November 2012 Blog Posts (19)

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

Mother Teresa

I have recently come to understand that you can be homeless even if you have a place to live. Home is more than just a physical structure, it is a place where people gather, families share, loved ones nurture, friends visit and memories are made. But these days more and more folks live in isolation, many no longer have the traditional relationships of the past. Too many people seem…

Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it.

Samuel Butler

One of the things I enjoy these days is the discovery of a new source of wisdom. Many of these discoveries are made by following a link provided by a reader of our Daily. I have also learned in the process that we who have had years of experience are not necessarily as smart as we think we are and that many of the young people of today are far more smarter than we think they are. In…

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

Because of some of my activities I often get a chance to talk with folks one on one. Many times our relationship evolves to the point where they share their concerns and much too often I learn that they are lonesome. As the years go by many close friends have moved on, children move away, job change or retirement has broken the link they had with workplace friends and…

"We can go through our whole lives worrying about our future happiness, and totally miss where true peace lives- right here, right now."

Peter Russell

I know I have written a lot about being grateful lately but it is only because I am so grateful for all I have been given. It is only lately that I have understood that the events that have triggered my gratefulness these days have always been there but were mostly overlooked. I am pleased that I have finally found out how much…

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections

Chinese Proverb

I am glad I made peace long ago with the fact I am far from perfect. I have made more than my fair share of mistakes, blunders and errors in my lifetime. Few purposely and unfortunately early in life the regrets often lingered far too long. Most of my mistakes I would have done differently if I could but life does not permit do-overs so the most I could do was make apologies when appropriate,…

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

Thornton Wilder

For the last couple of days the Daily talked about thankfulness and gratitude in anticipation of our Thanksgiving Day national holiday tomorrow. I hope you have as much to be thankful for as I do and not just because we are so much better off than millions of others but also because we appreciate those who contribute so much to our wellbeing. We are better fed, better…

I truly appreciate you. You really made this day special.

It is hard for me to realize that Ray’s Daily is now in its twelfth year of publication. People sometimes ask why I do it and my standard response is that doing it requires me to think about my life, our world and all the good things around us. While that is truly how I feel I also am rewarded by the new friends and contacts that I have made over the years through the Daily. Often I am contacted by folks who I don’t know asking…

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

Marcel Proust

In my country we will be celebrating our Thanksgiving Holiday in a few days. It is our annual opportunity to inventory the good things in our lives and to take time to appreciate all we have, especially when we realize that far too many have little or nothing. I hope though that besides being thankful we will also be grateful, grateful for having those we…

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back

Arthur Rubinstein.

Not long ago I stumbled across the Mark and Angel Hack Life blog and I am really glad I did. They offer some terrific insights. I especially liked todays since they subscribe to the view that you should look closly at what may be stealing happiness from your life and then when you find it, run! Well maybe not run but if you can recognize it when you see it you can work to avoid it. Like I said the…

“It is through cooperation, rather than conflict, that your greatest successes will be derived”

I was on a field trip to Ohio yesterday and did not return until late last night and had an early meeting this morning. I did not even make it to the Gym for my daily exercise. I hope you’ll understand why another reprint.

Ray’s Daily first published on November 15, 2007

We just had a local election in my city and the incumbents lost in what appeared to be a tax protest. Many in…

“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”

Edith Wharton

If you are like I am you hear a lot of folks complain about their lives. I hear things like “is this all there is,” or “I am just not enjoying my job anymore,” or “I just never have any fun,” the list goes on and on. The thing that concerns me is that so many just seem to accept their fate and live in the same old…

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Christopher Robin to Pooh

I have often written that I believe that our world exists to a large extent in how we look at it. It is something like semi-selective vision. If most of what we chose to see is negative our would will not be very inviting, but if we make sure we see all that is positive and bring what we see into balance with the negative we get a…

We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.

Roderick Thorp

One of my greatest concerns in recent years has been how easy it is for some people I spend time with to give up on themselves. Sometimes they sink even deeper into depression because they spend so much of their time agonizing over the past instead of searching for ways to pull themselves back up.

Recently it dawned on me that people like me may…

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

Ernest Hemingway

I was having breakfast with a friend the other day and we talked about how some people seem to be happier and more successful than most of us. He shared a little bit of his dreams which were descriptions of reaching a goal without much thought about the journey that would be required to get there. As the years have gone by it has become more obvious to me that…

Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay.

Sallust

Our elections are over and now we will see what kind of a people we are. We have monumental issues that must be quickly resolved and if they are not we will all pay a terrible price. If we continue the polarizing dissonance that has created absolute failure to work on our debt, our wars, our economy I am afraid we will be driven to even more difficult times. As I thought about what is ahead I realized…

“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”

Thomas Jefferson

At last, it is finally here, our National Election Day. I am so glad that the campaigns will soon be over and the inundation of vitriolic mail and constant phone calls as well as the…

“Renew, release, let go. Yesterday’s gone. There’s nothing you can do to bring it back. You can’t “should’ve” done something. You can only DO something. Renew yourself. Release that attachment. Today is a new day!”

Steve Maraboli,

I have been rambling on a lot lately about not waiting to get more out of life than we are now.…

Follow your dreams. Just make sure to have fun too.

Chris Brown

Here we go another weekend. I hope you will decide to use it to reward yourself and have some fun. I have found that I have benefited by not worrying too much about how I look or what others are going to think about how I…

Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.

Mario Fernandez

Can you believe it, November already. Our many friends in the eastern part of the US face weeks if not months to get their lives back in order after the monstrous storms and will never forget October. Let us hope that November treats them…