Ray’s Daily
September 6, 2022
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.
Ann Brashares
Labor Day is behind us and I start the new season with a new Hematolist this morning. I am hoping that he will provide the key to returning my lost energy. I really shouldn’t complain too much as my life is still pretty good.
The following abridged article offers tips on how we can learn to appreciate what we have,
How to Appreciate Your Life More
Barton Goldsmith Ph.D.
- Do daily appreciation exercises. These can be very simple. There is constant beauty around you if you look for it, even if you are in the heart of the city.
- Look for what’s right. Instead of beating myself up about my perceived flaws, It helps to display honorary plaques, diplomas, and other things you’re proud of having done or created to remind you of what you’ve accomplished.
- Stop futurizing disasters. We all are worried about the future, but spending time imagining yourself living in a post-viral, zombie-infested world is not a good way to keep it from happening. When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, just make yourself stop and remember something wonderful from your childhood—pony rides, carnivals, school dances—whatever makes you happy to recall.
- Give yourself the benefit of the doubt. It is so easy to give to other people, but many of us expect too much from ourselves and don’t give ourselves enough credit. If you’ve succeeded once in any area, you can succeed again in a different area. You get life credit for what you have done; allowing yourself to feel those past successes will empower you, so you can redirect that energy into your current goals.
Life has been difficult, and that’s hard enough to deal with. Getting down on yourself will only make you (and those you love) feel worse. Energy is infectious, and positive energy is downright contagious. If you project it, people will be attracted to it, and life will become nicer. Appreciating your life more is real internal work, but the benefits are well worth the effort.
~~~
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
Ernest Hemingway
~~~
While traveling through Wyoming one winter day, I was experiencing what’s called a “horizontal blizzard.” The snow that had fallen the day before was blowing across the road.
When I stopped for fuel, I remarked on the condition to a man at the gas station. He obviously was a local who had seen a lot of winters.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. We don’t get much snow, but what we do get, we use a lot.”
~~~
A little boy went up to his father and asked, “Dad, where did all of my intelligence come from?”
The father replied, “Well, Son, you must have got it from your mother, cause I still have all of mine.”
~~~
“I can’t think of anything worse after a night of drinking than waking up next to someone and not being able to remember their name, or how you met, or why they’re dead.”
Laura Kightlinger
~~~
My wife and I were having lunch at a fashionable eatery in Annapolis when we noticed what looked like a familiar face at the next table. Screwing up my courage, I asked,
“Excuse me. Aren’t you Marlin Fitzwater, the former White House press secretary?”
“Yes, I am,” he acknowledged, and graciously interrupted his lunch to talk to us.
As we were leaving the restaurant, I remarked to the blonde hostess,
“Do you know you have Marlin Fitzwater on the terrace?”
“I don’t know about that,” she replied, “but we have Perrier and Evian at the bar.”
~~~
Teenagers are like cats. They never come when you call them unless food is involved.
~~~
“Hello, you have reached an office that thought it was so smart getting all it’s employees cordless phones.
The person you are trying to reach is here right now, staring at me as I answer this call and searching desperately for their cordless phone in the mess on their desk. It won’t matter if they find it since they didn’t leave it on the charger last night and the battery is dead. So you might as well leave a message with me and I’ll have them call you after the 4 hour handset recharge period is completed.”
~~~
I was waiting in line at my county clerk’s office one afternoon and noticed a hand-lettered sign that read, “Any child left unattended will be given a free kitten.”
~~~
A nurse at my hospital received a call from an anxious woman. “I’m diabetic and I’m afraid I’ve had too much sugar today,” she said.
“Are you light-headed?” the nurse asked.
“No,” the caller answered, “I’m a brunette.”
~~~
I sat there waiting for my new doctor to make his way through the file that contained my very extensive medical history.
After he finished all seventeen pages, he looked at me and said, “Ray, you look better in person than you do on paper.”
~~~
Nobody can be just like me.
Even I have trouble doing it.
~~~
Definitions
Twenty Something — The cost of a sitter for Saturday night.
Fancy Restaurant — One that serves cold soup on purpose.
College — The four year period when parents are permitted access to the telephone.
Hors D’oeuvres — A sandwich cut into 20 pieces.
Kissing — A means of getting two people so close together that they can’t see anything wrong with each other.
Emergency Numbers — Police station, Fire Department and Places that deliver.
~~~
Love truth, but pardon error.
Voltaire
~~~
The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, “It was a good idea you had to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church fills first”.
The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, “And you told me a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I suppose the rock ‘n roll gospel choir you brought in was another good idea. We are packed in to the balcony.”
“Thank you, Father,” answered the young priest. “I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth.”
“Well,” said the elderly priest, “I’m afraid you’ve gone too far with the drive-thru confessional.”
“But, Father,” protested the young priest, “my confessions have nearly doubled since I began that!”
“I know, son,” replied the elderly priest, “but the flashing neon sign, ‘Toot n’ Tell or Go To Hell’ cannot stay on the church roof!”
~~~
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
Meister Eckhart
~~~
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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