Here's a Thought with Jay Daniels

Do you often feel that your work is in vain? Do you feel that no difference is being made because of your efforts? Perhaps it is all in how we view "success." It was 2007. The first time I was out on my own. I was living a couple of hours away from my hometown and was beginning the first of many exciting chapters in life. After settling at my new home and new job, I decided to go looking for a home church. I soon settled on a church not far from my home. It was mainly the pipe organ and traditional church music that led me to join. I will say that my criteria for church attendance has changed a bit since then! Not long after joining, I found myself attending a business meeting after the evening service. One of the discussion topics concerned the 8:30AM "early" service on Sundays. This was an identical, blended service to the 11:00AM meeting; it was just held at an earlier time for those unable to come at 11. The question was raised, "Should we continue h...

Music is an interactive art form. Not only are you able to hear and take in a performance, but you are also able to participate by singing, humming, or dancing. When it comes to senior citizens, they love to participate in musical programs. In fact, at 99% of my performances, the seniors will sing along with just about every song. Yet, at a recent show in Potomac Falls, VA, I was witness to something that will remain with me for years to come. It was a relatively large crowd at my performance this past Friday at Falcon’s Landing. Since last year, I have hosted a number of “Simply Timeless” programs. This day, however, a number of seniors had the company of their children and grandchildren. As the program continued, I moved into a highlight of songs written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. Then I began to sing “Moon River.” The words went something like this...”Moon River, wider than a mile. I’m crossing you in style someday.” I then looked out and saw a daughter singing th...

For the past couple of posts, I've offered thoughts on opportunities - taking the right opportunities and appreciating big and small opportunities. During these thoughts, I want us to think about how we sometimes miss opportunities. How many of you drive while constantly looking in your rearview mirror? If you answered yes, please tell me where you normally drive, and I will avoid that area! Seriously, folks, it'd be foolish to think that we can move forward while constantly looking back. Let me put this into perspective. Oft times, the only person holding us back is ourselves. For instance... We often dwell on those "what if's" in life. What if I had made that decision differently? What if I had told that person how I really felt? What if I had actually taken the time to think things through? We spend so much time contemplating over the failures of yesterday that we prevent ourselves from seeing the opportunities of tomorrow. We remain so stuck in the past th...

My dad has been a plumber for decades. He's done so many piping re-fits and water heater installs that he could very likely do these same jobs in his sleep. When I was a little kid, he always hoped that I would follow in his footsteps. Unfortunately, radio and music became my professional aspirations from an early point in life. In 2008, however, I did work with him as a plumber's assistant while living in Louisa. While I worked with Dad, we stayed busy every single day. At that time, he was probably the busiest plumber in Louisa County. We were happy to take most of the jobs that came our way - jobs both big and small. One day I asked him why we would spend so much time on these small, "odd" jobs... ya know, the jobs where a faucet strainer needs to be cleaned out or a toilet's wax seal needs to be replaced. At that time in my life, it just didn't seem worth our time and energy. It was on that day that Dad taught me a valuable lesson. He said, "Son, ...

Several years ago, an older friend of mine asked me this question, "Jay, do you know who to seek out when you need something done?" "Who?" I said. He then replied, "If you want something done, and you want it done right, you give it to the busiest person that you know." I suppose what he meant is that some people are busy with multiple projects because they do them well. On the flip side, however, can being busy negatively impact our quality of work? It's hard to say no, isn't it? I suppose we feel that when someone dear to us asks for our help, we feel a sort of obligation to them. We just can't say no. But is it healthy to take on more than we can handle? I mean, there's only but so much time in a day, right? Last year, my friend Karen looked at me and said, "Remember, Jay. 'No' is a complete sentence." Those words have stuck with me ever since. I try to think of it like this. We can't truly take care of others u...

I always enjoy a good discussion about life. Sometimes these discussions revolve around social issues, while other times these discussions revolve around politics or religion. We sometimes fear deep, thoughtful discussions because we feel that we might disagree on some things. For many, it's not easy to hold a discussion while disagreeing with the other party. As children, we are often raised with a certain set of values. We take them at face value because that is all that we know. Yet as we get older, we often begin to ask questions... questions about why things happen and so on. Of course, when I was a kid asking my parents why we couldn't go to McDonald's, the response was often, "Because I said so." As adults, however, we need a little more than that. Too often we are unable to defend our beliefs and opinions because we really don't know why we value them; we just do. The greatest blessing in this life is the ability of understand the "why" o...

It was such a joy to be back with the residents of Luther Crest in Allentown, PA, last night. Whether through their laughter or joining in singing, they always have a way of making me smile. In fact, I was greatly honored when one of the residents said, "Jay has quickly become a regular performer here at Luther Crest." It's only because of their continued patronage and appreciation that I can continue to perform in the Queen City of Allentown, PA. Before my show, a couple came up to me with a special request. "Jay," the husband said, "do you have a waltz in your set? My wife and I would like to dance tonight." Incidentally, being a "Stage and Screen" program, I did have one waltz in the program - Mancini and Mercer's "Moon River." At about 7:20, I began to play the opening strains of that familiar melody from "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Sure enough, the married couple made their way to the dance floor between the s...

It's been awfully cold this season throughout the mid-Atlantic, and after several weeks of sub-freezing temperatures, we're finally beginning to experience the "January Thaw." Yet, throughout the region there are still signs that we are still in the middle of winter. I was driving home from near Hazelton, PA. As I continued south on Interstate 81, the highway began to curve around one hill after another. At one point, the road passed directly between two rock faces. You could see where water had once flowed down the side of the rock face. Yet, at that moment, those once-flowing streams were now frozen ice sculptures. In fact, there were dozens of the frozen streams dotted along the hills. As I gazed at their beauty, I had this startling thought. Have you ever wanted to stop the hands of time? Let's be honest. I feel that each of us have, at one time or another, had an experience so wonderful that we never wanted it to end. Tonight, think of those moments in li...

"You're only as wise as the company you keep." Last night, I had the privilege of performing at  Edenwald Retirement Community  in Towson, MD. This was my fifth performance there, and I was truly happy to be back again.  As is customary, I remained after the show to shake hands and speak with the attendees. I heard comments like, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world" and "Your music has brought back so many memories."  The highest compliment I could receive came from a lady who has attended most of my performances at Edenwald. She came up to me and said, "Jay, the arrangements of your selections were superb... just wonderful. The patter in between your songs just fit perfectly." Then she said something that I won't soon forget. "And you know, Jay, I think you gave us a couple pearls of wisdom to think about. Thank you ever so much." I then replied to her, "I'm only as wise as the company that I...