
We were meant to give our lives away.
Spend more time living your legacy instead of worrying about leaving it.
Lee J. Colan
Today ends July, a momentous month for me. I traded a long awaited visit to North Carolina for a stay in the hospital. I added a neurologist and neurosurgeon to my ever growing list of doctors. I started the process of reprogramming the balance of the year with less adventurous travel…
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Added by Ray on July 31, 2009 at 10:24am —
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Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Albert Schweitzer
I am going to send you something from years past that has to be better than what I might write today. I have been on the move all morning and into the early afternoon and just now discovered that I double booked speakers for an upcoming meeting. Fortunately I think…
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Added by Ray on July 30, 2009 at 12:24pm —
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"We must cut our coat according to our cloth, and adapt ourselves to changing circumstances."
William Ralph Inge
Yesterday I said I did not want to hibernate and live in a protective shell even though my health will limit my travels at least for awhile. What sounded like a restriction that would reduce my enjoyment and opportunity for adventure turns out not to be the case. Looking at opportunity in a different way…
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Added by Ray on July 29, 2009 at 9:01am —
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“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.”
Storm Jameson
I met with my neurologist yesterday afternoon. She was dazzled and amazed by my miraculous recovery from my apparent stroke. After we celebrated we got down to the serious business of what I should do about my living with my aneurysm. The first thing was to cut out all strenuous exercise and…
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Added by Ray on July 28, 2009 at 7:45am —
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People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln
It is intriguing to watch how the description of things and events are viewed differently by people. What we see and what we hear tend to be filtered and even modified by our opinions and prejudices. The same afternoon might be warm to one and cool to another, it is the same with much of our lives. What we see and what we hear are…
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Added by Ray on July 27, 2009 at 9:45am —
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“It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value”
Stephen Hawking
I had breakfast with a respected friend the other day. My friend is an author, pundit, creative thinker, and educator who is often called upon to help people like me to learn more about our world. He is respected both nationally and internationally and avoids partisanship and philosophical extremes. I won’t go into the details but he…
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Added by Ray on July 24, 2009 at 6:12am —
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“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
Lance Armstrong
I am again sending a Daily from the past. I have a good excuse though, I had a Kiwanis meeting, a planning meeting and the time helping a friend that just arrived from Spain with planning and purchases. Chances are what…
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Added by Ray on July 23, 2009 at 12:17pm —
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“Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you.
Charlie Brown to Snoopy”
As we face today’s challenges there will be folks whose lives will never recover for they have not learned that there is more to life than wealth and material things.…
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Added by Ray on July 22, 2009 at 8:49am —
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“Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.”
Leonardo da Vinci
I was with a friend of mine Sunday who seemed really down and worn out. To some extent I think many of us exhibit the…
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Added by Ray on July 21, 2009 at 5:16am —
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Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still.
Lou Erickson
I saw the neurosurgeon on Friday and I got good news and bad news. The good news is that I will not be getting brain surgery; the bad news is that I am not getting it because it is too risky. They will do another brain scan in December and if the aneurysm shows further weakening of the artery wall…
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Added by Ray on July 19, 2009 at 11:25pm —
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When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
Victor Frankl
It seems like I hear more and more folks talking about when things get back to normal these days. If you are like I am you are beginning to understand that we should be thinking about a new normal because things are not ever going to be the same as they were. I look around my city and see businesses, restaurants and…
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Added by Ray on July 17, 2009 at 8:13am —
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Mighty proud I am that I am able to have a spare bed for my friends.
Samuel Pepys
Sorry gang, I have been on the move since 6 AM and just got home from meetings and a luncheon and it is mid-afternoon. So again back to the archives.
~~~
Ray’s Daily first published
July 16, 2003
15 (now 21) years ago today I was at the U.S. Olympic Trials here in Indianapolis as…
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Added by Ray on July 16, 2009 at 1:31pm —
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“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
It may get tough, but it's a small price to pay for living a dream.”
Peter McWilliams
I am spending a lot more time these days with people who have seen things go worse than they ever thought would be possible. Job and savings losses coupled with staggering medical bills are hitting folks who just a few short years ago were at the top of…
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Added by Ray on July 15, 2009 at 8:16am —
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“Successful people turn everyone who can help them into sometime mentors!”
John Crosby
The other day I heard a radio report about how man had first walked on the moon forty years ago. What hit me at the time was that I had just moved to Indianapolis for a two to five year assignment when all of this was going on. The realization that I have been here this long came somewhat as a shock to me for it really does not seem…
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Added by Ray on July 14, 2009 at 9:27am —
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“One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.”
Author Unknown
One of the things I wish I had learned to do much earlier in life is how important it is not to waste time sweating the small stuff. Far too many of us get bogged down…
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Added by Ray on July 13, 2009 at 9:34am —
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Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
Peter F. Drucker
It has been more than thirty years since I had the honor of being selected to participate in the first Indianapolis Stanly K. Lacy (SKL) leadership series. The program has continued selecting some of our cities best and brightest through the years helping participants develop their leadership skills they then use to help make our…
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Added by Ray on July 10, 2009 at 7:00am —
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Today is going to be busy for me. I have an early Kiwanis meeting that I must attend after not being able to attend while I was in the hospital and recuperating at home. I also begin the series of Doctors appointments to see what is next if anything as I continue to return to normalcy. I will busy using any free time e-mailing my Central Indiana based friends to see if they can join me at a national horse show where we will be manning a food…
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Added by Ray on July 9, 2009 at 3:22am —
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Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
Mother Teresa
I spent an hour or so over coffee with one of the good guys the other day. My friend has had his share of problems. He has had several heart surgeries. He also has experienced multiple job losses over the recent years due to the restructuring of our economy. He has staggering medical bills and other debts and has yet to fail…
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Added by Ray on July 8, 2009 at 9:09am —
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“Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.”
Walt Whitman
First let me thank you all for your good wishes during my stroke recovery period, it has meant a lot and I am sure it helped. Fortunately my recovery so far has exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations. However I should warn those of you living in Indianapolis that I have been given the OK to start driving again. Since I am unsure when I’ll be…
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Added by Ray on July 7, 2009 at 11:08am —
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Maybe men are separated from each other only by the degree of their misery.
Francis Picabia
I have often said that I do not worry until it is too late, well that’s not quite true. I often worry about friends who are unhappy to the point where they are almost always miserable. Job loss, health problems, money problems, personal loss or a failed romance can often lead to depression and for some it seems like a slippery…
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Added by Ray on July 6, 2009 at 8:11am —
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