Daily Motivator - May
 

May 1

Treasure of existence

Treasure the strength you have gained in dark times. Treasure the joys you have discovered in the sunshine.

Treasure the friends you’ve made, the loves you’ve lost, the opportunity to share life with them all. Treasure the memories of what’s been, the beauty of what is, and your possibilities for the future.

What you treasure becomes more of a treasure. And you can find it in yourself to treasure it all.

Even the days that are far from pleasant still have value to add to your life. Even the stories with sad endings bring richness and depth to your experience.

Instead of striving to find things to treasure, see the treasure in whatever fills each moment. Life’s treasures are always present if you let them be.

Here, now, the treasure of existence surrounds you. See it, appreciate it, live it, and make it even more of a treasure by doing so.

— Ralph Marston

May 2

Simply enjoy

Some things you can change, some things you must accept and endure. Some things you can simply enjoy.

Without the need to capture, to possess, to preserve or to modify, you can simply enjoy. Without having to impress yourself or anyone else, you can simply enjoy.

Let go, and enjoy the sound of water tumbling over the rocks. Delight in the experience of children playing as they will, without being coached or coddled or scolded.

Enjoy the moment in the moment. Enjoy not having to save it for later, confident that there will be other moments you can enjoy.

Enjoy when everything goes as you planned and even when everything doesn’t. Enjoy being able to enjoy, whatever each day may bring.

Joy is a powerful state to be in. Gently guide yourself there, and enjoy.

— Ralph Marston

Happy New Month My Dear awesome friends.
Thanking God for getting though the
month of April one day at a time.
God bless you and please take the
time to smell the flowers, enjoy
the Sunshine of life. God bless you
Tammy and Kracker.

May 3

Details upon details

Flying across the sky gets you where you’re going quickly. But it doesn’t provide much opportunity to experience where you’ve been.

Sometimes it’s essential to arrive at your destination as soon as possible. At other times, though, you can find much value in discovering what’s along the way.

Certainly the big picture matters quite a lot, and is good to understand. Yet every big picture is composed of details upon details, and those details are important too.

Whether you’re traversing a physical or intellectual distance, you have a delicate balance to maintain. You must go fast enough to get there and slow enough to understand where you are.

The details connect one place to another, one concept to other concepts, ideas, and expressions. Details provide insights that add great value to whatever you intend to do.

Seek to be fast and efficient, but not too fast, not overly efficient. You don’t want to cheat yourself out of all the opportunities to be found in the details.

— Ralph Marston

May 4

Strength is a choice

It is not easy to call upon your strength, and to develop even more. Yet it is possible, and accessible, and highly beneficial.

People advise you to be strong, and of course it’s easy for them to say, while difficult for you to do. Nonetheless, it’s good advice.

Strength begins on the inside, and what’s there inside is largely up to you. No matter how many resources, advantages and connections you do or do not have, you have access to your own strength.

Strength is a choice. It comes from your intentions, your values, your priorities, your commitment to yourself and others.

Certainly strength can be abused, but that doesn’t mean that strength itself is undesirable. It just means you must be careful and respectful with it.

Ask yourself what it will take to grow stronger inside, and seek to follow that path. Choose strength, and use it well.

— Ralph Marston

May 5

Something good from it

What irritates you does not last. Consider that, let go of the irritation, and move on.

What frustrates you provides insight into your own priorities. Use that as an opportunity to focus on those priorities rather than on the frustration.

What angers you gives you energy. Find a way to point that energy in a positive, productive direction.

What frightens you alerts you to possible dangers. Use that awareness to better prepare yourself for successfully handling or avoiding the dangers.

What initially arrives as difficulty, discomfort or unpleasantness can be turned to your advantage. That’s been the catalyst for much of your skill, wisdom, strength, and will continue to be.

What is going on in your world right now, and how can you make something good from it? Challenge yourself to find a way, for your very own history proves that you will.

— Ralph Marston

May 6

Making progress

There is a difference between difficult and impossible. Success is a matter of respecting and acting on that difference.

Let go of what’s impossible. Put your best into doing what’s difficult and valuable.

Making progress within the bounds of reality is often difficult, yet it can be done. Going entirely against reality, however, is impossible.

Wishes will never be magically granted just because you wish them. Yet all sorts of amazing achievements and experiences are within your grasp when you’re willing to put forth the necessary effort.

Dream whatever amazing dreams you can imagine, and then ask yourself. What parts of those dreams can actually be realized, and how exactly can that be done?

You can find more than enough real, achievable possibilities for a rich and fulfilling life. Move past the empty wishes for what cannot be done, and do the work to bring about all the good things that can.

— Ralph Marston

May 7

Your own best potential

It’s easy to sit back and let yourself be captivated by the follies of others. But you’re capable of so much more.

The more difficult option is to figure out what you care about and get yourself deeply involved in it. That’s also a much more fulfilling option.

Your life has great and unique value. Can you feel, somewhere inside, the obligation to be true to your own best potential?

There’s never any reason to beat yourself up for falling short of perfection. Yet you can always encourage yourself to be more purposeful, authentic, and engaged in life.

With each choice that confronts you, consider this question. What is the path that enables you to more fully fulfill your potential?

You can choose that path a little more often, a lot more often, perhaps even most of the time. Imagine what that could do, and then work to live the reality of what you imagine.

— Ralph Marston

May 8

Better possibilities

What do you want for your life, for all of life? How can you be sure there’s not something much, much better?

Could you be seeking some particular thing so single-mindedly that you fail to see other, more desirable possibilities? Might you be sabotaging your own fulfillment by envisioning fulfillment in a far too limited way?

It’s all well and good to get what you desire. But perhaps it’s even better sometimes when you don’t get what you desire.

When your path to fulfillment is blocked, you’re forced to consider other paths. That’s not such a bad thing.

Surely there are possibilities you’re not aware of. Be careful not to let your obsession with just a few possibilities blind you to all the others.

Clarify your intentions, set your goals, and go for them. But never let that stop you from being open to everything else that is possible.

— Ralph Marston

May 9

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

May 10

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

May 11

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

May 12

Live as who you are

Some people will agree with you and some people won’t. And in most cases, there’s nothing you can do to change that.

Some people will like you, admire you, respect you, and others won’t. That will be the case no matter what you do.

Yes, you can strive to impress and accommodate people in an effort to gain their favor. But such overt desperation is unlikely to earn any agreement or genuine respect.

Your best option is to simply be your authentic self. You cannot force everyone to admire you, but you can enable people to see who you truly are.

Some people are never going to resonate with you. Yet many people will appreciate and admire you for being open and honest about who you are.

Do and say what’s real, what’s true, what’s in line with your values, your preferences, your passions. The most impressive thing you can ever do is to live as who you are.

— Ralph Marston

May 13

The hardest task

Pick the hardest task in front of you today. Tackle it first, with utmost focus, and persist until it is done.

Experience yourself in the process of being your best. Demonstrate to yourself how good you can be at doing what’s difficult, challenging, and meaningful.

Revel in the intoxicating feeling of being highly effective. Fill your awareness with the energy of achievement.

Then notice how your possibilities have expanded. Observe how the lame excuses have retreated into hiding.

Doing the difficult work brings valuable results, yet it also achieves something even more important. It creates a more enthusiastic, intentional, positive version of you.

That happens because you’re doing what you’re meant to do. You’re making a meaningful and beneficial difference in life.

— Ralph Marston

May 14

Dance together

Stop forcing your limitations to clash with your possibilities. Let them dance together.

You cannot eliminate all limitations and challenges from life. What you can do is work within them, alongside them, to fulfill the possibilities you wish to fulfill.

That requires some give and take, adjustments, innovation, boldness, understanding, and creativity. Think of it as a graceful and exhilarating dance.

Though your limitations may seem at first glance to oppose your possibilities, that’s not entirely true. For if there were no limitations of any kind, the possibilities would have no value.

Let go of your resentment about what’s holding you back. Find ways to work with it, to dance with it, rather than fighting against it.

Tease out the opportunities that exist within your challenges and limitations. And gracefully dance your way to the fulfillment of your best possibilities.

— Ralph Marston