthy of your consideration.

3 Powerful Ways To Stay Positive

1. Separate Fact from Fiction – The first step in learning to focus on the positive requires knowing how to stop negative self-talk in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that — thoughts, not facts.
2. Identify a Positive – Once you snap yourself out of self-defeating, negative thoughts, it’s time to help your brain learn what you want it to focus on — the positive.

This will come naturally after some practice, but first you have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your brain’s attention..

3. Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude – Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do; it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%.

You cultivate an attitude of gratitude by taking time out every day to focus on the positive. Any time you experience negative or pessimistic thoughts, use this as a cue to shift gears and think about something positive. In time, a positive attitude will become a way of life. 

Travis Bradberry, Ph.D.

~~~

“Rather than sitting and worrying, do something, anything. Worrying is a waste of time.”

Catherine Pulsifer

~~~

A couple of Rednecks went on vacation in Colorado. They flew to Denver and rented a car to sight see. One of the sights was a bridge that was more than 1,000 feet above the river.

Walking out onto the bridge, they noticed it swaying in the wind.

“I don’t think I want to drive the car across this bridge,” one said to the other.

“What are you worried about?” the second replied. “It’s a rental.

~~~

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light.

Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.

Glenn Clark

~~~

While leading a tour of kindergarten students through our hospital, I overheard a conversation between one little girl and an x-ray technician.

“Have you ever broken a bone?” he asked.

“Yes,” the girl replied.

“Did it hurt?”

“No.”

“Really? Which bone did you break?”

“My sister’s arm.”

~~~

I’ve learned that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

Andy Rooney

~~~

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meaning than any other two- letter word, and that is “UP.”

It’s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we waken in the morning, why do we wake UP. At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?

Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends, we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special, and this is confusing. A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP. To be knowledgeable of the proper uses of UP, look UP the word in the dictionary. In a desk size dictionary, UP takes UP almost 1/4th the page and definitions add UP to about thirty.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesn’t rain for a while, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so I’ll shut UP.

~~~

Two fish are in a tank.One says to the other

“You drive. I’ll man the guns.”

~~~

Two mathematicians were having dinner in a restaurant, arguing about the average mathematical knowledge of the American public. One mathematician claimed that this average was woefully inadequate, the other maintained that it was surprisingly high. “I’ll tell you what,” said the cynic, “ask that waitress a simple math question. If she gets it right, I’ll pick up dinner. If not, you do.” He then excused himself to visit the men’s room, and the other called the waitress over.

“When my friend comes back,” he told her, “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to respond `one third x cubed.’ There’s twenty bucks in it for you.” She agreed.

The cynic returned from the bathroom and called the waitress over. “The food was wonderful, thank you,” the mathematician started. “Incidentally, do you know what the integral of x squared is?”

The waitress looked pensive; almost pained. She looked around the room, at her feet, made gurgling noises, and finally said, “Um, one third x cubed?”

So the cynic paid the check. The waitress wheeled around, walked a few paces away, looked back at the two men, and muttered: “…plus a constant.”

~~~

“Worrying is a waste of time; it changes nothing. It will only create stress, which can have major effects on your health.”

Robert Washington

~~~

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.