Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Tue, May 9 2023 8:59 AM

  Tuesday, May 9, 2023

  Good and fruitful living

  It can be easy to feel disdain for that which you don’t understand or don’t agree with. Yet as accessible as that disdain may be, it doesn’t accomplish much.

  Rather than sinking deeper into it, let the first twinge of disdain prompt you to turn your thoughts elsewhere. Choose to deploy your energy, your awareness, your thinking in more beneficial ways.

  This world is full of opportunities for joy, goodness, and fulfillment. Don’t let a few misguided people convince you otherwise.

  Somewhere the sun shines, the sea sparkles, and children laugh without the slightest care. Envision that reality and make it your business to make more of it.

  Breathe in the fresh air of possibility. Let your thoughts and actions be driven by your love for life and for the best it can be.

  Certainly the world has its dark corners, yet there’s plenty of territory available for good and fruitful living. Choose to inhabit that territory, and live to expand its size and influence.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Wed, May 10 2023 12:42 PM

  Wednesday, May 10, 2023

  Good for all

  When you oppose, you oppose yourself too. When you love, you love yourself too.

  Conflict is sometimes necessary but that doesn’t make it preferable. More often than not there’s a much better option.

  You are interconnected with everyone and everything else in ways that are obvious and ways you’ll never know. Every action brings consequences that go far beyond where it’s directed.

  You cannot win by seeking to cause loss. Seek instead to create value, and its benefits will flow through all of life.

  Appreciate the connections you can see and respect the ones that remain hidden. Make good use of the energy and sustenance that all those connections bestow.

  Genuine joy, freedom, peace are desirable wherever and among whomever they exist. Do what enables life to be good for all, and good for you.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Thu, May 11 2023 9:18 AM

  Thursday, May 11, 2023

  Inner critic

  It’s useful to be critical of yourself. Yet for that criticism to serve a positive purpose, you must quickly act on it.

  Otherwise, your criticism of yourself just devolves into an excuse for your own negative behavior. You figure that even though you’re doing something you know is wrong, at least you feel bad about it.

  But merely feeling bad is not enough, and is harmful in its own right to your image of yourself. A much more beneficial response to self criticism is self improvement.

  Is there something you’re repeatedly criticizing yourself for doing? Take that as a strong signal that you must find a way to stop doing it.

  Is there something you’re continually insisting to yourself that you must do? Then figure out how, and get it done.

  Your inner critic knows you well, and can offer some good advice. Graciously accept that advice, and diligently act on it.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Mon, May 15 2023 7:17 AM

  Monday, May 15, 2023

  Push through resistance

  It’s not particularly useful to examine why you experience resistance. The key is to break through that resistance and to get your work done.

  You feel guilty, reluctant, ashamed, bored, fearful, frustrated, indecisive, and so much more. But those are just feelings, and they can influence your actions only to the extent you let them.

  Do you really want to feel better? Then choose to focus more on what you can do, and less on what you feel.

  Your feelings are real, they matter. And you can significantly improve your feelings by putting them aside and working in the direction of achievement.

  Push through the initial barrier of your resistance. Then keep going, step by step, getting good things done.

  Even when you don’t feel like doing it, you can take action. Even when your internal resistance is strong, your desire, your will, your intention can be stronger.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Tue, May 16 2023 11:59 AM

  Tuesday, May 16, 2023

  No magic bullet

  There is no magic bullet, no blanket immunity that can protect you from every one of life’s difficulties. But there is strength, along with fortitude, persistence, resourcefulness, diligence, innovation and more.

  You cannot wall yourself off from the troubles. What you can do is equip yourself to successfully deal with them.

  What you can do is nurture deep and lasting relationships built on trust, respect, and integrity. You can gain experience at adapting to new, different, and changing situations.

  You can set aside any tendency toward arrogance and do the work to build genuine confidence. You can let go of any sense of entitlement and put forth time and effort to become more competent and effective.

  You can savor the beauty, the joy, the moments when circumstances work in your favor. You can appreciate, value, and learn from all the good work of all the real people who came before you.

  None of this is particularly easy, and that’s what makes it so powerful. There’s nothing you can do to avoid every problem and pain, yet there’s everything you can do to live with purpose, richness, and fulfillment.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Wed, May 17 2023 1:00 PM

  Wednesday, May 17, 2023

  Positively influence the future

  Make the choices today that will make you thankful tomorrow. Act in this moment in a way you’ll look back to with gratitude.

  Are there choices in your past that you regret? Don’t burden yourself with any new regrets.

  You have the opportunity right now to influence the quality of your life going forward. Make good use of that opportunity.

  Today will soon end, yet its consequences can continue for months or years. Do all you can so those consequences will be more helpful than harmful.

  No one can accurately predict the future. Yet anyone on any day has the very real ability to positively influence the future.

  So go ahead and imagine yourself looking back on right now. And do what your future self would most want you to do.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Thu, May 18 2023 8:40 AM

  Thursday, May 18, 2023

  Excellent choices

  Insist on honesty from yourself, with yourself and others. Insist on doing what must be done.

  Insist on honoring your commitments. Insist on getting your work completed in a timely manner.

  Insist that you focus on what’s meaningful and beneficial. Insist on being open to new ideas, tolerant and respectful of others.

  Insist from yourself that you approach each interaction with kindness and genuine care. Insist on finding the positive possibilities in every situation.

  You are worthy and capable of living with the highest of standards. Hold yourself to those standards.

  An excellent life is composed of excellent choices. From yourself, insist on nothing less.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Fri, May 19 2023 11:29 AM

  Friday, May 19, 2023

  Plain old ordinary work

  Life’s dramas are interesting, invigorating, instructive, and often consequential. But a good life is about more than drama.

  The mundane, tedious parts of life matter, perhaps even more than the drama. Because it is in those circumstances that much of life’s important work gets done.

  Keeping an electric generation plant maintained and running is not particularly dramatic. Yet it makes a major difference in the lives of thousands of people.

  Driving a truck that delivers fresh groceries to supermarkets is a somewhat tedious job. Nonetheless, it provides families with reliable, healthy nutrition.

  In the ordinary is great value. In the mundane are widespread opportunities to make a positive difference.

  Drama can be very entertaining. What sustains life, though, are quiet competence, dependability, and the willingness to do plain old ordinary work.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,692 Posts

  Sat, May 20 2023 11:20 AM

  Saturday, May 20, 2023

  A beautiful day

  Make a beautiful day by deciding it will be. Make a beautiful day by embracing what is and giving your best to it.

  A beautiful day does not require any particular circumstances. Each day is what you make of it, and you can make a beautiful day out of any day you choose.

  A beautiful day depends on you, not on what is provided to you. Today has plenty of potential for beauty even though it is not perfect.

  A beautiful day is more than you can imagine beforehand that it will be. A beautiful day largely comes from all you allow and enable it to be as it unfolds.

  You don’t have to try so hard to live a beautiful day. You don’t have to be shackled by the fear of what might or might not happen.

  Just be beautiful in your very own way. And live yourself a beautiful day.

   

  — Ralph Marston