Ray’s Daily
September 28, 2020
“To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path.
Don’t worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest”
Ray’s Daily first published on September 28, 2006
As some of you know I spend much of my time with others who are in the process of deciding what they want to do with the rest of their lives. As I am sure you know it is not an easy task. Too many of us get lost in the process, someone tells us to go that way, another sends us someplace else, and our past tries to keep us on the same path we have always been on. Way too often the range of choices we have available to us is so debilitating that we just give up and stay in the same old rut.
If we are to venture of in a new direction, we don’t need a map, we can make our own. Every step we take may seem to lead in a wrong direction but that is never the case, each step is progress and if we take a wrong turn we just backtrack and follow the other path. Often it is not the destination that rewards us but the journey itself. Everything we see and lean along the way helps to make our journey more worthwhile.
I know one thing that is absolutely true; if you don’t start you will never get there. If you don’t know where and when to start, don’t worry about it just start somewhere. Progress is made by discovering barriers and finding paths. Life is to be explored and if you don’t want to enrich the journey all you have to do is stay put, close down your dreams, and be satisfied ending up where you are. But if you do you will miss more than you know.
But if you take the journey you will find as you progress you will gather momentum and discover navigational skills you never knew you had. Who knows you might find that your magic place is really not that far away. By the way, if you do start soon look for me, I’ll be the guy alongside the road who waves and wishes you bon voyage.
~~~
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
Buddha
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.”
~~~
The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday:
“I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”
~~~
She said: Like all growing boys, my teenage grandson Jermon was constantly hungry, I went to the ‘fridge to find something he might like. After poking around a bit and moving the milk and juice cartons, I spotted a bowl of leftover chili. “Hey, Jermon,” I called out excitedly. He came running into the kitchen. “Look! I found some chili.” Struggling to be polite, he said, “If you’re that surprised, I’m not really sure I want it.”
~~~
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
~~~
So one day, Gramma sent her grandson Johnnie down to the water hole to get some water for cooking dinner. As he was dipping the bucket in, he saw two big eyes looking back at him. He dropped the bucket and hightailed it for Gramma’s kitchen.
“Well now, where’s my bucket and where’s my water?” Gramma asked him.
“I can’t get any water from that water hole, “Gramma!” exclaimed Johnnie. “there’s a big ol’ alligator down there waiting for me!”
“Now don’t you mind that ol’ alligator, Johnnie. He’s been there for a few years now, and he’s never hurt anyone. Why, he’s probably as scared of you as you are of him!”
“Well, Gramma,” replied Johnnie, “if he’s as scared of me as I am of him, then that water ain’t fit to drink!”
~~~
They say you can’t have too much of a good thing. I wish I’d been part of that study.
~~~
At a Mass at which some young ladies were to take their finals vows to become nuns, the Bishop presiding noticed two Rabbis enter the church just before the service began. They insisted on sitting on the right side of the center aisle. The Bishop wondered why they had come, but he didn’t have time to inquire before the Mass began.
When it came time for the announcements, the Bishop’s curiosity got the better of him. He welcomed the two Rabbis and asked why they had chosen to be present at this occasion where the young ladies were to become the “Brides of Christ.”
The elder of the Rabbis slowly rose to his feet and explained, “Family of the Groom.”
~~~
Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.
William Penn
~~~
A young man came home from the office and found his new bride sobbing inconsolably.
“I feel terrible,” she told him. “I was pressing your suit and I burned a big hole in the seat of your trousers.”
“Forget it,” consoled her husband. “Remember that I’ve got an extra pair of pants for that suit.”
“Yes, and it’s lucky you have,” said the woman, drying her eyes. “I used them to patch the hole.”
~~~
He who is outside the door has already got a good part of his journey behind him.
Dutch proverb
~~~
He said: The restaurant where I took my two sons for a meal was crowded with fans watching a sporting event on television. The harried waitress took our order, but more than half an hour passed with no sign of her return.
I was trying to keep my kids from becoming restless when suddenly shouts of victory came from the bar. “Hey,” commented my 11-year-old, “it sounds as if someone just got his food.”
~~~
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Oscar Wilde
~~~
The psychiatrist was not expecting the distraught stranger who staggered into his office and slumped into a chair.
“I’m losing my memory, Doctor,” he sobbed. “What should I do?”
“Pay me in advance.”
~~~
~~~
Ever notice how kids learn to drive a car in no time, but cannot understand the workings of the lawn mower, snow blower, or vacuum cleaner?
“I play golf in the low 80’s,” the little old man was telling one of the young boys at the club.
“Wow,” said the young man, “that’s pretty impressive.”
“Not really,” said the little old man. “Any hotter and I’d probably have a stroke.”
~~~
Short skirts have a tendency to make men polite. Have you ever seen a man get on a bus ahead of one?
~~~
“The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance.
Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.”
Jim Rohn
~~~
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 twenty 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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