Daily Motivation

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Sat, Jun 24 2023 8:36 AM

  Saturday, June 24, 2023

  Powerful force

  Motivation cannot occur in a vacuum. The sustained motivation to do anything comes from doing it.

  It’s not that you must first be motivated and then take action. The action itself is what deepens and expands your motivation.

  You won’t be able to just pull a reason to care out of thin air. What gives you a reason to care is your investment of time and energy in caring.

  Stop searching for a reason, or hoping one will fall out of the sky. Start making one with your time, your energy, your actions.

  The more steps you take, the more you will come to care about the destination. Start by acting on faith, and soon you’ll be acting with motivation, momentum, and a clear sense of meaningful purpose.

  Engage the powerful force that is your life. And continue to discover all the goodness that force can bring into being.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Mon, Jun 26 2023 8:58 AM

  Monday, June 26, 2023

  Journey of discovery

  You’re better today than you’ve been before. Do yourself and the whole world a big favor and live like it.

  You have more knowledge and experience than at any time in the past. That makes the opportunities more valuable, the possibilities more enticing.

  Every time you’ve made use of your strength you’ve gained more of it. Seize upon the chance to put that strength, and experience, and knowledge into purposeful action.

  Today you have more clarity than ever about who you are and what you care most about. That enables you to keep yourself firmly pointed toward what’s truly fulfilling.

  You’ve learned how useless the excuses always are, how giving less than your best so often leads to frustration and regret. Now you can apply those lessons to push you toward excellence and enduring goodness.

  Your whole life has been a journey of discovery. Here and now is your chance to put the best of those discoveries to good use.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Tue, Jun 27 2023 12:05 PM

  Tuesday, June 27, 2023

  Life’s energy

  Energy dances through your world. Feel the rhythm and dance along, adding new steps of your own.

  Energy flows around you, to you, through you, and from you. Give that energy good work to do.

  You’ve done what you have done, and the energy flows. You are the way you are, and the energy continues.

  Energy gives you a solid connection to the value of what has been and to the potential of all that can be. It links you with everything you understand and offers enticing glimpses into incomprehensible mysteries.

  With your intention you focus life’s energy in ways that are obvious and in other ways you’ll never realize. The result is a world, a life, an experience born of your most authentic impulses.

  Hold goodness deep inside, persistently, relentlessly, faithfully, lovingly. Give the ever-present energy of your life a beautiful and buoyant path to follow.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Wed, Jun 28 2023 12:44 PM

  Wednesday, June 28, 2023

  Shaped by choices

  Today you’re presented with an abundance of options. Though much of what happens is out of your control, a sizable part of your life experience is shaped by your choices.

  You can focus your thoughts, attention, and efforts over long periods of time to create meaningful value. Or you can choose to chase blithely after every distraction and waste hour upon hour of your precious time.

  You can step forward and put forth the effort to do what must be done, bringing about a positive difference for yourself and others. Or you can choose to indefinitely postpone the work until later, getting further behind with each day.

  You can choose to offer kindness and authenticity, to build trusting relationships that could last for decades. Or you can choose to alienate yourself with an attitude of arrogance and disdain for others.

  You have the option to grow stronger and more disciplined when faced with challenges and difficult situations. Or you can simply give in to temptation and settle for whatever feels good in the moment.

  With every choice you make, you can push life in a little bit more of a positive and fulfilling direction. Today is here, and the choices are yours.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Thu, Jun 29 2023 9:12 AM

  Thursday, June 29, 2023

  The latest thing

  The latest thing entices you with its promises before you actually have it or experience it. Yet there’s no guarantee it will improve the quality of your life once you get it.

  You’re excited thinking of all the new features and benefits that can be yours. But the reality could very likely fail to match expectations.

  What’s new is not necessarily an improvement. What’s old is not necessarily something to be discarded.

  Often, gradual and measured improvement can bring more valuable results than radical change. Rather than buying a whole new pasture with greener grass, perhaps you could work to get grass growing in the pasture you already own.

  Sure, some possessions, perspectives, relationships, and routines reach a stage where it’s necessary to discard and replace them. Yet for much of what you have, you’ll be better served by maintaining and improving it than by abandoning it for a newer version.

  Keep your life experience fresh by being open to new innovations. But don’t let your desire for novelty outweigh your gratitude for all the value and goodness you already have.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Fri, Jun 30 2023 9:01 AM

  Friday, June 30, 2023

  Liberated by responsibilities

  It’s certainly reasonable to consider yourself burdened by your various responsibilities. Yet it is equally true that you can be liberated by the responsibilities you take on.

  Acting with responsibility sets you free from dependency. It offers you the chance to avoid a meaningless existence.

  Responsibility pushes you to become increasingly competent. It challenges you into a life of purpose and fulfillment.

  You’ll often need to make significant accommodations and even sacrifices to fulfill your responsibilities. However, the prices you pay are more than balanced out by the benefits you gain from living responsibly.

  Responsibilities often feel oppressive. Yet life by its very nature is difficult, and taking on responsibility is one of the best strategies for successfully dealing with life’s difficulties.

  Responsibility makes your moments, your actions, your thoughts matter. Embrace responsibility, and with each passing day you create an even better version of yourself.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Mon, Jul 3 2023 8:37 AM

  Monday, July 3, 2023

  Not a problem

  You are skilled at solving problems and eager to do so. But that in itself can be a problem.

  Because a few problems are best left alone. Sometimes your efforts to address a particular problem could be put to more valuable and effective use elsewhere.

  Indeed, some problems are problems solely because you assume them to be. Just because you don’t like a particular situation doesn’t mean it’s harmful or threatening.

  When you attempt to solve problems that aren’t really problems you can actually make things worse. Seek instead to focus your problem-solving skills where they can make a measurable, meaningful difference.

  When a problem comes to your attention, before you jump into action, ask yourself. Is it really a problem the requires your irreplaceable time and attention?

  If so, put your skills and resources to work on improving the situation. But if not, have the strength and confidence to simply let it be.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Wed, Jul 5 2023 12:26 PM

  Wednesday, July 5, 2023

  This life that is yours

  Be present with the peace of this day. Fill your awareness with the potential of now.

  Gaze with awe at the wonders that surround you. Feel all the goodness you have known as it echoes into this moment.

  Listen to the harmony that holds all of life together. Join in with the energy, purpose and intention of existence.

  Discover again and again how well you can resonate with the places, people, experiences, values, and ideas you encounter. Softly breathe in, slowly breathe out, and let it all be.

  With a grateful heart, give your honest best to whatever situations arise. Step forward with confidence, with kindness, with the persistence to continue no matter what.

  Here in this place, in this time, is this life that is yours. Live it fully, live it well, live it for the miracle it is.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Thu, Jul 6 2023 8:06 AM

  Thursday, July 6, 2023

  Sincerely living

  Are you sincerely living each moment or are you putting on a dramatic performance? Are you more concerned about how you appear than you are about the truth, integrity, and effectiveness of what you’re doing?

  Do you notice yourself voicing the same frustrations again and again? At some point it becomes more about the performance and less about actually resolving the issues.

  Pause to take a step back, and invite fresh, new levels of gratitude into your awareness. Let go of the dramatic frustration, and honestly consider what you can do to improve the situation.

  Do you feel the need to announce your love so often that it turns into a meaningless routine? Look instead for new and meaningful ways to put your love into practice.

  Have you ever found yourself constructing elaborate narratives to feel sorry for yourself and to seek pity from others? Rather than casting yourself as a victim, put your energy into taking positive, incremental steps that enable you to steadily grow stronger.

  This is your unique and precious life, not just another tired and predictable performance. Put your authentic love and energy into it, and make it the beautiful, fulfilling experience it can surely be.

   

  — Ralph Marston

• Ladychipper 22,706 Posts

  Fri, Jul 7 2023 8:46 AM

  Friday, July 7, 2023

  The way things are

  To improve reality you must first accept and adapt to the specific reality that already exists. You cannot change reality by hiding from it, or wishing it away, or pretending it’s something different than it is.

  You have dreams, desires, detailed ideas of how you would like the world to be. Yet the only starting place you can ever have is where you are, the way things are.

  Shouting down, ignoring, or demonizing those who speak the truth will not make the truth go away. Only by accepting and working within what is true and what is real can you make any progress.

  It is admirable to put passion and energy into moving toward an ideal. To do so you must carefully and honestly navigate through territory that is not ideal.

  That means understanding and having some degree of respect for those who do not share your ideal. It means working to find common ground and then working further to expand upon that common ground.

  The current reality has its roots in times and circumstances that existed long before you were ever aware of them. Your success at creating positive change depends on your willingness to humbly accept that truth and operate within the way things are.

   

  — Ralph Marston