Ray’s Daily
May 3, 2021
The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers.
Deepak Chopra
Here we are, a new week and a new month. I plan on doing all I can to appreciate all that the days will offer. I want to focus on the goodness in the people I meet as well as what is right in the environment. I can’t do that unless I pay attention and stay open to all I encounter.
I abridged the following piece I got from the Tiny Budda website. It offers me tips on how I can make the most of the days ahead.
How do we become more present and alive in each moment?
- Practice fully pouring yourself into every act. This is a Zen practice — being fully in every task you do, every act. If you’re brushing your teeth, just brush your teeth — and be completely immersed in that. Fully express yourself in everything you do.
- See the divinity in the person in front of you or in this moment. When I say “divinity,” it might mean God if you believe in God … but if you don’t, it’s seeing the incredible gift of the world, of each person. Seeing the profound beauty in everything. Seeing the sacredness of the ordinary. When you’re talking with someone, can you fully appreciate their divinity? Can you feel wonder at the world around you, no matter where you are? This is an incredible practice that will help you feel more alive, each time you do it.
- Let yourself express your emotions physically. Most of us barely let ourselves feel any emotions. We can express them physically — scream into a pillow, throw a tantrum by kicking and banging your fists on the ground, express pain by writhing in anguish or letting your heart be broken. When we express our emotions fully and physically in our bodies, we unleash our vitality.
- Open your damn heart! Most of us move through our days with our hearts closed. We do our tasks, go through the motions, but we aren’t connected to our hearts. (Some people, of course, are able to live in their hearts much of the time — let them be our role models!) What would it be like to be open-hearted today, feel loving toward every person you see, loving and tender toward the world around you? Try it and see!
- As you can see, these are not things that you’ll be able to get perfect, immediately or even ever. They are things to practice.
But I can tell you, in my experience, this kind of practice of being fully immersed in each activity, with your heart open, your emotions fully expressed, seeing the divinity in everything and everyone around you — this will help us be fully alive in each moment.
~~~
Open your eyes to the beauty around you, open your mind to the wonders of life, open your heart to those who love you, and always be true to yourself.
Maya Angelou
~~~
I was at a party this weekend and a jokester, stifling a laugh said, “Listen to this: One day, Moskowitz and Finkelstein were going to…”
At this, my Jewish friend, Al Cohen said, “Moskowitz and Finkelstein; Moskowitz and Finkelstein; always two Jews. Why do they have to be Jewish? Can’t you tell the joke with other nationalities involved? Why don’t you make them Chinese for a change?”
The jokester, sobered and embarrassed, said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. Here’s the joke: One day, Hong-lee Yang and Mao-chen Foo were going to the synagogue to attend the bar mitzvah of Hong-lee Yang’s nephew…”
~~~
The best defense against logic is stupidity.
~~~
After several private tutorial meetings, the anthropology instructor invited the struggling student to his house to view his personal collection of artifacts.
As they entered his living room, the young woman began giggling. Pointing to an object on the mantel, she asked, “What’s That?”
“Actually,” he explained, “it’s a phallic symbol used by the Australian aborigines in their fertility rites.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” she said. “I’d hate to tell you what it looks like.”
~~~
The only lesson history has taught us is that man has not yet learned anything from history.
~~~
A man travelling on a train asked the ticket collector what time the train stopped at Victoria. “This train doesn’t stop at Victoria, its the express.”
“You’re joking! I NEED to get off at Victoria!”
“Sorry sir, this train will not stop at Victoria.”
“There must be something you can do.”
“Well there is one thing…”
“What? Anything! I need to get off at Victoria!”
“Well, I’ll get the engineer to slow down and I’ll dangle you out the door and lower you onto the platform.”
“My goodness!” said the man, “Will that work?”
“It’s worth a try,” replied the conductor.
The train approached the platform at 50 mph. The conductor hung the man out the door. The man started running in mid air. “Run faster!
Run faster!” the conductor shouted as he lowered the man down.
The man’s feet touched the platform, and smoke flew off his shoes. One of his heels came off; he was running for his life! Suddenly, the ticket collector let go, and the man was running at 30 mph. He has made it; he began to slow down. He was still running at 20 mph along side the train as the other passengers watched in amazement. As the last car went by, another hand grabbed the man by the shirt collar and lifted him back onto the train.
As he was being pulled into the observation car he heard a voice say, “Your lucky I was here to help you on, normally this train doesn’t even slow-down at Victoria!”
~~~
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
Thornton Wilder
~~~
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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