We need them
Ray Mitchell
“Real courage is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. Doing the unpopular thing because it's what you believe, and the heck with everybody.”
Justin Cronin,
I was thinking the other day about the folks I have met who have done some amazing things. I worked with a computer industry pioneer who made design breakthroughs by his ability to think beyond the norm. I have met public health pioneers who were given credit for eliminating a disease that had run rampant years ago. I have an acquaintance who has labored in the remotest and most desolate places in the world helping to improve the lives of thousands. My latest additions to this list of my personal heroes are my two friends who soon to leave to work with the peace corp.
These are folks that don’t pay much attention to those who try to dissuade them from impossible tasks. Where so many of us see insurmountable obstacles they see opportunities to make a difference. Some of my favorite achievers are the folks I know who work in the trenches, each making a difference in the lives of others. They feed the homeless, mentor troubled children, hold the hands of the infirm and bless us each day with their kindness.
Here is a poem written by Edgar Guest who reminds me of these special people.
It Couldn't Be Done
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That maybe it couldn't, but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so "till he tried."
So he buckled right in with the
trace of a grin on his face.
If he worried, he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it."
But he took off his coat and took off his hat
And the first thing he knew he'd begun it.
With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
Then take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That cannot be done, and you'll do it.
~~~
The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
Helen Keller
~~~
An elderly woman from Brooklyn decided to prepare her will and make her final requests.
She told her rabbi she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Bloomingdales.
"Bloomingdales!" the rabbi exclaimed. "Why Bloomingdales?"
"Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week."
~~~
If you find in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.
Maya Angelou
~~~
A few years ago readers of the late William Safire's "On Language" column in THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE were asked to give sports-related definitions for common words:
Superficial: A really good referee
Beleaguered: Stuck in the semi pros
Hermit: Girl's baseball glove
Saturnine: Baseball team that plays on weekends
Truncate: Tailgate party given by a compact-car owner
Wrinkle: A small hockey arena
Haiku: Signal to center from a Japanese quarterback
~~~
One discovers a friend by chance, and cannot but feel regret that 20 or 30 years of life may have been spent without the least knowledge of him.
Charles Dudley Warner
~~~
Jane says that there are seven stages to the married cold
Stage 1: Sugar Dumpling, I've really been worried about my baby girl. That's a bad sniffle, and there's no telling about these things with all the strep that's going around. I'm going to put you in the hospital for a general check-up and a good rest. I know the food's terrible, but I'm going to bring you dinner every night from Rosini's. I have it all arranged with the floor supervisor.
Stage 2: Listen, Darling, I don't like the sound of that cough. I'm going to call Doc Miller to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl just for Papa.
Stage 3: Maybe you'd better lie down, Honey. Nothing like a little rest when you feel lousy. I'll bring you something. Do we have any canned soup?
Stage 4: Now look, Dear, be sensible. After you've fed the kids, and gotten the dishes done, and the floor mopped, you'd better lie down for a while.
Stage 5: Why don't you take a couple of aspirins?
Stage 6: Why don't you just gargle or something instead of sitting around barking like a seal all evening?
Stage 7: Would you stop coughing on me? Are you trying to give me pneumonia?
~~~
The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
Chinese proverb
~~~
The first car load of Boy Scouts had left my house minutes earlier, bound for our three day wilderness trip. As I backed my own van load of Scouts out of my garage, I noticed a pair of hiking boots on the back steps, so I stopped to retrieve them.
An hour later, we caught up with the first car, which was parked at a highway rest stop. Seeing me pull up, my assistant Scout leader rolled down his window. "Your wife just called on my cell phone," he said. "She asked if you knew anything about the plumber's boots that were on your back steps."
~~~
The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.
Felix Adler
~~~
Stay well, do good work, and have fun.
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than fifteen 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 rayk...@gmail.com. Back issues are posted at http://raykiwsp.wordpress.com/ currently there are more than 2000 readers from around the world.
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