Ray’s Daily
April 16,2021
“The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.”
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
These are challenging times for many of ua. Some have had to deal with restrictions caused by the Covid epidemic. Others have lost their job and income, some even cannot get enough food. The rest of us face problems that really are not that severe, but how we deal with our setbacks is up to us.
If we just accept adversity things will not get any better. If we accept and understand what we face we can work to overcome our problems. Here is a story that offers us a lesson on how we can cope with adversity.
Your reaction matters more than what happens to you
“Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the boiled eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. ‘Daughter, what do you see?’
‘Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,’ she hastily replied.
‘Look closer,’ he said, ‘and touch the potatoes.’ She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
‘Father, what does this mean?’ she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
‘Which are you,’ he asked his daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?’
~~~
“We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”
Barbara De Angelis
~~~
Andy came to work one day, limping something awful. One of his co-workers, Josh, noticed and asked Andy what happened.
Andy replied, “Oh, nothing. It’s just an old hockey injury that acts up once in a while.”
Josh, “Gee, I never knew you played hockey.”
Andy, “No I don’t. I hurt it last year when I lost $100 on the Stanley Cup play-offs. I put my foot through the television…”
~~~
Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.
Charlotte Whitton
~~~
Dear Sir,
Since taking your body building course, I now have a 44 inch chest, a 32 inch waist, 17 inch biceps and an 18 inch neck. I feel absolutely marvelous but at the same time, I do feel that my chances of marriage are spoiled.
Yours faithfully,
Rachel Goldberg
~~~
There will always be a conflict between “good” and “good enough.”
Henry Martyn Leland
~~~
Morris had died. His lawyer is standing before the family and reads out Morris’ Last Will and Testament.
“To my dear wife Esther, I leave the house, 150 acres of land, and 1 million dollars.
To my son Barry, I leave my Big Lexus and the new Jaguar.
To my daughter Shirley, I leave my yacht and $250,000.
And to my brother-in-law Aaron, who always insisted that health is better than wealth, I leave my treadmill.”
~~~
Jewish curses
May you sell candles for a living and then may the sun never set.
May you be like a chandelier, hang by day and burn by night!
~~~
Did you know that Moses had to make a third trip up to the top of Mount Sinai?
Well, on this third trip, Moses arrived at the burning bush after much climbing, removed his sandals, kneeled and prayed to God.
“Oh mighty God, King of the Universe, your people have sent me back here to ask you a question about the Ten Commandments.”
“What question do they have for me?” roared the voice of God.
“They want to know whether the commandments are listed according to priority.”
~~~
Sign in restaurant: If you are over 80 and accompanied by your parents, we will cash your check.
~~~
He said: After enlisting in the 82nd Airborne Division, I eagerly asked my recruiter what I could expect from jump school.
“It’s three weeks long,” he said.
“What else?” I asked.
“The first week, they separate the men from the boys,” he said. “The second week, they separate the men from the fools.”
“And the third week?” I asked.
“The third week, the fools jump.”
~~~
If you help a relative in need, he/she will remember you the next time they are in need.
~~~
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin.
Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister’s son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his Father always said: “Glory be unto the Faaaather, and unto the Sonnn ….. and into the hole he gooooes.”
~~~
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”
E.B. White
~~~
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.
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