Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Fri, Apr 2 2021 8:52 AM

  Friday, April 2, 2021

  Power in disillusion

  Consider what a good thing it is when you are disillusioned. It is irrefutable evidence that you care.

  But you must not permit yourself to merely wallow in disillusionment. Rather than waste your disillusionment on negativity, transform it into inspiration, into positive action.

  Disillusionment points to a higher ideal. Such a strong sense of what you don’t want can clearly illuminate what you do want.

  When you feel disillusioned, ask yourself why. Articulate what is wrong, then challenge yourself to precisely identify what would make things right.

  You have the power to make those things happen in your own unique way. More importantly, you have the passion to do so, as is evidenced by your disillusion.

  Tap deeply into the insight and power that underlie your feelings of disillusion. Put them to use in the service of goodness, of beauty, of truth and life.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Sat, Apr 3 2021 8:50 AM

  Saturday, April 3, 2021

  Doing what matters

  Do things that matter. Avoid things that don’t.

  Think thoughts that exert a positive influence on your actions. Gently let go of thoughts that waste time and needlessly push you into dark desperate places.

  Your time is precious beyond any measure. Spend that time doing what you know is good, and right, truthful, helpful, appreciative and supportive of the wonder that is existence.

  Every moment, every action has a cost. You are fully entitled and obligated to make sure each cost produces a genuine benefit.

  That does not in any way give you an excuse to avoid the difficult pursuits. Rather, it summons you to focus the whole of your being on meaningful pursuits, as challenging and inconvenient as they may be.

  You are here today to make real, meaningful, beneficial progress. Respect the miraculous nature of that opportunity, and spend this day doing what matters.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Mon, Apr 5 2021 8:05 AM

  Monday, April 5, 2021

  True to yourself

  Do what is right, say what is true. Even if it has no impact on anyone else, it makes a big difference to you.

  Twenty four hours a day you must live with yourself and your decisions. You do not want to spend all that time, year after year, with a liar and a coward.

  Be as civil, polite, cooperative, and understanding as you possibly can. But stop short of compromising your values, because that is not in anyone’s best interest.

  You must first be true to yourself, true within yourself, if you are to be of any help to anyone else. Every good and useful thing you have to offer has its root in a consistent, truthful, authentic vision.

  You have the power to set the whole world on a more positive path, but it won’t happen through shouting, preaching, cajoling or demanding. It will come from your steadfast commitment to what you know at your deepest level is true and right.

  You have a well-developed sense of what is true, what is right, what is good. For your sake, for everyone’s sake, let it guide your every move.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Tue, Apr 6 2021 8:06 AM

  Tuesday, April 6, 2021

  Best time to start

  The way to make the work less difficult is to start getting it done. The way to make the long journey shorter is to take the first step.

  Sure, you could procrastinate, or complain about what you must do, or wish for it not to be so hard. But those things accomplish precisely zero, and will waste your time in the process.

  Instead, spend that time producing an actual benefit. The more work you do, the more of the work you’ll have behind you.

  Measure the level of difficulty not just in the current moment but over the entire life of the effort. Almost without exception, when you look at it that way you’ll find that the sooner you start, the easier it will be.

  Five minutes from now you can be closer to having the work finished. Keep working on it and before long you’ll have it done.

  That’s an opportunity too good to pass up. The best time to start is now, so make right now the time you start.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Wed, Apr 7 2021 10:04 AM

  Wednesday, April 7, 2021

  Opportunity for steady progress

  Persist, but don’t make your persistence into a burden. Persist because it is what you choose, because it is how you are.

  If you conjure up a strong resentment for the necessity of your efforts, you lose twice. Your efforts won’t be very effective, and you’ll be tormented with the misery of your resentment.

  Instead, remind yourself that the opportunity to make steady progress is a great thing to have. Fill your spirit with gratitude for that opportunity and for your ability to make the most of it.

  With each effort, you are able to give support and value to something meaningful. In doing so, you are living life at its highest level.

  You can easily let go of any temptation to judge a particular task as beneath you, or too tedious, or too complicated. You can find a sense of joy and satisfaction in your persistence, no matter what that persistence requires.

  Make every effort count by making your attitude toward those efforts a positive and empowering one. Persist willingly, gracefully, enthusiastically, and find great fulfillment in all you’re able to do.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Thu, Apr 8 2021 8:30 AM

  Thursday, April 8, 2021

  Choose where to aim

  If you’re troubled by uncertainty, set a meaningful goal for yourself. Though it cannot make you certain about what will happen, it will at least give you certainty about where you intend to go.

  You cannot force an uncertain universe to have certainty. Attempts to do so will leave you precariously at odds with reality.

  What you can do is nurture a sense of certainty within yourself, one that is based on what is real and under your control. You can choose where to aim, and that is no small thing.

  It’s not the answer to every question or the solution to every problem. Yet it will help in ways you would never have imagined.

  Choose where to aim, and suddenly you have a well-defined structure within which to evaluate and process whatever happens. Though you haven’t eliminated uncertainty, you have given yourself a sure and certain strategy for dealing with it.

  Choose where to aim, and you can point life’s energy in a consistent and useful direction. Choose where to aim, because it’s a whole lot more certain than any alternative.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Fri, Apr 9 2021 9:08 AM

  Friday, April 9, 2021

  Life matters

  Life matters. Your life matters.

  This hour matters. This day matters.

  What you are doing makes a difference. Your commitment to excellence and integrity makes a difference.

  Nothing you do is worthless, yet everything you do can be improved upon. No one you encounter is perfect, yet everyone has something unique to offer.

  It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But it’s better, and just as realistic, to be filled with wonder and amazement.

  Live every moment of life as if it matters. And you’ll know without the slightest doubt that it does.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Sat, Apr 10 2021 8:27 AM

  Saturday, April 10, 2021

  Ideal choice

  On very rare occasions you can make the perfect choice. At all other times the perfect choice is not available to you, so you must make the best choice.

  None of the alternatives you have to choose from may be ideal. Yet at least one of those alternatives is likely preferable to avoiding a choice altogether.

  Or it could be that all of the alternatives are highly desirable, and you don’t want to miss out on any of them. Even in that case, choosing one and excluding all the rest is better than not choosing at all.

  You can’t have everything, and you don’t want to have nothing. So you must choose, and make a commitment to your choice.

  Value, success, and fulfillment are general, all-encompassing terms. Yet for each of these good things to be present in your life, it must exist in a specific form.

  Your choices give life to your vision, to your ideals, even when what you have to choose from is not ideal. Choose the best that you can at every juncture, and you’ll steadily work your way to where you want to be.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Mon, Apr 12 2021 11:27 AM

  Monday, April 12, 2021

  Good life

  You might be highly frustrated today. But it’s a good life anyway.

  People might cheat you, lie to you, and blame you for problems they themselves create. Even so, life has infinite capacity for goodness and fulfillment.

  A whole lot of things cause you a whole lot of trouble. Yet when you step back and take a good, clear look, you see without question that life is well worth the trouble.

  It’s all too easy to imagine sometimes that things are hopeless. But then you remember you’ve survived a lot worse, and in fact thrived, and so have many, many others.

  Yes, at times life is tough. And it is precisely those times that enable you to see how very good life can be.

  Whatever the situation, life is good when you decide it is good. And it’s your decision to make right now.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,678 Posts

  Tue, Apr 13 2021 11:09 AM

  Tuesday, April 13, 2021

  What’s possible

  Fresh possibilities are magnificent, inspiring, even intoxicating. Yet they can quickly grow stale and bitter when they are not exercised.

  Tools that are routinely utilized grow in value as you become more experienced with them. Tools that are never used merely accumulate rust and take up space.

  There is nothing sadder than what could have been, but wasn’t. That’s certainly not where you want your bright and shining possibilities to end up.

  Following those possibilities will require lots of hard work from you. But that’s not such a bad thing.

  After all, what makes the possibilities so attractive is the opportunity to invest yourself in them. By doing the work to achieve what’s possible you fulfill your deep-seated desire to make a difference.

  Your best possibilities are meant to be fulfilled. Get busy making that happen.

   

  — Ralph Marston