Ray’s DailyDaily
December 23, 2020
“Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.”
Ruth Carter Stapleton
Nancy and Ray
Ray and the Daily are going to spend the next few days doing our best to enjoy our Christmas. It will be the first time doing it electronicly as we are still isolated due to the Covid 19 epi9demic. I hope you have happy holidays and I will be back next Monday. I do appreciate those who are friends, aquantences and of course family. My very best to you all.
Top Ten Habits that Help You Manage Your Stress
By Linda Dessau
Here are my favorite self-care habits for dealing with stress:
1. Get in the habit of noticing. – Take an inventory of all the things that just don’t feel right in your life or that you know are causing you stress. For example, when you approach certain people, places or situations do you feel more stress and tension? Once you have your list in place, look at what you can change yourself, and do it. You can also use this list to predict stressful situations before they occur.
2. Get in the habit of asking for help. – For what you can’t change yourself, you need a team. Build a team of experts to handle your list. A coach, at the top of the list, will help with the big picture and will keep you honest about your efforts. Other team members might be a family doctor who listens to you, a financial planner, a massage therapist and an exercise partner.
3. Get in the habit of bouncing back. – Think of Plan A as your basic self-care plan while stress is under control. Now imagine something happens and you are under stress. Instead of abandoning all self-care because you can’t do it all, have a Plan B ready beforehand.
4. Get in the habit of relaxing. – If you practice relaxation techniques (breathing, meditation, imagery, music) every day, then when stressful situations come up you’ll have the tools at your fingertips.
5. Get in the habit of gratitude. – Our attitude comes from our emotions and our emotions come from our thoughts. Thinking about what we’re grateful for and what we’re good at can keep things positive. It’s not about shying away from what’s challenging you; it’s about approaching life from a place of strength and not as a victim.
6. Get in the habit of creating. – Experiment with a new recipe in the kitchen, write a poem, bang a drum, do a craft, take a dance class or do something else that feels creative to you.
7. Get in the habit of putting your stuff away. – Physical clutter can really impact on mental, emotional and physical health. Get rid of things that don’t make you happy when you look at them. Organize your stuff. Find a place for everything and keep it there.
8. Get in the habit of breathing. – This is the simplest and quickest way to relax yourself in a stressful situation. The minute you focus on your breathing it automatically gets slower and deeper.
9. Get in the habit of daydreaming. – Take yourself away on an imaginary holiday. Just close your eyes and go! Picture somewhere you’ve been or somewhere you’ve dreamed of.
10. Laugh out loud every day. – Don’t let your stress get the better of you! Which one of these strategies can you apply this week to manage your stress?
~~~
“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.”
Benjamin Franklin
~~~
Her Holiday Poem
‘Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I’d nibbled, the eggnog I’d taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I’d remember the marvelous meals I’d prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The punch and the candy, the bread and the cheese
And the way I’d not said, “No thank you, please.”
As I dressed myself in my husband’s old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt— I said to myself, as I only can
“You can’t spend a winter disguised as a man!”
So–away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
“Till all the additional ounces have vanished. I won’t have a cookie–not even a lick.
I’ll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won’t have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore—
But isn’t that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!
~~~
Today everyone wants instant gratification, no matter how long it takes.
~~~
The Wednesday-night church service coincided with the last day of hunting season.
Our pastor asked who had bagged a deer. No one raised a hand.
Puzzled, the pastor said, “I don’t get it. Last Sunday many of you said you were missing because of hunting season. I had the whole congregation pray for your deer.”
One hunter groaned, “Well, it worked. They’re all safe.”
~~~
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
~~~
In a stationery store, I quickly picked out a card for my wife for our anniversary. The clerk was surprised by how little time it took me, and she began relating a story about another customer who spent a half-hour searching for the right anniversary greeting.
Noticing the man lingering over one card after another, the clerk went to see if she could help. “Is there a problem?” she asked.
“Yes, there is,” he replied ruefully. “I can’t find one my wife will believe.”
~~~
The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.
Friedrich Nietzsche
~~~
She told me that as a single, never-married woman in her 40s, she have been questioned endlessly about her status by her friends, relatives, and co-workers. Over the years, she noticed a subtle change in the nature of their inquiries.
In my teens, friends would ask, “Who are you going out with this weekend?”
In my 20s, relatives would say, “Who are you dating?”
In my 30s, co-workers might inquire, “So, are you dating anyone yet?”
Now people ask, “Where did you get that adorable purse?”
~~~
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
Meister Eckhart
~~~
A little old man was escorted into the witness box. After being sworn in the lawyer asked him to explain what happened.
After a lengthy discussion of the events leading up to the incident he finally got around to the meat of the case, “…and then she hit me with a maple leaf.”
“Surely that couldn’t have caused you any serious injury?” said the lawyer.
“Are you kidding?” exclaimed the old man. “It was the leaf from the center of our dining room table.”
~~~
“Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.”
Dr. Seuss
~~~
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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Comments on: "Merry Christmas" (1)
A beautiful post and merry Christmas to both of you!