Ray’s Daily
September 1, 2021
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
Dalai Lama
Too many of us wait so long to be happy that we miss many of life’s pleasures. Here is a piece I may have sent you before that reminds us to quit waiting for happiness.
Be Happy Now!
by: Alfred D. Souza
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we’re frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll be more content when they are. After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We’ll certainly be happy when they’re out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with… and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting … until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you’re off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die, until you’re born again to decide that.
There is no better time than right now to be happy!
~~~
Happiness consists more in conveniences of pleasure that occur everyday than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.
Benjamin Franklin
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Mom was getting swamped with calls from strangers. The reason? A medical billing service had launched an 800 number that was identical to hers. When she called to complain, she was told to get a new number. I’ve had mine for twenty years,” she pleaded. “Couldn’t you change yours?”
The company refused.
So Mom said, “Fine. From now on, I’m going to tell everyone who calls that the bill is paid in full.”
The company got a new number the next day.
~~~
“I’m just a poor preacher.”
“I know. I’ve heard your sermons.”
~~~
A college student challenged a senior citizen saying it was impossible for their generation to understand his. “You grew up in a different world,” the student said. “Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers . . . “
Taking advantage of a pause in the student’s litany, the senior said, “You’re right. We didn’t have those things when we were young. So we invented them!”
~~~
The argument you just won with your spouse isn’t over yet
~~~
On a recent flight, an elderly passenger kept peering out the window. Since it was totally dark, all she could see was the blinking wing-tip light. Finally, she rang for the flight attendant.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said, “but I think you should inform the pilot that his left-turn indicator is on and has been for some time.”
~~~
Boy is this true!!! The problem with telephones is that they never nap when you do.
~~~
Upon arriving home in eager anticipation of a leisurely evening, the husband was met at the door by his sobbing wife. Tearfully she explained, “It’s the druggist – he insulted me terribly this morning on the phone.”
Immediately the husband drove downtown to accost the druggist and demand an apology. Before he could say more than a word or two, the druggist told him, “Now, just a minute – listen to my side of it. This morning the alarm failed to go off, so I was late getting up. I went without breakfast and hurried out to the car, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t lock the house with both house and car keys inside. I had to break a window to get my keys.
Driving a little too fast, I got a speeding ticket. Then, about three blocks from the store I had a flat tire. When I finally got to the store there was a bunch of people waiting for me to open up. I got the store opened and started waiting on these people, and all the time the darn phone was ringing its head off. Then I had to break a roll of nickels against the cash register drawer to make change, and they spilled all over the floor.
I got down on my hands and knees to pick up the nickels – the phone is still ringing – when I came up I cracked my head on the open cash drawer, which made me stagger back against a showcase with a bunch of perfume bottles on it, and half of them hit the floor and broke. The phone is still ringing with no let up, and I finally got back to answer it.
It was your wife – she wanted to know how to use a rectal thermometer.
And Mister, I TOLD HER!”
~~~
Middle age is when you’ve met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else.
~~~
A lady was taking her time browsing through everything at a yard sale and said to the hostess, “My husband is going to be very angry when he finds out I stopped at a yard sale.”
“I’m sure he’ll understand when you tell him about all the bargains,” the hostess replied.
“Normally, yes,” the lady said. “But he just broke his leg, and he’s waiting for me to take him to the hospital to have it set.”
~~~
It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.
James Thurber
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In the presence of a client he wished to impress, a high-powered executive flipped on his intercom switch and barked to his secretary, “Miss Jones, get my broker!”
The visitor was duly impressed until the secretary’s voice floated back into the room, loud and clear and said, “Yes, sir. Stock or pawn?”
~~
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
Robertson Davies
~~~
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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