Ray’s Daily
May 18, 2021
“Take a deep breath. Inhale peace. Exhale happiness.”
A.D. Posey
I was asked why I seem so comfortable with my life these days. I think the main reason is that I stay relatively stress free. Even with normally eight hours of sleep I have no problems relaxing to the point the relaxation turns to cat naps.
Minimizing stress for me is not waisting time agonizing over things I can do nothing about. I honestly believe my peace of mind is helped by my ability to relax. I thought you might be interested in the following tips from Healthline.
Easy ways to relax
Breathe it out. Breathing exercises are one of the simplest relaxation strategies, and can effectively calm your stressed-out body and mind anywhere at any time. Breathe in to a slow count of three, and then breathe out to the same slow count of three. Feel your belly rise and fall as you breathe in and out. Repeat five times, or as long as you need to feel relaxed.
Release physical tension. Releasing any physical tension can help relieve stress in your body and mind. Tense up one part of your body at a time, and then slowly release your muscles. As you do this, notice how your body sensations change.
Write down your thoughts. Getting things off your mind by writing them down may help you relax.
Make a list. Making a list about what you’re grateful for can help some people feel relaxed. Experts say that when we’re stressed, we tend to focus on the negative parts of life rather than the positive.
Visualize your calm. Sit in a quiet and safe place, such as your bedroom, and begin to think about a place in the world where you feel most calm. Close your eyes and imagine all the details linked to that place: the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile feelings.
Connect to nature. Spending just a few minutes in nature when you feel stressed may help you relax. When you’re feeling stressed, take a step outside and go for a short walk, or simply sit in nature. Scientists have found that simply looking at images of natureTrusted Source with greenery for five minutes on a computer screen can help calm you down.
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“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.”
Eckhart Tolle
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WHAT IS A GRANDPARENT? (taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds)
Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of her own. They like other people’s.
A grandfather is a man grandmother.
Grandparents don’t have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn’t play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the store and have lots of quarters for us.
When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.
They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and also! Why we shouldn’t step on “cracks.”
They don’t say, “Hurry up.”
Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes.
They wear glasses and funny underwear.
Grandparents don’t have to be smart.
They have to answer questions like “why isn’t God married?” and “How come dogs chase cats?”.
When they read to us, they don’t skip. They don’t mind if we ask for the same story over again.
Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don’t have television, because they are the only grown ups who like to spend time with us.
They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they say prayers with us every time, and kiss us even when we’ve acted bad.
~~~
In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.
Mortimer J. Adler
~~~
Moe and Lenny are strolling home from Shul one Saturday morning.
Suddenly a cab speeds past, and their friend, Irving, is running frantically behind it, flailing his arms wildly.
“Well,” said Lenny. “I never imagined our good friend Irving was a Sabbath violator! Look at him running for that taxi.”
“Wait a minute,” Moe replied. “Didn’t you read that book I lent you. ‘The Other Side of the Story,’ about the command to judge other people favorably? I’ll bet we can think of hundreds of excuses for Irving’s behavior.”
“Yeah, like what?”
“Maybe he’s sick and needs to go to the hospital.”
“Come on! He was running 60 miles an hour after that cab, he’s healthier than Arnold Schwartzennegger.”
“Well, maybe his wife’s having a baby.”
“She had one last week.”
“Well, maybe he needs to visit her in the hospital.”
“She’s home.”
“Well, maybe he’s running to the hospital to get a doctor.”
“He is a doctor.”
“Well, maybe he needs supplies from the hospital.”
“The hospital is a three minute walk in the opposite direction.”
“Well, maybe he forgot that it’s Shabbos!”
“Of course he knows it’s Shabbos. Didn’t you see his tie? It was his paisley beige l00% silk Giovanni tie from Italy. He never wears it during the week.”
“Wow, you’re really observant! I didn’t even notice he was wearing a tie.”
“How could you not notice? Didn’t you see how it was caught on the back fender of the taxi?”
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“Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused.”
~~~
A professor at the Michigan State University was known for giving boring, cliche-ridden lectures.
At the beginning of one semester, an innovative class breathed new life into the course by assigning baseball plays to each hackneyed phrase.
For example, when the professor said, “On the other hand,” that counted as a base hit. “By the same token” was a strike out; “and so on” counted as a stolen base. Divided into two teams by the center aisle of the lecture hall, the students played inning after inning of silent but vigorous baseball.
On the last day of class, the impossible happened: the score was tied and bases were loaded. Then the batter hit a home run! The winning team stood and cheered wildly.
Though deeply appreciative, the professor later was quoted as wondering why only half of the students had been enthusiastic about his lectures.
~~~
Jill complained to Nina, “Rosey told me that you told her the secret I told you not to tell her.”
“Well,” replied Nina in a hurt tone, “I told her not to tell you I told her.”
“Oh dear!” sighed Jill. “Well, don’t tell her I told you that she told me.”
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“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
John Lubbock
~~~
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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