Daily Motivator - August

[bluidkiti]

August 1

What reality demands

You cannot change reality by refusing to acknowledge it or by pushing others to deny it. All that accomplishes is to put you at a disadvantage.

Just because a particular truth is painful does not make it any less true. Rather than hiding from it, get it out in the open where you can begin to deal with it.

Accept the truth, accept the reality, especially when you don’t like it. That puts you in the best position to do something about it.

Put yourself on the side of truth, even when that truth is difficult for you. Operate in the realm of reality, where you can be effective, rather than in the realm of wishful thinking.

Look clearly and courageously at what is real, at what is true. Then with effort, with commitment, with discipline, you can improve upon it.

The real world is a difficult and demanding place to be. Acknowledge and face those difficulties, for that positions you to successfully deal with what reality demands.

— Ralph Marston

[willbe275]

Welcome to August! July has flown past and I hope you embrace the beauty and blessings this new month of August will bring. God bless you my daily recovery family. May God continue to bless you and your family as we Journey through this new month together, with His love and grace. In Jesus name. Amen.

[bluidkiti]

August 2

In between the extremes

A pendulum can only swing so far in one direction. At some point its upward momentum will no longer overcome the force of gravity pulling it down.

In a similar way, the worse any situation becomes, the more pressure there is to end the negative momentum. Eventually that pressure results in real and powerful improvements.

Then, after a while, the reverse happens. Things get good, people become complacent, and troubles begin to eat away at the positive momentum.

When a particular fashion becomes too popular, too commonplace, it begins to lose its fashionable appeal. If something has been out of style so long no one remembers it, suddenly it arises as the latest thing.

What now seems like an overwhelming force will eventually turn into a distant, fuzzy memory. What’s not even on the radar today could be the main thing people are talking about a year from now.

In between the extremes, there’s a whole lot of good you can do. And if you’re not there right now, you very soon will be.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 3

Find meaning

Where to find meaning? Find meaning in doing something well, in doing what’s challenging.

Find meaning in offering kindness. Find meaning in accepting and fulfilling responsibilities.

Find meaning in opening yourself to new experiences. Find meaning in working to create value that’s never existed before.

Find meaning in a purpose that’s bigger than you. Find meaning in living with faith, with hope, with love.

Find meaning in learning, and in respectfully sharing what you learn. Find meaning in thinking through what you’ve experienced and in acting on all you can be.

Find meaning in the big events, in the small moments, in the unique and beautiful lives of those around you. Find meaning in gratitude for all that is.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 4

From the heart

Speak from the heart, and even when your facts are not completely accurate, you’ll speak the truth. Live from the heart, and no matter what kind of world you encounter, you’ll find your way forward.

In your heart is wisdom you cannot fully articulate but you wouldn’t ever want to be without. In your heart are constant reminders of who you are and all you care about.

Your mind is superb at figuring out how to get there. It’s your heart, however, that knows where to go.

As the years go on, memories become faded and confused. Yet what has reached into your heart remains undiminished by the passage of time.

Watch life with your eyes, and see with your heart. Listen with your ears, and understand with your heart.

Fashion your moments from the perspective of your richest, most enduring treasures. Live life from the heart.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 5

Act accordingly

Why have you attained success? Because you’ve been willing to take responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

How do you create more success, more positive value? By continuing to exercise responsibility.

Each action generates a result of some kind. For every result you desire, there is a specific set of actions that will bring about that result.

The same is true of results you do not desire. For every unwanted result, you must avoid certain actions.

Over time you’ve learned which behaviors push your life forward and which ones set you back. You’ve learned not only from your own experience, but also from the experience of many others.

Right now you have another opportunity to put all that accumulated knowledge to good use. Remind yourself of what you want, of what you don’t, and use every moment, every situation, to act accordingly.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 6

Your potential

There was a time when you had great potential. You still do.

Much of your potential has gone unrealized. Of course it has, but that’s okay.

Just because you cannot do everything is no reason to avoid doing something. Just because you have not fully lived up to your potential is no reason to turn your back on it.

Your potential is eager to forgive you for any time you’ve spent ignoring it, whether that has been weeks or decades. Even more so, your potential is eager for you to put it to use.

There are many things in this life you’ve always cared about. You have plenty of possible ways, right now, to put that care, that love, that fascination, curiosity and ambition into action.

You have great potential, and there’s a great reason for it. By fulfilling your highest potential you make life good, for yourself, for everyone.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 8

Adventure

Adventure is a story that never gets old. When you make your way out beyond where you belong, you discover a whole new dimension to life.

Whether you experience it directly or vicariously, adventure puts you in touch with your vulnerability. That’s actually a very good thing.

The experience of vulnerability brought on by adventure brings a renewed sense of humility. That opens you up to gain new wisdom, to develop new capabilities, to grow stronger in the truth of who you are.

Adventure is rich in risk and reward, and that’s precisely its point. When you crave adventure what you are craving is life in its most meaningful state.

You have the power of purpose, the power to prevail through challenge in service of that purpose. Adventure makes that abundantly clear.

Adventure is when you know how it feels to be fully alive. And that’s an essential thing to know.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 8

In the flow

A job well done has value in its own right. Even when no one else ever admires the painting, or reads the essay, or strolls through the garden, the creation is well worth the effort.

What do you get in return for your time, your attention to detail, your dedication to excellence? At the very least you’re guaranteed the experience of putting forth all that goodness.

And that’s not nothing. Indeed, it is something that brings genuine richness to life.

At what times in your life are you most alive? At those times when you’re in the flow of creativity and productivity, when you’re focused, disciplined, purposeful.

The richest people are not rich because they have money, they have money because they focus on fulfilling and expressing life’s richness. Material wealth is a fortunate side effect of spending time in a purposeful and productive flow.

That flow is its own reward, and more often than not it spawns many other rewards. You’ll always treasure the time you spend in sustained focused effort, in deep conversation, in long concentration, in the flow.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 9

Limited time

There’s a limit to what you can do in one day. And that’s an excellent reason to do all you can do.

Because when you make full use of each day as it comes, the next day you begin from an improved position. Rather than being limited in what you could do, you benefit from all you have done.

Time moves steadily forward, and nothing you can do will stop that. What you can do is move forward with it.

When there’s not much time to work with, it’s easy to rationalize doing nothing. Yet even a small amount of time can make a difference.

Make good use of the time you have now and you’ll expand the options available later. Ten minutes of extra effort over the course of each day puts you more than an hour ahead by the end of the week.

If there’s no time to do a lot, then by all means do a little. Now is a great time to get yourself ahead.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 10

Contemplate

Give each thought more than just a brief encounter. Contemplate, and provide your mind with a healthy workout.

Follow along as one thought leads to another. Journey into the deep recesses of your thinking.

Enable your thoughts to gain new power as they interact with other thoughts. Discover new ways to combine, assimilate, and to think about what you already know.

Your ability to concentrate has the potential to change the world. Give it the time it deserves, and give yourself the benefits that come from quality thoughts.

On a regular basis, do the work that transforms knowledge into wisdom. Engage your amazing ability to think, and provide your mind with ample time to do its valuable work.

Your life is driven forward by your actions, and those actions gain immense power when you put quality thought into them. Contemplate, and enable life to benefit from all the mental connections you create.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 11

Build confidence

On the surface, confidence and arrogance can be difficult to distinguish from each other. So how do you tell them apart?

If you’ve earned it, it’s confidence. If you haven’t, it’s arrogance.

When someone has years of experience with a particular skill, that skill is applied with confidence. If someone has merely watched a video on how to do it, then it’s more likely arrogance.

To gain confidence, you do have to be bold enough to take action, and perhaps a little arrogant. But if arrogance is all you ever have to depend on, you’ll fall short.

Of course confidence is no guarantee that you’ll always get it right. Yet even when you initially fail, confidence can keep you going until you do get it right.

Depend on your knowledge and experience, not on your ego. Put in the time and do the work to build true confidence.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 12

Do the little things well

Driving a nail with a hammer is a mundane and relatively unsophisticated task. Yet it must be done with skill and precision, again and again, to build a magnificent house.

It’s tedious to learn spelling, grammar, and proper usage of language. Yet you need those key components if you wish to communicate exciting, sophisticated concepts.

The little things matter. Because every big thing is composed of lots of little things.

It’s tempting to neglect the little things, to take shortcuts with them, to seek out the cheapest, easiest ones. But when you compromise on the details, those compromises are multiplied in the final result.

Purchase good quality nails, hammer them straight and true in the places they need to be. Then you’ll have a structure that’s strong, durable, valuable, useful.

Every moment is an opportunity to do the little things well. Remember to embrace each and every one of those opportunities, and you can make the big things amazing.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 13

The value of hope

Hope alone will not bring what you hope for. But that doesn’t mean it lacks value.

Hope focuses your attention on the positive possibilities. And where your attention is focused is where your energy is directed.

Hope infects your expectations, points them toward a positive outcome. Those expectations drive your perceptions, your behavior, and affect your results.

Hope for the best but don’t stop there. Hope for the best, then let hope push you into action and sustain that action for as long as necessary.

Have so much hope that you get up and do something useful and effective with it, again and again. Do the work that hope demands rather than expecting hope to do all the work.

Hope has great value, but it’s not an easy way out. At its best, hope points you in the most challenging and fulfilling way forward, and that’s a very good way to be headed.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 14

Untapped potential

Be inspired by your successes. Be even more inspired by your failures.

Find great value in the good things you’ve done. Find even more value in all the good you have not yet brought yourself to do.

Challenge yourself in ways no one else can challenge you. Remind yourself that no matter what you’ve achieved, there is always more you can do.

Feel your untapped potential. Feel it so deeply you cannot avoid working to fulfill that potential.

See the great opportunity in everything you’ve left undone. Take hold of that opportunity with a renewed sense of energy and purposeful passion.

Think of all you’ve ever cared about and let it remind you how much you still do care. In that feeling is your potential, and in this moment is your chance to do something about it.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 15

Doubting yourself

Other people are likely at times to doubt what you say. So get a jump on them, and exercise some healthy doubt of your own.

Be the first to challenge yourself, genuinely and robustly. That prepares you well to respond to the challenges of others.

Think of the ways you could be wrong, then work through them. By so doing you’ll improve your ability to be right.

Take care not to get trapped in your own perspective. Make it a point to look at that perspective with some degree of skepticism.

When you’re truly willing to change your own mind you’ll have greater power to change someone else’s mind. Know how to get past your own doubt and you’ll learn how to get past other doubt.

Yes, by all means have confidence in yourself and in what you have to say. Strengthen that confidence by testing it, and improving it, with doubt.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 16

Are you, can you, will you?

Life has something important to tell you. Are you listening?

Today contains valuable opportunities, some of which will never exist again. Are you prepared to act on them?

Wonder and beauty surround you. Are you attuned to them, and open to being inspired?

Problems, obstacles, and challenges constantly arise. Can you appreciate and embrace their value?

People are impossible to fully understand. Can you love them for who they are?

There’s so much to learn, to experience, to work through, to give. Will you?

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 17

The quality you put in

Know where you want to go. Start where you are.

Understand what is necessary. Make use of what you have.

Invest the time as it comes your way. Persist until you reach your objective.

Learn from every consequence. Improve with every effort.

Success is not a foregone conclusion. Yet it is well within your reach.

Life is largely a matter of what you do with it, moment upon moment, day after day. The quality you’re willing to put in determines the quality you’re able to experience.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 18

Reality as it unfolds

Has any experience ever ended up being not as bad as you thought it would be? Have you ever done something that turned out to be more difficult than you had previously assumed?

Don’t let fear stop you from moving into the future. But do prepare yourself as well as you can.

You cannot know exactly how anything is going to play out. You can, however, equip yourself to handle many different contingencies.

Probably nothing you do is going to be perfect, but neither is the whole world likely to fall to pieces. The reality, when you actually arrive there, falls somewhere in the middle.

Within that middle ground is opportunity to improve the experience, to create more value from it. Muster the courage to step forward tempered with the discipline to be reasonable and prepared.

In between your best expectations and your worst fears, you’ll find plenty of ground upon which to move into the future. Acknowledge and embrace reality as it unfolds, knowing there’s always good you can make of it.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 19

What works

It sounds good, the experts give it praise, it has popular support. But will it get the job done, solve the problem, reach the goal?

In the end what matters is one thing. Does it work?

Speculation is useful but not definitive. Planning, preparation, expertise, and experience all can help, but do not guarantee success.

You must find out what works, for the situation, for the time, for you and everyone else involved. To do that, you have to make a specific attempt and then make sure you’re honest about the results.

You’ll find out soon enough whether the approach works or whether it doesn’t. If it works, stick with it and if it doesn’t, move on and attempt something different.

Go beyond the noisy hypothesizing and put forth the effort to know for sure. Figure out what works, and then do it.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 20

Better than anger

Your anger is justified and understandable. But it’s not very healthy or helpful, and it doesn’t feel so great.

You don’t have to carry that anger around, letting it weigh you down. You can transform it into a more positive force.

Instead of being angry about a particular problem, perhaps you could fix the problem. Even though you didn’t cause it, you can have the good fortune of being the person who solves it.

Seething about what’s already happened won’t bring new value into your life. Yet taking positive action to improve the situation can benefit you and a whole lot of other people.

Let go of the need to exact punishment and retribution. Fill yourself instead with the desire to promote goodness, cooperation, and understanding.

You can do a whole lot better than anger. Get creative, identify an alternative, and choose not to let anger wear you down.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 21

Bestow a little goodness

Every aspect of your life is connected to every other aspect. Negativity, indolence, or negligence in one area can weigh down your whole world.

Fortunately, a little goodness in one corner of your experience can begin to lift up all the other parts of your life. When you value and nurture and support that goodness, it will grow.

Find a new place where you can inject a little positivity. Once you do, you’ll discover other opportunities for doing so in your own life and in the lives of others.

Often you cannot do anything directly about the troubles that descend on your world. Yet you can balance those troubles, and even overwhelm them, with goodness in other places.

You won’t be able to solve every problem. However, you can always do something real and genuine and beneficial.

Bestow a little goodness in your world when you can, where you can. Push life in an upward direction, and keep up the good effort.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 22

Make time your friend

The world is always enticing you to live for the moment. Just remember that the moment will soon pass.

The consequences of what you do right now, or fail to do, can be immense. And they continue to impact your life for a long time to come.

Yes, live well in the moment and make the most of it. But don’t do so at the expense of all your future moments.

When you pursue a small, immediate pleasure, are you sacrificing long-term fulfillment or well being? Make sure the cost you will eventually pay does not far outweigh whatever benefit you get right now.

Even better, choose actions now that result in continuing value later. Invest your present moments while you have them rather than mortgaging your future before you even get there.

Live and act such that whatever you do today makes tomorrow better, not worse. With your choices, make time your friend, enabling it to bring you a good and fulfilling future.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 23

Listen

Listen, with humility, with curiosity, with a genuine desire to help. Listen, without the need to prove anything, free of any assumptions about what you will hear.

Listen and learn. Listen and understand.

Listen and allow your perspective to be challenged. Listen and enable yourself to become more broadly informed, more considerate, more capable of having a positive impact.

Listen to the noise and draw energy from it. Listen to the silence and find the peace that lives within you.

Listen to gentle rain, booming thunder, whispers, shouts, harmony and cacophony. Listen, and hear life in all its glory, contrast, and richness.

Listen to time as it unfolds, to life as it grows in meaning and depth. Listen, then speak in your own voice about all you hear.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 24

Richness and variety

There are plenty of places, near and far, you’ve never been to. Choose one and pay it a visit.

There are all sorts of people you have never met. Make it your business to get to know one of them.

Life is filled with points of view you’ve never considered, disciplines you don’t understand. Devote some meaningful time to explore a few of them.

Is it worth even a few minutes to hear someone express the same opinion for the one hundred and forty seventh time? See if you can spend those minutes instead being surprised anew by the richness and variety of life.

What’s along the road you’ve never walked down? What enjoyable and fulfilling experiences do you not even know you’re missing?

Don’t let your spirit be imprisoned by the seduction of all that’s comfortable and familiar. Though you’ll never experience all there is to experience, you can always keep moving in that rewarding direction.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 25

Ownership of your attitude

What makes you feel better, what makes you feel worse? Could it be you, and how you choose to see life, to live life?

In the exact same situation, one person can be ecstatic and another person miserable. That’s pretty conclusive proof that attitude matters more than circumstance.

Maybe it is soothing to imagine events that conspired against you could soon turn around and come to your rescue. But it’s far more empowering to stand up and take responsibility.

Do you really need to indulge in this or that to feel better, or run away and hide? Or could you find it in yourself to elevate your attitude right where you are, as you are?

Yes, life is too much one way and not enough another way, unfair, oppressive, troublesome and complicated. But rather than being resentful and dismayed, what if you were inspired and energized by the positive possibilities?

Responsibility is there for the taking. See what happens when you let go of excuses and take ownership of your attitude.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 26

Do what must be done

Don’t avoid it, or worry about it, or construct elaborate excuses. Just go ahead and do what must be done.

Liberate yourself from self-imposed privation, disillusion, and lethargy. Energize your spirit, activate your skills, shake off the guilt and hesitation, and do what must be done.

Reward yourself with the fulfilling experience of being an active participant in your world, your life, your forward progress. Invigorate your awareness of all the good things that are possible by watching yourself as you make a real difference.

Today’s clock is already ticking away. Before another moment vanishes forever, begin to transform the fleeting time into enduring value.

Do what you know are the essential, beneficial, enriching things to do. Do what you are certain you would regret if you failed to do it.

Grab the opportunity of right now by pushing yourself into action. Live life in the most meaningful and rewarding way possible by doing what must be done.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 27

Put your values into action

The most powerful argument is not an argument at all. The most powerful argument is a good and fulfilling life.

The values and opinions you preach about will mostly just annoy people. Yet the positive results you achieve will cause those same people to seek you out.

Anybody can say anything, can scold, speculate, theorize, and make all sorts of fantastic promises. Yet what really matters is what you achieve, the difference you make in your own life and the lives of others.

There’s something you can do today to make tomorrow better than it otherwise would have been. You have the opportunity to put your values into action rather than just putting them into words.

Yes, what you say can be powerful. But it has to align with what you do, or your words ring hollow and meaningless.

Give more than lip service to what you care about. Give your time, your resources, your continuing effort, and embed your values deeply into life by the way you live.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 28

Choose well

What are you choosing right now? What will it add to or take away from your life?

The circumstances of your world do not just appear out of thin air. Many of them come from intentional or habitual choices, and a large portion of those choices are yours.

Some choices provide quick, trivial, pleasurable benefits at the expense of significant costs that come later. The problem with those choices is that later does eventually come.

Other choices impose burdens on you initially. Yet as you continue to willingly shoulder the burdens, those choices result in great, enduring value.

Any given moment offers countless options, with each one leading to even more options. Your ability to choose among those options provides immense opportunity.

Take that opportunity seriously, thoughtfully, and choose well. The quality of your life depends on your choices.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 29

Go deep

Dwell on a thing of substance. Spend more than a few seconds, more than a few minutes, in meaningful focus.

Pick a place where you can dive deeply into some specific aspect of life, and see how deep you can go. Find out how long you can stay there.

Do you seek a meaningful connections to life, to reality, to your own nature, to the lives of others? Then you must invest time and effort in those connections.

If you flitter endlessly from this new thing to the next new thing, what does that accomplish? It fills you with content but empties you of context, of purpose, of meaning.

It’s great to discover new places, meet new people, learn and experience new things. But if you immediately abandon them all in the hopes of getting more, what’s the point?

Embrace novelty, but not to such an extent that your life has no depth. Go deep, and make enduring connections with knowledge, with people, with experience, with what is real.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 30

Actively making life better

Today you can be the bright point in someone’s day, merely by being kind and considerate. Think about what a powerful and fortunate position that is to be in.

You can embark on a journey of discovery and wonder without ever venturing outside your neighborhood. You can learn a hundred new things today, tomorrow, every day, and become richer for it.

You have the opportunity to grow stronger in body, mind, and spirit. You possess the ability to connect with all sorts of people who can add great treasure to your experience of life.

Some days you might feel like there’s nothing you can do. On those days that feeling is, for whatever reason, sorely mistaken.

For there is always much good you can do. And it’s essential to keep that in mind.

Sure, things haven’t gone your way, life is difficult and even painful, yet you still have many good options. Choose one, or several, and benefit from the experience of actively making life better.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 31

What you can and cannot do

You can’t do everything, but you can do something. You can’t change the whole world, but you can make a difference.

It’s frustrating when you’re weighed down and impeded by factors far beyond your control. The more you focus on those immovable obstacles, the more frustrated you become.

So make the choice to shift your focus. Turn your thoughts away from what you can’t do, and toward what you can do.

No, the world is certainly not perfect, but then neither are you. And though you can’t make much of a dent in the outside world, there are lots of ways to improve yourself, your surroundings, your opportunities.

Sure, outside forces are holding you back, but what might you be doing to also hold yourself back? And what steps could you take to remove those self-imposed obstacles?

Re-direct the energy of your frustration into positive, purposeful activity to create meaningful improvements. And by doing so you’ll better position yourself for whatever difficulties life throws at you.

— Ralph Marston