Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Aug 16 2023 12:20 PM

  Wednesday, August 16, 2023

  Full goodness of right now

  No matter the situation, you can always come up with a reason to be unhappy, or worried, anxious, fearful. And because those negative emotions are always available, always possible, you never have to hold on to them.

  You become uptight because you anticipate certain difficulties or discomforts that are likely to arise in the near future. Yet the reality of right now is just fine, and you have the opportunity to experience a peaceful and productive moment.

  Imagine letting go of all anxieties about the future and all resentments about the past. Consider how liberating that is.

  Your time is right now. Give to this time, and to yourself, the benefit of your full awareness, uncorrupted by worries, fears, or angers.

  You are wise to be concerned about potential troubles that loom just over the horizon. And yet in this moment that’s now yours, you have the opportunity to strengthen and fortify yourself.

  Allow the full goodness of right now, unperturbed by what has been, by what might be. Now, feel your strength, your purpose, your resilience, your ability, and carry it all forward to successfully meet whatever may come.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Aug 17 2023 9:04 AM

  Thursday, August 17, 2023

  Action and enjoyment

  Enjoyment is optional. Action is not.

  You can get the work done, and benefit from it, without enjoying it. But you cannot enjoy the work, nor can you benefit from it, without actually doing it.

  It’s great when you can enjoy what you’re doing, but it’s not an absolute necessity. If you have to choose between action and enjoyment, choose action.

  Enjoyment can be a big help in getting things done, yet enjoyment alone is not sufficient. By all means let yourself enjoy your work as you can, but don’t make enjoyment your top priority.

  Get in the habit of taking action even when it’s not enjoyable. Eventually your work will create much more enjoyment than any you might have missed along the way.

  Make action your top priority and enjoyment a desirable bonus when it comes. That’s what will maximize both the level of achievement and the level of enjoyment in your life.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Aug 18 2023 11:55 AM

  Friday, August 18, 2023

  Ideal day

  It would be nice to live your ideal day, but that’s probably not the one you have right now. What you have is the day that’s here.

  And although today may fall short of perfection, it’s a perfectly good opportunity to add value, meaning and substance to life. It’s a day you can fill with the best you have.

  Merely wishing for a different set of circumstances won’t accomplish anything at this point. Instead, use your energy to step forward and work with this day as it is.

  The way today ends has the potential to be a whole lot better than the way it began. Right now you’re in position to make that happen.

  Reflect for a moment on how today would be if it were indeed your ideal day. Then choose one aspect of that vision and do what’s necessary to bring it to life.

  Today is not ideal, and yet that’s precisely the point of living it. Because you have the chance, and the ability, to push this day in an ideal direction.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Sat, Aug 19 2023 12:00 PM

  Saturday, August 19, 2023

  World of truth

  There is a world where plenty of people appreciate the good work you and others do. There is a world where excellence and responsibility are valued over greed and indolence.

  There is a world where beauty is admired, achievement is respected, and freedom is cherished. There is a world where people are grateful for the opportunity to make a difference, and exercise that opportunity all the time.

  Where is that world? It is all around you.

  It is in the actual, day-to-day lives that regular people live in accordance with objective reality. It exists far away from the fantasy realm of celebrities, politicians, self-proclaimed experts, and professional scolds.

  It is a world where hope, faith, and authenticity are essential parts of each day’s experience. It is a world with a bright and positive future, where goodness works to create more goodness, where kindness is a real and prominent thing.

  Though certainly not perfect, it’s a world that’s grown increasingly fulfilling for a long time, and will continue to do so. It’s a world that insists on truth, no matter how difficult, and that makes it a very good place to live.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2023 8:35 AM

  Monday, August 21, 2023

  Experience adventure

  In countless ways you experience adventure. What adventure are you embarking upon today?

  Is it the adventure of working yourself into top physical condition? Or perhaps it’s the adventure of supporting people as they heal and recover from trauma and injury.

  Is your adventure in working to make a process or an organization more effective and productive? Maybe it’s leading a group to laughter and joy.

  The opportunities for adventure are everywhere. Living with an adventurous spirit is essential to keeping life going and revealing its most profound purposes.

  Adventure is so much more than just some faraway dream. Adventure is key to how you successfully deal with reality.

  Life offers it to you and you owe it to life. Live the adventure every day.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Tue, Aug 22 2023 11:49 AM

  Tuesday, August 22, 2023

  Struggle

  You struggle to understand. And that struggle gives you profound, indisputable ownership of whatever understanding you acquire.

  Struggle is unpleasant. That does not mean it is futile.

  Struggle is a difficult, draining experience, and from that experience can come great value. In times of struggle you discover and develop your strength by putting that strength to a meaningful test.

  Struggle is unfair, uncomfortable, inconvenient, dangerous, painful, frustrating. Get yourself through the struggle and you have something real, something consequential, something that empowers every corner of your life.

  You don’t always choose your struggles. Yet you always have the choice as to how you face them and what you do with them.

  Within life’s greatest struggles are life’s greatest victories. Take them as they come, give your best, and seek to transform your struggles into a life of meaning, of purpose, of consequence.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Aug 23 2023 9:14 AM

  Wednesday, August 23, 2023

  Get involved

  The party has now begun. It’s your time to join the fun.

  The sun just came up on a new day. Plenty of good things are possible, many of them are starting to happen.

  It’s somewhat useful to speculate about what might be, or might have been. What’s much more valuable is to jump right in and get involved, right now.

  When you participate you’re sure to encounter awkward moments, inconvenience, frustration. Go ahead, participate anyway, with all you have, being exactly and honestly who you are.

  Get involved, commit yourself, live like you mean it. Make it your intention to make something rich and rewarding with the time in front of you.

  The biggest regrets are for opportunities missed. Don’t miss this one that’s here for you now.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Aug 24 2023 8:51 AM

  Thursday, August 24, 2023

  Perspectives

  Take a close and thoughtful look at the situation you’re in. Then fly up in the sky and look again, this time from forty thousand feet.

  Experience yourself in the picture. Then envision yourself out of the picture and see it from various perspectives that are not yours.

  You are important to you, and your immediate surroundings are important to you. But you are not the center of the universe, and it’s in your best interest to keep that always in mind.

  How will your ideas, your plans, your actions, your words affect all the other people they touch? How can you tailor your undertakings to create maximum value for the most people?

  Every dilemma, every opportunity, every conflict, every enterprise looks one way when you’re in it and another way from outside. Seek to understand and to find value in those varying views.

  Perspectives sharpen your insight and boost your effectiveness. Get as many of them as you can.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Aug 25 2023 8:59 AM

  Friday, August 25, 2023

  As it all unfolds

  You’d like to find out how the story ends. But if you simply skip to the end, you miss the heart of that story.

  It’s good to have matters resolved. Yet it takes time to happen, and you don’t want to ignore everything else in your life during that time.

  When you’ve made a decision, or set a process in motion, give yourself time, give life time to let the results emerge. You’ll gain nothing by hovering uselessly around the oven while the cake is baking.

  Do what you can, when you can, to move the process along. And when you’ve done all there is to do for the moment, point your focus elsewhere.

  Your time, effort, and attention have great potential value. Invest them where that value can be realized.

  With patience and understanding, welcome the time needed for situations to be resolved, questions to be answered, choices to play out. Continue living your life as it all unfolds.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Mon, Aug 28 2023 8:56 AM

  Monday, August 28, 2023

  Understanding and appreciation

  The people around you don’t understand or appreciate you as much as you’d like. Get over it, get on with life, and save yourself a lot of angst.

  You cannot force or guilt or otherwise manipulate someone else into more fully understanding or appreciating you. What you can do is work on your own understanding and appreciation of others.

  Sure, it’s nice when people make an effort to understand you and let you know how much they appreciate you. But you have nothing to gain by repeatedly focusing your thoughts on how much or how little you’re appreciated.

  Put that energy into offering and acting upon your own appreciation. Do the work to deepen your own empathy and understanding.

  Other people will by and large relate to you based on how you relate to them. Any resentment you feel will be reflected back to you, so it’s in your best interest to let the resentments go.

  Satisfy your sensible desire for more understanding and appreciation in the world in a way that actually works. Seek to improve your own understanding and express your own appreciation every chance you get.

   

  — Ralph Marston