Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Tue, Mar 15 2022 8:09 AM

  Tuesday, March 15, 2022

  Make it good

  You don’t have to get it perfect today. Give yourself permission to be satisfied with your best.

  You don’t have to get to everything on your list before lunchtime. Allow yourself to do what you’re able to do, as you can do it.

  You don’t have to be right about everything. Admit when you’ve been wrong and correct your mistakes.

  You don’t have to be all things to all people. Know who you are, know what makes sense for you, and stick with that.

  You don’t have to impress and amaze the world with everything you do. Give yourself the freedom to be the authentic person you are, skilled, flawed, hopeful, and realistic.

  Live life not as some idealized fantasy but as the genuine experience of whatever comes your way. Embrace each moment for what it is and you’ll find you have everything you need to make it good.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Mar 16 2022 11:17 AM

  Wednesday, March 16, 2022

  Honest with yourself

  Accept nothing less than complete honesty from yourself. You deserve it from yourself, and you owe it to yourself.

  When you seek to deceive yourself, your effort fails on both sides of the transaction. As deceiver and as deceived, you end up with nothing of any value.

  Let yourself know what you need to know, to see what is there to see. Allow yourself to feel what you must feel.

  As difficult as it may be to deal with truth, it’s better than the alternative. Choose to build your strength in truth rather than watching it be chipped away by falsehood.

  Do not treat lightly the wisdom you’ve spent your life accumulating. Listen to it, consider it, act on it, with respect and gratitude.

  Be honest with those who trust you, who depend on you, who have given so much to you, who matter to you. That includes, especially, yourself.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Mar 17 2022 8:32 AM

  Thursday, March 17, 2022

  Today

  Today is a big deal. Give it the respect, attention, focus and effort it deserves.

  What you do today makes a difference. What you do today can create value that endures long after the day is over.

  It might be tempting to delay your actions until things get better. But today you have the opportunity to actually make things better.

  That’s an opportunity not to be wasted. Seize upon it, act upon it now, while you can.

  Today is far from perfect. Yet it’s plenty good enough for you to make great use of.

  Whatever you’ve done in the past, whatever plans you have for the future, today is here right now for you. Remind yourself what a big deal that is, and act accordingly.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Mar 18 2022 10:08 AM

  Friday, March 18, 2022

  Do what you’ve been talking about

  When you have a choice between talking about what you’re going to do and doing it, the best option is clear. Just go ahead and do it.

  Everyone knows talk is not action. That’s why no one pays much attention to what you say, no matter how loudly or colorfully you say it.

  Lots of people pay attention to what you do. That’s especially true when what you do makes a difference in their lives.

  Some folks might believe what you say, but many will not. Yet what you do is impossible to ignore or deny.

  If your words are not having sufficient impact, put some positive action behind them. Better yet, skip the words and go straight to the action.

  Don’t let yourself be impressed by your own empty words, because no one else will be. Do what you’ve been talking about instead of continuing to talk about what you’re planning to do.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Sat, Mar 19 2022 10:58 AM

  Saturday, March 19, 2022

  What will other people think?

  Do you want to think more creatively? Then stop thinking so much about what other people would think.

  The most compelling creative ideas will resonate deeply with some people, and they will offend other people. It’s pretty much impossible to have one without the other.

  Your best choice is to base your creativity on what is true, useful, and authentic to you. Let others shoulder full responsibility for what it means to them.

  What will other people think? They will think what they think, regardless of how much or how little you anticipate it or try to influence it.

  Boldly express who you are, how you feel, what you believe. Offer sincere value, and allow it to be accepted as it will be accepted.

  Put your focus on creating according to your highest and best impulses. Confidently know that it’s okay for everyone else to make of it what they will.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Mon, Mar 21 2022 9:21 AM

  Monday, March 21, 2022

  Earn the pleasure

  The good times do not last. And that’s precisely why they are so good.

  Pleasure has no meaning if it’s the only thing you know. Those times in between the good times are what make the good times enjoyable.

  When the party is over, go to bed. When the vacation comes to an end, unpack, do the wash, go back to the office.

  Good times will come again, soon enough. In the meantime, live your life, do your work, earn the pleasure that is to come.

  Even the most enjoyable experience you could imagine would become drudgery if it never ended. Keep life enjoyable by allowing the joys time to renew and refresh.

  Good times end, yet more will come. Bide your time, earn the pleasure, and make the enjoyment even better next time.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Tue, Mar 22 2022 7:02 AM

  Tuesday, March 22, 2022

  Truly and courageously you

  Don’t bother with worrying about what you are expected to want. Dig deep into your awareness and understand what you really do want.

  It’s easy to let yourself be told what you should do. Yet life’s richness comes from the freedom and responsibility of deciding for yourself what’s best to do.

  You will make mistakes and you will own those mistakes. And by so doing you will also, with considerable effort, follow an authentic way forward.

  You know that your purpose is not to check off the boxes on someone else’s list. Your purpose is to create a unique experience of life.

  Yes, there is much value you can exchange with others. Yet that value comes from living in truth as you know it, not from blind obedience or imitation in either direction.

  Give to all of life the benefit of your unique, authentic perspective. Enrich yourself and all those around you by being truly and courageously you.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Mar 23 2022 8:33 AM

  Wednesday, March 23, 2022

  Power in the little things

  Little things done often can be more effective than big things done occasionally. Make a little positive difference enough times and you’ll soon discover you’ve made a big difference.

  A small kindness is a little thing you always have the opportunity to offer. Do it a hundred times, or a thousand, and you’ll change your life, as well as the lives of others, for the better.

  Little things are simple, easy, accessible, repeatable. Little things give you a continuing way to invest in the goodness of life.

  Little things provide a way to take action without the need for elaborate planning or scarce resources. And the more action you take, the more value you create, the more fulfillment you experience.

  Look around eagerly with kindness, respect, understanding and good cheer. Notice all the little things you can do today.

  Remind yourself often to avail yourself of the little things. And watch as life grows in richness and meaning by the minute.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Mar 25 2022 11:11 AM

  Friday, March 25, 2022

  Absurdity

  Absurdity can be compelling, convincing, and certainly entertaining. Yet if something is too good to be true, too much on point to be true, or too awful to be true, it’s probably not true.

  Take care not to make decisions too quickly based on what’s extreme, on what’s absurd. Give the absurdities a look if you must, but make it a wary and detached look.

  Desperately wanting something to be true doesn’t make it true. Absurdity can promise to validate your viewpoint, or easily solve your problem, yet its promises are empty ones.

  It can be hard to know who or what to believe. Yet when what you’re being told is absurd on its face, you can be certain you’re not getting the full picture.

  By design, absurdity draws you in, plays on your emotions, fires your passion. With all that happening, remind yourself there’s a good chance someone has set out to manipulate you.

  Rather than jumping to the conclusions implied by cheap absurdities, seek a deeper understanding. Live and act based on what makes good sense rather than on those absurd, sensational things that don’t.

   

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Sat, Mar 26 2022 7:59 AM

  Saturday, March 26, 2022

  Beneath the surface

  Appearance matters. What matters even more is the substance upon which the appearance is based.

  The way you say what you say is important. Of much greater importance is the truth in what you say.

  Pay attention to how things look, to how your ideas come across. Pay more attention and put the bulk of your energy into the quality and integrity of your thoughts and ideas.

  Be sure to get the finishing touches right. Be even more diligent about getting the underlying facts, and work, and structure right.

  What most people see is what’s on the surface. Yet what determines your quality of life is the amount of truth and goodness that exist beneath the surface.

  Offer a good and appealing face to the world. And behind that face, fill your life with depth, with substance, with understanding.

   

  — Ralph Marston