Ray’s Daily
May 12, 2020
“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.”
Tony Schwartz
I wonder what our new normal is going to be. I doubt that it will ever again be like it was just a few months ago. I fear that those of us who would like everything to be what it was are going to be disappointed.
In reality it is not as important what it becomes as it is how we deal with it. We are all capable of being happy in the days ahead if we place the past in memory and open ourselves to adapt to the future.
Here is something I got from Angel Chernoff that I really like and want to share with you.
Twenty years ago, when Marc and I were just undergrads in college, our psychology professor taught us a lesson we’ve never forgotten. On the last day of class before graduation, she walked up on stage to teach one final lesson, which she called “a vital lesson on the power of perspective and mindset.” As she raised a glass of water over her head, everyone expected her to mention the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” metaphor. Instead, with a smile on her face, our professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”
Students shouted out answers ranging from a couple of ounces to a couple of pounds.
After a few moments of fielding answers and nodding her head, she replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass is irrelevant. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the absolute weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.”
As most of us students nodded our heads in agreement, she continued. “Your worries, frustrations, disappointments, and stressful thoughts are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a little while and nothing drastic happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to feel noticeable pain. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed, incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.”
Think about how this relates to your life.
If you’ve been struggling to cope with the weight of what’s on your mind, it’s a strong sign that it’s time to put the glass down.
It’s time to let GO…
At our annual live seminar, Think Better, Live Better, Marc and I guide attendees through this process of perspective change—and letting go through life’s twists and turns.
Truth be told, inner peace begins the moment you take a new breath and choose not to allow an uncontrollable event to dominate you in the present. You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become in this moment. Let go, breathe, and begin…
~~~
“We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.”
JoyBell
~~~
(No animals were hurt in making this joke!)
Bert took his Saint Bernard to the vet. “Doctor,” he said, “I need you to cut off my dog’s tail.”
The vet stepped back, “Bert, why should I do such a terrible thing?”
“Because my mother-in-law’s arriving tomorrow, and I don’t want anything to make her think she’s welcome.”
~~~
Some think it’s holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it’s letting go.
Sylvia Robinson
~~~
Mary: I wish I’d known more about midlife before I got here!
Jill: What do you mean?
Mary: Well, I lost my sex drive years ago. I had no idea it could be menopause! I thought it was just because I was married!
~~~
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t.
Pete Seeger
~~~
Overheard at the senior center:
You know you’re getting on in years when the girls at the office start confiding in you.
Old age is when it takes longer to rest than to get tired.
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.
Old age is when you have stopped growing at both ends, and have begun to grow in the middle.
Billy Graham has described heaven as a family reunion that never ends. What must hell possibly be like? Home videos of the same reunion?
Being a senior adult is having a choice of two temptations and choosing the one that will get you home earlier.
You know you’re into old age when you realize that caution is the only thing you care to exercise.
Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
You’re getting old when you’re sitting in a rocker and you can’t get it started.
~~~
Do you ever wonder how the size of hail was described before the game of golf was invented?
~~~
A class from a nearby university was visiting a major drug manufacturer. The tour guide led the students to a glass enclosed room. They could see several people in white lab coats. With her back to the glass, the guide announced:
“In this room researchers are actively searching for a cure for cancer.” She stopped short as the group broke out laughing. Puzzled, the guide turned to look. Through the glass she saw three scientists in animated debate, flipping through the Yellow Pages.
~~~
Old age, to the unlearned, is winter; to the learned, it’s harvest time.
Yiddish saying
~~~
Seems an elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, “your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.”
To which the gentleman said, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I’ve changed my will three times!”
~~~
“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.”
Steve Maraboli
~~~
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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