Ray's Daily

Ray’s Daily

February 4, 2021

http://rays-daily.com

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Dr. Seuss

I really enjoy the wonderful folks I have met over the years, especially those who care for others. Here is a story that reminds me of how much I have benefited from these good people.

I Know You By Heart

I recently heard someone say, ‘What you do for others you do also for yourself.’ I was confused at first, because it almost made me feel selfish. I mean, I love doing things for other people, but my wife told my recently that I always put others first. She was saying that was one of my faults. I needed a little more ‘me’ in my efforts to change the world.

I visit people in nursing homes, retirement and senior centres. I love to spend time with older folks. It’s like mining for gold. They have been down the road ahead of me and I want to know what they have learned so that I make the right choices.

A speaker at a conference I attended many years ago asked, ‘Where do you think the most valued real estate is in the world.’

Hands went up and offered big city names, resorts in development and exotic locations around the world. ‘Nice try,’ he said. ‘The most valuable real estate are the cemeteries. Buried there are dreams that might have changed the world, perhaps cures for major diseases that were never developed and people who could have made a difference in your life but never took the chance. What happened? No one listened.’

I listen, I encourage, but I don’t realize the value of what I do or understand the impact. It was during a recent visit to a new facility that I realized that my efforts made a difference in the lives of those I met.

‘How are you today?’ I heard someone ask.

I turned around and scanned the room to see who was speaking. ‘I heard the voice of an angel!’ I said smiling. ‘Where are you?’ Then I heard a faint laugh in the corner.

‘Oh, there you are. I am so lucky to find you today,’ I said. She was seated on an old Victorian looking couch. It reminded me of the furniture in my mother’s living room. We could only sit on it when company came. So, I jumped at the opportunity to sit next to this wonderful woman. Her hair was white and neatly brushed with an occasional wave gently reflecting the light from the nearby window. Her hands crossed on her lap resting on top of a knitted pink blanket that covered her legs. Two practical looking walking shoes peeked out at the bottom and a wooden cane was placed within her reach nearby. ‘It’s good to see you,’ she said. ‘I love when you come to visit.’

I was a bit surprised to hear her say that. I had never been here before. Maybe she was transferred her from another place and she remembered me. ‘It’s good to see you, too,’ I said.

‘You always brighten my day,’ she added. I sat quietly for a moment trying desperately to remember if we had met before. I really love to remember names. It makes people feel good when you remember.Then I asked, ‘When was the last time I saw you?’

She turned her head away for a moment and then looking back at me, she said, ‘Oh, we’ve never met, you and I. But I know you by heart.’

How curious. We never met, but she knows me by heart.It must have been the look on my face that caused her to explain further.

‘There is something about people like you. You are the ones who carry the world on your back. When you walk in a room you make us smile. When you touch my hand I can feel the warmth in your heart. People like you bring flowers, music and sunshine. Even when you bring nothing at all, you leave so much behind’ I was humbled and at a loss for words.

‘My, I thank you for saying that,’ I said. ‘When you said, I know you by heart, I naturally felt like I must have met you before.’ ‘I know you by heart, because I always did the same thing. I always put others first,’ she said. There it was again. ‘Putting others first.’

Then I shared, ‘I heard someone say – what you do for others you do also for yourself.’

‘I am living proof of that,’ she said. ‘You see, after all that time, after all that caring it all came back to me. People like you now visit me and I know you by heart.’

Written by Bob Perks

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“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.”

Sally Koch

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Want to Stay Stressed?

You’ll have no trouble if you practice the following clinically proven methods:

Never Exercise – Exercise wastes a lot of time that could be spent worrying.

Eat Anything You Want – Hey, if cigarette smoke can’t cleanse your system, a balanced diet isn’t likely to.

Gain Weight – Work hard at staying at least 25% over your recommended weight.

Take Plenty of Stimulants – The old standards of caffeine, nicotine, sugar, and cola will continue to do the job just fine.

Avoid Relaxation Practices – Ignore the evidence suggesting that meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and/or mental imaging help to reduce stress. The ‘perpetual work’ ethic is good for staying stressed.

Get Rid of Your Social Support System – Let the few friends who are willing to tolerate you know that you concern yourself with friendships only if you have time, and you never have time. If a few people persist in trying to be your friend, avoid them.

Personalize All Criticism – Anyone who criticizes any aspect of your work, family, dog, house, or car is mounting a personal attack. Don’t take time to listen, be offended, then return the attack!

Males and Females Alike – Be Macho. Never ever ask for help, and if you want it done right, do it yourself!

Become a Workaholic – Put work before everything else, and be sure to take work home evenings and weekends. Keep reminding yourself that vacations are for sissies.

Discard Good Time Management Skills – Schedule in more activities every day than you can possibly get done and then worry about it all whenever you get a chance.

Procrastinate – Putting things off to the last second always produces a marvelous amount of stress.

Worry about Things You Can’t Control – Worry about the stock market, earthquakes, the approaching Ice Age, you know, all the big issues.

Become Not Only a Perfectionist But Set Impossibly High Standards – and either beat yourself up, or feel guilty, depressed, discouraged, and/or inadequate when you don’t meet them.

Throw Out Your Sense of Humor – Staying stressed is no laughing matter, and it shouldn’t be treated as one.

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If you have trouble getting your children’s attention, just sit down and look comfortable.

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During the Second World War, when many young men were being trained for combat, they were stationed in the south, and it was the custom for some of the local residents to offer some Southern Hospitality to our fighting men.

One day, in a camp that will remain nameless, the phone rang; a woman at a local woman’s school offered to entertain a dozen soldiers at a party being held the upcoming weekend, and would the captain send some of her best behaved men over? The captain agreed, but before he could finalize the agreements, the woman made a request: “Please, suh, don’t send any Jewish boys.”

The captain agreed … no Jews.

The day of the party, the soldiers were dropped off at the school, and knocked on the door. The hostess opened the door … to the sight of a dozen Black soldiers, all in dress uniforms.

“Why, th-there m-must be some kind of m-mistake,” she stammered.

“No, ma’am,” said one of the soldiers, “Captain Rabinowitz, he doesn’t make mistakes.”

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The greatest test of courage on the earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

R. G. Ingersoll

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In a very exclusive private school near California’s Silicon Valley, a third-grade teacher was lecturing her upper-high-class students about the less fortunate.  She asked them each to write an essay about a poor family in the area.

One little girl’s paper began: “Once upon a time there was a poor family. The father was poor. The mother was poor.  The children were poor. The nannies were poor.  The pool man was poor. The personal trainer was poor. The gardeners were poor. . . . . This was a very poor family!

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“The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.”

George Burns.

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“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

Edward Everett Hale

~~~

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 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@comcast.net. Back issues are posted at http://rays-daily,com/ currently there are hundreds of  readers from around the world.