Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Mon, Aug 19 2024 8:49 AM

  Monday, August 19, 2024

  Appreciate what’s good

  There are worse places you could be. There are worse times you could live in.

  This day has challenges, this world has problems. Value and appreciate it all anyway, for it could be a lot worse.

  It could be worse, and one big force that always makes things worse is a lack of appreciation. Be smart, be strategic, and be appreciative of what is.

  Yes, it’s theoretically possible that if you tear down everything you could start fresh and make something better. But it pretty much never works that way.

  Attacking what’s wrong is easy, and doesn’t require much skill. Yet expanding upon what’s right, what’s working well, is almost always a more successful tactic.

  Appreciate what’s beautiful, what’s reliable, what’s proven, what’s durable. And give your energy and effort to make the good things you appreciate a bigger part of life.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Tue, Aug 20 2024 8:36 AM

  Tuesday, August 20, 2024

  Ask more of yourself

  Lead yourself into activities that challenge you, intellectually, physically, socially, philosophically, spiritually. Spend time in ways that stimulate the whole of your being.

  Energy and strength do not arise out of idleness. They result from engaging in purposeful and challenging activity.

  You’ll actuate and strengthen your best abilities when you depart from your comfortable routine. By dealing with what you’ve never before dealt with, you develop strength beyond what you previously possessed.

  Genuine challenge energizes your imagination, your creativity, your persistence, and your sense of purpose. It’s a demanding experience, and that’s the source of its positive power.

  By working through a challenge you can create valuable results. Yet every challenge also brings rewards that transcend the moment and the situation.

  Ask more of yourself. Discover again and again the benefits of giving it, and getting it.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Aug 21 2024 12:36 PM

  Wednesday, August 21, 2024

  Inspired by dismay

  Dismay gets your attention. But if you let it continue beyond that, it gets you nothing.

  Actually, what you end up with is worse than nothing. Because dismay, more often than not, serves as an excuse for inaction and resignation.

  Sure, it’s important to accept the reality of whatever you cannot change, and that certainly includes discouraging things. But acceptance does not mean doing nothing.

  When dismay floods into your awareness, feel its energy. Then be prompted by the feeling to transform your dismay into positive inspiration.

  Even when there are factors you cannot change, there is much good you can do. Be inspired by dismay to focus on the positive, productive, life-enriching actions you can take.

  Don’t allow dismay to waste your precious time or to conceal your best possibilities. Instead, intentionally change that dismay to inspiration, and continue to push life in a positive direction.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Aug 22 2024 8:38 AM

  Thursday, August 22, 2024

  The real thing

  The imitation is cheaper, quicker, very convenient. And that’s why the real thing is infinitely more satisfying.

  An experience that demands nothing from you cannot convey anything worthwhile to you. Satisfaction does not reside in what you get unless it is rooted in what you give.

  You might feel clever when you can check off the box without going to any trouble. The thing is, all you end up with is a checked-off box.

  The point of doing anything is not just so you can take a selfie and say you’ve done it. What enriches your life is the commitment of your thoughts, your focus, your time, energy, and effort.

  Respect yourself, your heritage, your possibilities and capabilities by insisting on the real thing. Anything less is nothing much.

  You are a miraculous instantiation of the real thing. Refuse to settle for anything else.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Aug 23 2024 9:04 AM

  Friday, August 23, 2024

  Good thoughts

  An intuition is nothing particularly mysterious. It’s a thought that has more depth than you’re able to recognize.

  Much of your thinking is explicit and intentional. Yet a good portion of your best thinking occurs beneath your level of awareness, where valuable intuitions come from.

  It can be frustrating when you’re trying too hard to think through a difficult situation and no good thoughts come to mind. Instead of trying so much, back off and give your mind the space and time to do its work.

  Forced thinking is rarely the best thinking. You can attract more profound and valuable thoughts by directing your awareness elsewhere.

  Focus on living your life, on being a positive force for others, on gratitude for the beauty and goodness in this world. Rather than seeking to summon your best thoughts directly, provide them an ideal environment.

  All thinking occurs within a context. Instead of a needy, demanding context, create an appreciative, expansive context, and your good thoughts will surely come forth.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Mon, Aug 26 2024 9:07 AM

  Monday, August 26, 2024

  Little things

  If you allow the little things to get you down, then you give the big things the power to overwhelm you. By constantly complaining about minor problems, you compromise your ability to deal with the major problems.

  Whenever you’re interrupted by an unexpected annoyance you have a choice to make. You can let it poison your whole attitude, or you can use it to make you more positive and powerful.

  Decide to laugh at the little problems, and to see each one as an opportunity for growth. Every minor issue that you quickly and successfully handle will strengthen your confidence.

  That confidence can offer great value when a major problem comes along. Even more importantly, your confidence enables you to reach whatever goals you set for yourself.

  When you’re already in the habit of not being impeded by the little challenges, you set yourself up for success when the big challenges arrive. Every small problem provides you with a way to practice and perfect your positive momentum.

  A day that is filled with little annoyances is a day rich with opportunities for real and lasting growth. Welcome those opportunities with a smile, and one by one they make you stronger.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Tue, Aug 27 2024 9:12 AM

  Tuesday, August 27, 2024

  Your actions

  Every action has consequences. To improve your consequences, adjust your actions.

  Sometimes it’s obvious what results your actions will cause. Other times, it can be more difficult to know in advance.

  But almost always, after you take each action you will know its consequences. Learn from that experience, each time you have it.

  Whenever something goes right, and whenever something goes wrong, ask yourself the same question. What exactly did you do to contribute to the result?

  Of course many factors come into play, some of which you can influence and some over which you have no say. Yet the factors to focus on most are the actions you can take and the ones you can avoid.

  You are in position to be the world’s leading expert on the consequences of your own actions. Take that expertise seriously, use it wisely, and it will serve you well.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Wed, Aug 28 2024 11:53 AM

  Wednesday, August 28, 2024

  Stop short of overthinking

  Think about the questions and dilemmas that confront you, but be careful not to overthink. If you think too much you might think yourself right on past the best answers.

  There’s value in thoughts that come quickly to mind. For those fresh thoughts are prompted by the reality that’s at hand.

  Certainly you can uncover even more value by diving deeply into your initial thoughts. Yet you can also become endlessly lost in those thoughts and led astray by them.

  Thinking is a powerful activity. And as such, it requires your vigilance and control, and that means knowing when to stop.

  Remind yourself to think before you act. Just as importantly, remind yourself that at some point it’s time to proceed from those thoughts into committed action.

  Give your thoughts the time and space to have their say. Then step back into the situation, make a good decision based on those thoughts, and act on it.

   

  — Ralph Marston

   

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Thu, Aug 29 2024 8:51 AM

  Thursday, August 29, 2024

  Live the peace

  Step away from the noise and the drama. Take a deep, refreshing breath, and allow peace to fill your awareness.

  Much of what you’re normally forced to notice is not really worth your notice. Calmly consider the beautiful truth of who you are and the good things you can do.

  Remind yourself of the people, the places, the ideas and pursuits you love. Resonate with the authentic goodness of the moment you’re in and the existence you inhabit.

  Settle into a level of being where all is truly well. Give yourself the experience of being able to linger there, with no need to rush away.

  Live the peace you’re always capable of experiencing. Let it strengthen you and inspire you to handle whatever may come your way.

  Live the peace, and accept from it a refreshed perspective. Take all the truth you find there, and carry it bravely forward.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 23,050 Posts

  Fri, Aug 30 2024 9:17 AM

  Friday, August 30, 2024

  Strength rises up

  Cheap thrills cannot take the place of deep, abiding purpose. Discrete transactions are a poor substitute for enduring relationships.

  The opportunities that matter come with a demand and an ability for you to invest something of yourself. When you leave behind your own blood, sweat, time and toil, it cannot help but be an enriching experience.

  To be truly fulfilled is to participate intensely in the fulfillment. People can provide their sincere help in many ways, but no one can simply will a rich and meaningful life upon anyone else.

  All too often, well-intentioned attempts to make things easier, for oneself or for others, end up causing needless misery and difficulty. Rather than seeking, offering, or promoting ease, look for ways to encourage and build strength.

  For while ease is fragile and conditional, strength is enduring, independent, and self-perpetuating. Ease, comfort, and convenience can quickly crumble when conditions inevitably change, yet strength rises up.

  Does it come free and quick and easy, or does it push you toward strength? Choose strength, for that’s what endures.

   

  — Ralph Marston