Re: Daily Motivation

• AlaskanDame 19,629 Posts

  Sat, Nov 30 2024 11:56 AM

  “More gratitude is always a good thing. Today [Every day] is a great day to remember that.”

• craigswan 32,028 Posts

  Sat, Nov 30 2024 2:31 PM

  Marion - Could you say a wee prayer for my big sister who has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer . Not good . - First my brother and now my sister .

• Ladychipper 23,115 Posts

  Sat, Nov 30 2024 3:36 PM

  I am so sorry to hear this Craig. 

  I will keep your sister in my prayers and the family as well. 

   

• Ladychipper 23,115 Posts

  Mon, Dec 2 2024 11:17 AM

  Monday, December 2, 2024

  Stand firm

  Just as waves crash continually on a rocky shore, so do life’s events repeatedly drive themselves into your awareness. Stand firm, remain whole, constant in your values and intentions.

  Feel the influence of all that happens, seek to comprehend and understand the ups and downs of each moment. Armed with an increasingly enlightened perspective, do what you know is good and right to do.

  Some days the going will require more effort, other days not as much. Yet what matters most is not what you must expend, but how firmly you stay pointed in your chosen direction.

  Rather than being dissuaded by the challenges, know that you can be inspired and energized by them. Instead of being tempted by meaningless distractions, seize the opportunities to make meaningful progress.

  Maintain your integrity, keep your focus. What you have found to be important remains important, regardless of any tempest that swirls around you.

  Stand firm in your commitment to what is good and true, unswayed by the dramas and whims that quickly come and go. Stand firm and live by intention, ever steady in the service of what truly matters.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,115 Posts

  Tue, Dec 3 2024 8:44 AM

  Tuesday, December 3, 2024

  Discretionary time

  After fulfilling the necessary tasks and obligations, consider how you’re making use of your discretionary time. Look for activities and priorities that enhance and affirm your life, and all of life.

  It’s simple to know whether you’re being productive or not based on the results you obtain. It’s a good bit more subjective to determine whether you’re creating genuine fulfillment in your life.

  Nonetheless, years of experience have shown you what adds meaningful substance to your existence and what doesn’t. Pay attention, and with your discretionary time do more of whatever injects real richness into your world.

  What was enjoyable before is usually enjoyable again. But be careful not to get into such a pleasant, comfortable rut that the joy loses all its essence.

  Deepen your fulfillment by expanding the territory in which you experience it. Make life’s goodness even more valuable by using it to bring new goodness into being.

  With the time that’s yours to schedule and utilize, enrich your life and the lives around you. Live life at its best by continuing to make it even better.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• AlaskanDame 19,629 Posts

  Wed, Dec 4 2024 10:16 AM

  Oh, that’s so good about discretionary time.  I particularly like the reminder to not only enrich my life but my world, “all life” and “the lives around you.”   Such can be very fulfilling, indeed… (and in deed).

• Ladychipper 23,115 Posts

  Wed, Dec 4 2024 12:14 PM

  Amen to this sister!  Hopefully I can say that in here. 

  It is true that it is better to give then to get, so fulfilling  

  Take good care AKD!!

• Ladychipper 23,115 Posts

  Wed, Dec 4 2024 12:16 PM

  Wednesday, December 4, 2024

  Not quite perfect

  Go with a good option, but don’t waste a lot of time holding out for the perfect option. Make the best choice available to you, and make it work.

  Yes, you might realize later that an alternative direction would have made things easier, more profitable, more effective. That’s good to know, but don’t let that realization prevent you from moving forward again.

  Perfection is a great ideal but a lousy tactic. Go with what you have when you have it, even if it’s not quite perfect.

  If conditions or options or priorities change, adjust to the best of your ability. Then keep going, with the time, resources, and knowledge you have available.

  Work yourself in the direction of perfection without making yourself dependent on it. Know with confidence that you can continue to make improvements.

  Zero in on a good option, putting your time, your skill, and your effort into it. Even if you never achieve perfection, there’s plenty of good you can do.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• AlaskanDame 19,629 Posts

  Wed, Dec 4 2024 9:52 PM

  Well, I never aim at "perfection," but I do sometimes get stymied by aiming for as good as I can get, you know. . . .just to be a responsible steward or give others a happy time . . . whether it's in vacation planning (which hotel, which package of fun, which whatever, when to buy tickets for best price, etc.) or something more significant such as which of many volunteer opportunities to try for best fit.  And let's not even get into my domestic chores "to do" list and prioritizing that.  Best to just get started somewhere on that one!

• Ladychipper 23,115 Posts

  Thu, Dec 5 2024 6:49 AM

  Thursday, December 5, 2024

  Be selective

  What you have is made special by what you don’t have. For an experience to be memorable it must be surrounded by moments that are ordinary.

  If you were to feast every day there would be no such thing as a feast. The deprivation, the restraint, the empty space, give meaning to the substance, to the abundance.

  When you have everything you have nothing. If you cram stuff into every available cubic inch you’ve rendered it all inaccessible.

  Allow for plenty of empty spaces between possessions, between experiences, between encounters and relationships. Those empty spaces are where you make meaningful use of all you have.

  Live at a scale that enables your interest, your gratitude, your appreciation, and your effectiveness. Keep in mind that too much can be just as undesirable as too little.

  Give yourself plenty to care about, but not so much that caring is impossible. Be selective, seek balance, and live well.

   

  — Ralph Marston