Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Aug 24 2022 11:32 AM

  Wednesday, August 24, 2022

  Richness and variety

  There are plenty of places, near and far, you’ve never been to. Choose one and pay it a visit.

  There are all sorts of people you have never met. Make it your business to get to know one of them.

  Life is filled with points of view you’ve never considered, disciplines you don’t understand. Devote some meaningful time to explore a few of them.

  Is it worth even a few minutes to hear someone express the same opinion for the one hundred and forty seventh time? See if you can spend those minutes instead being surprised anew by the richness and variety of life.

  What’s along the road you’ve never walked down? What enjoyable and fulfilling experiences do you not even know you’re missing?

  Don’t let your spirit be imprisoned by the seduction of all that’s comfortable and familiar. Though you’ll never experience all there is to experience, you can always keep moving in that rewarding direction.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Aug 25 2022 8:18 AM

  Thursday, August 25, 2022

  Ownership of your attitude

  What makes you feel better, what makes you feel worse? Could it be you, and how you choose to see life, to live life?

  In the exact same situation, one person can be ecstatic and another person miserable. That’s pretty conclusive proof that attitude matters more than circumstance.

  Maybe it is soothing to imagine events that conspired against you could soon turn around and come to your rescue. But it’s far more empowering to stand up and take responsibility.

  Do you really need to indulge in this or that to feel better, or run away and hide? Or could you find it in yourself to elevate your attitude right where you are, as you are?

  Yes, life is too much one way and not enough another way, unfair, oppressive, troublesome and complicated. But rather than being resentful and dismayed, what if you were inspired and energized by the positive possibilities?

  Responsibility is there for the taking. See what happens when you let go of excuses and take ownership of your attitude.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Aug 26 2022 7:51 AM

  Friday, August 26, 2022

  Do what must be done

  Don’t avoid it, or worry about it, or construct elaborate excuses. Just go ahead and do what must be done.

  Liberate yourself from self-imposed privation, disillusion, and lethargy. Energize your spirit, activate your skills, shake off the guilt and hesitation, and do what must be done.

  Reward yourself with the fulfilling experience of being an active participant in your world, your life, your forward progress. Invigorate your awareness of all the good things that are possible by watching yourself as you make a real difference.

  Today’s clock is already ticking away. Before another moment vanishes forever, begin to transform the fleeting time into enduring value.

  Do what you know are the essential, beneficial, enriching things to do. Do what you are certain you would regret if you failed to do it.

  Grab the opportunity of right now by pushing yourself into action. Live life in the most meaningful and rewarding way possible by doing what must be done.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Sat, Aug 27 2022 10:42 AM

  Saturday, August 27, 2022

  Put your values into action

  The most powerful argument is not an argument at all. The most powerful argument is a good and fulfilling life.

  The values and opinions you preach about will mostly just annoy people. Yet the positive results you achieve will cause those same people to seek you out.

  Anybody can say anything, can scold, speculate, theorize, and make all sorts of fantastic promises. Yet what really matters is what you achieve, the difference you make in your own life and the lives of others.

  There’s something you can do today to make tomorrow better than it otherwise would have been. You have the opportunity to put your values into action rather than just putting them into words.

  Yes, what you say can be powerful. But it has to align with what you do, or your words ring hollow and meaningless.

  Give more than lip service to what you care about. Give your time, your resources, your continuing effort, and embed your values deeply into life by the way you live.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Mon, Aug 29 2022 11:39 AM

  Monday, August 29, 2022

  Go deep

  Dwell on a thing of substance. Spend more than a few seconds, more than a few minutes, in meaningful focus.

  Pick a place where you can dive deeply into some specific aspect of life, and see how deep you can go. Find out how long you can stay there.

  Do you seek a meaningful connections to life, to reality, to your own nature, to the lives of others? Then you must invest time and effort in those connections.

  If you flitter endlessly from this new thing to the next new thing, what does that accomplish? It fills you with content but empties you of context, of purpose, of meaning.

  It’s great to discover new places, meet new people, learn and experience new things. But if you immediately abandon them all in the hopes of getting more, what’s the point?

  Embrace novelty, but not to such an extent that your life has no depth. Go deep, and make enduring connections with knowledge, with people, with experience, with what is real.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Tue, Aug 30 2022 8:10 AM

  Tuesday, August 30, 2022

  Actively making life better

  Today you can be the bright point in someone’s day, merely by being kind and considerate. Think about what a powerful and fortunate position that is to be in.

  You can embark on a journey of discovery and wonder without ever venturing outside your neighborhood. You can learn a hundred new things today, tomorrow, every day, and become richer for it.

  You have the opportunity to grow stronger in body, mind, and spirit. You possess the ability to connect with all sorts of people who can add great treasure to your experience of life.

  Some days you might feel like there’s nothing you can do. On those days that feeling is, for whatever reason, sorely mistaken.

  For there is always much good you can do. And it’s essential to keep that in mind.

  Sure, things haven’t gone your way, life is difficult and even painful, yet you still have many good options. Choose one, or several, and benefit from the experience of actively making life better.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Aug 31 2022 5:46 AM

  Wednesday, August 31, 2022

  What you can and cannot do

  You can’t do everything, but you can do something. You can’t change the whole world, but you can make a difference.

  It’s frustrating when you’re weighed down and impeded by factors far beyond your control. The more you focus on those immovable obstacles, the more frustrated you become.

  So make the choice to shift your focus. Turn your thoughts away from what you can’t do, and toward what you can do.

  No, the world is certainly not perfect, but then neither are you. And though you can’t make much of a dent in the outside world, there are lots of ways to improve yourself, your surroundings, your opportunities.

  Sure, outside forces are holding you back, but what might you be doing to also hold yourself back? And what steps could you take to remove those self-imposed obstacles?

  Re-direct the energy of your frustration into positive, purposeful activity to create meaningful improvements. And by doing so you’ll better position yourself for whatever difficulties life throws at you.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• craigswan 31,821 Posts

  Wed, Aug 31 2022 5:57 AM

  Jeez marilyn . The more i read this past week the more i feel you know me so well .

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Sep 1 2022 8:37 AM

  craigswan:

  Jeez marilyn . The more i read this past week the more i feel you know me so well .

  Hi Craig,

  Nice of you to stop by! 

  My name is Marion though and not Marilyn, but don't worry I have been called that before.  :-)

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Sep 1 2022 8:37 AM

  Thursday, September 1, 2022

  One little change

  One healthy, positive habit leads to other healthy, positive habits. And those additional habits, in turn, reinforce the original habit.

  A small improvement in your trajectory enables you to notice, appreciate, and implement other improvements. In this way, minor changes put you on the path to major gains.

  The experience of making a real and positive difference, no matter its size, activates in you the desire to do it again. Accomplishment feels good, and that makes you eager for more.

  Big, ambitious goals are admirable, yet they can also be intimidating. Before setting off to change the whole world, it’s a good idea to accumulate experience improving your own little corner of it.

  Ask yourself, what’s the smallest improvement you can make in your life that you’ll actually stick with? What positive habit can you add right now that you’ll continue to practice day after day, month after month?

  Identify a small but deeply meaningful change you can make in your trajectory, and make it. Over time, that small change has the power to lead you toward greatly improved outcomes.

   

  — Ralph Marston