Ray’s Daily
August 7, 2020
Only you can set you free
Here we go again , a Daily from the past
Ray’s Daily first published on August 7, 2008
I was having coffee with a psychology professional the other day and we were talking about the care given to those with mental or development problems. My friend said that often we focus so much on what is wrong with people that they only see our recognition of their failings. My friend said we often can do more by concentrating and reinforcing what’s right than we can by constantly trying to remediate what is wrong. The more I thought about the idea the more I realized that many of us do the same thing, we focus on the things about ourselves that we don’t like and possibly that leads us into being what we fear rather than looking and building on what is right about ourselves.
As you know I am a big fan of Ralph Marston so I decided to see what he had to say on the subject and as usual he has something of value for us, here it is:
Out of necessity, you often focus on the things in your life that are not working as well as you’d like them to be. It pays to also consider, appreciate and celebrate the vastly large number of things that are working just great.
Occasionally you’ll turn the key in the ignition and your car won’t start, causing hassles, frustration and delays. Yet how very many more times do you have cause to be thankful when you turn the key, the car starts right up, and you drive quickly and safely to your destination?
The problems and the pains may at times seem to be overwhelming. Keep in mind though, that the only reason you notice them at all is because they are so relatively rare.
The news each day may appear to be all bad news. However, what qualifies anything to be news is the fact that it is highly unusual.
In the normal course of life, there are so very many things which work just fine that you only notice a small fraction of them all. Open your awareness to more of them, seek to be more genuinely thankful for them, and you’ll connect more fully to their immensely positive power.
Celebrate what’s working in your life and in your world, and those few things that are not working will hardly be able to even slow you down. Celebrate what’s working, and it will increasingly work even better for you.
~~~
I feel my body, my mind, weighted down – all is heavy – but my blood, my inner fire, my passion, the little unburdened kid in me, patiently wait to burst free. Some of us die never having burst.
Drew Sirtors
~~~
She said: My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday.
He asked me how old I was, and I told him, “62.”
He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, “Did you start at 1?”
~~~
Don’t borrow trouble. Be patient and you’ll soon have some of your own.
~~~
A young woman substituted as a teacher for a friend who took leave for a week’s honeymoon. Later, at a reception, someone started to introduce the substitute to the groom. “Oh don’t bother,” he said. “I know her very well. She substituted for my wife on our honeymoon.”
~~~
I’ve learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
Martha Washington
~~~
One day there were two men walking down a dirt path. One of them had a big potato sack over his shoulder. The other decided to ask what was in the sack.
When he asked, the man said, ”I got me some chickens for dinner tonight. Mmm Mmm Mmm… Chicken sure sounds good tonight.”
The other one wanted to know how many chickens were in the sack.
”Well I’ll tell you,” replied the man, ”If you can guess how many chickens I got in this here sack I’ll give them both to you.”
~~~
Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.
Marva Collins
~~~
All eyes were on the lovely bride as her father escorted her down the aisle. They reached the altar and the waiting groom; the bride kissed her father and placed something in his hand.
The guests in the front pews responded with ripples of laughter. Even the pastor smiled broadly.
As her father gave her away in marriage, the bride gave him back a credit card.
~~~
Copywight 2008 Elmer Fudd. All wights wesewved.
~~~
She told me: My mother never let me help much in the kitchen. As a result, my cooking ability was practically non-existent when I got married. But, I did remember mother mentioning to her friends that she did make cakes, pies and other things from scratch. So my first priority after the honeymoon, was to locate some scratch.
With mother’s delicious cakes in mind, my first trip to the supermarket was to buy some scratch. I found the aisle that read — Baking Items. I spent a good 15 minutes looking at everything from vegetable oil,sugar, flour and chocolate without seeing a sign of scratch. I was sure it wouldn’t be with the pickles or the meat. I asked the clerk if they carried scratch. He looked at me funny and finally said, “You’ll have to go to the store on the corner.”
When I got there, it turned out to be a feed store. I thought it rather strange, but I decided cakes were food. “Do you have scratch?” I asked the clerk.
He asked me how much I wanted. I suggested a pound or two. His reply was, “How many chickens do you have? It only comes in 20 pound bags.” I really didn’t understand why he mentioned chickens, but I had heard mother say she made chicken casserole from scratch. So, I bought 20 pounds and hurried home.
My next problem was to find a recipe calling for scratch. I went through every single page of my lovely “Better Homes and Gardens” Cookbook — a wedding gift. I looked and looked for a recipe using scratch. There I was with 20 pounds and no recipe.
When I opened the scratch, I had doubts that a beautiful, fluffy cake would ever result from such a hard looking ingredient. I hoped with the addition of liquids and heat the result would be successful. I had no need to mention my problem to my new husband. He had suggested very early in our marriage that he liked to cook and would gladly take over anytime. One day he made a pie and when I told him how good it was, he said that he made it from scratch. That assured me that it could be done.
Being a new bride is scary and when I found out he made pies, cakes, and even lemon pudding from scratch . . . . well, if he made all those things from scratch, I was sure he had bought a 20 pound bag of scratch also. But, I couldn’t find where he stored it, and I checked my supply. It was still full! At this point I was ready to give up because all the people knew about scratch except me. I decided to try a different approach. One day when my husband was not doing anything, I said, “Honey, I wish you’d bake a cake.” He got out the flour, sugar, eggs, milk and shortening. But, not a sign of scratch. I watched him blend it together, pour it into a pan and slide it into the oven to bake. An hour later, as we were eating the cake, I looked at him and smiled and said, “Honey, why don’t we raise a few chickens?”
~~~
My wife must think I’m an idiot! “Separate the white clothes from the colours.” Ha! Whether I separate them left-to-right or top-to-bottom, the washing machine will mix them all together anyway!
~~~
“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
e.e. cummings
~~~
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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