Daily Motivator - February

[bluidkiti]

February 1

More beautiful

There’s some neglected little corner of your life that’s gotten kind of dingy. Maybe today you could make it beautiful.

Imagine the sense of purpose you’ll experience in the process. Think of the satisfaction you’ll carry with you long afterwards.

At any time, in some way, you are able to make a tangible improvement in your world. That’s something you can prove again and again to yourself, and to others, with a modicum of focused effort.

Doing so will activate creativity, boost confidence, inspire and energize you. There’s something about participating in beauty that resonates deeply, and positively.

Consider what could benefit from your care, your attention to detail, your choice to do what’s good and right just because you can. Notice how nice the enthusiasm feels when you think along those lines.

Transform that enthusiasm into action, and make some particular part of your life more beautiful. It’s an excellent use of your time that you’ll long remember and never regret.

— Ralph Marston

[willbe275]

Happy New Month Tammy and Kracker.
Thanking God for getting us though
the month of February safe and sound.
God bless you as we Journey through this
new month together with His love.

[bluidkiti]

God bless you willbe and everyone!

[bluidkiti]

February 2

Complicated mess

It’s a highly complex world out there. However, in that complexity you’ll find plenty of opportunities to live with grace, goodness, and fulfillment.

Various single, simple factors do exert their influences. But no one thing is going to cause or solve all your problems all the time.

Living with positive purpose requires navigating through the complexity with persistence, with fortitude. You must be willing and able to pick yourself up and win after repeated defeats.

Quick and easy answers make for powerful promises. Yet almost always they are a lousy strategy.

Set a clear and meaningful goal. Then be willing to work your way through the complicated mess of reality in order to get there.

Much opportunity exists in the complexity of life. Embrace that complexity, understand and appreciate your ability to deal with it, and live the success that is yours to achieve.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 3

Enriching choices

Every day you have a strictly limited amount of time. The more of that time you can spend on what you love, on what you care about, on what you’re fascinated and fulfilled by, the better.

When you’re fully engaged, you’re fully alive. And whether or not it has any impact on anyone’s financial bottom line, you’re creating value.

Many of the results of your efforts can be measured. But not all the outcomes that matter can be quantified.

Nonetheless, those outcomes affect the quality of your life. That’s well worth considering when choosing how to live each day.

There are reasons why you love, reasons you care, reasons you’re curious, good reasons why you feel drawn in specific directions. Even if you can’t fully articulate those reasons, it’s important to respect them and to follow where they point you.

Your time is limited, your options are limitless, and that dichotomy compels you to choose. Make those choices wise and enriching ones by being clear about what matters most.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 4

Feeling stuck

Are you feeling stuck where you are? That’s great, because it means you’re ready to get moving in a more rewarding direction.

Within you is the desire to move away from some specific aspect of your current situation. You can harness that desire and transform it into progress.

From your feeling of being stuck, you can extract energy, motivation, and effective action. To do that, look beyond where you are and decide on the direction you wish to go.

There’s passion in the feeling of being stuck, but it’s a negative passion that won’t lead to anything other than resentment and despair. Yet you can choose to reshape it into passion for a positive purpose.

When you’re feeling stuck, ask yourself why. Develop a clear and detailed picture of what you’re being prevented from doing, being, feeling, or expressing.

Then you can take whatever actions get you moving toward what you desire. Turn the intense feeling of being stuck on its head and use its energy to push you in a positive, fulfilling direction.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 5

Remember the possibilities

If you are even the slightest bit discouraged, you’re not paying attention. You’re only seeing a tiny fraction of possibilities.

Yes, terrible things can and do happen, some people are idiots and others are tyrants, that is all true. But those harsh realities have always been present, and just look at how incredibly far life has come in spite of them.

There are tools and resources instantly available to you that your great-grandfather would have willingly worked for decades to obtain. Ask yourself, what would he think of you letting such an opportunity as you now have go to waste?

For your entire life you’ve experienced that your actions have consequences. By applying enough of those actions in a consistent, meaningful, purposeful direction, you can create positive change in your world.

That power exists every morning when you wake up. It’s up to you to decide where to direct it, and then to put forth the effort required.

All things considered, that’s a small price to pay for creating value and fulfillment. And now is a great time for putting that bargain into practice.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 6

Wave of achievement

You can do this. Breathe, focus, direct your attention to the task at hand.

Make it your intention to quiet the off-topic chattering of your mind. Consider the value that will come from getting good work done.

Now, take inventory of all the skills, knowledge, resources, connections and energy available to you. You’ve created excellent results before and here you are, doing it again.

This is your chance to be a humble yet beneficial force in the lives around you. Recognize the profound gratitude you feel to have that opportunity.

Continue making your way forward. Let your commitment to purpose push you quickly through any possible distractions or interruptions.

Ride the rewarding wave of achievement all the way to its completion. You can do this, you are doing this, and indeed you’ll get it done.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 7

Live it now

Fill today with living. That’s what it’s for.

As each moment passes, bring into being some fresh new richness. There’s no shortage of possibilities for doing so.

What have you always wanted to learn? What experiences, achievements, observations, and joys would best fill the hours of this day?

Before you dare to wish for more opportunities, make use of the ones you already have. Instead of putting off fulfillment until some later date, go ahead and live it now.

You’ll always have the excuses, but you only have one shot at living this day. So step beyond those excuses and live today as fully as you can imagine.

Life is yours, and it’s a great thing to have. Live it now.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 8

It comes back

You gain more by giving than you do by demanding. Whatever you need or want or otherwise seek, find ways to offer.

If you wish to learn, a powerful way is to teach. To be better understood, do the work and spend the time to understand.

Life, and the people who live it, reflect your attitude back to you, often with remarkable fidelity. Those around you regularly pick up on and mimic your priorities, your actions and expressions.

You can’t compel anyone to treat you better. Yet you can choose precisely how you interact with everyone else, and that has a big impact.

You have much more power than you may realize. That power is best exercised not through complaints and demands, but with the contributions you make and the genuine favors you offer.

Listen patiently, care sincerely, engage respectfully, speak and act honestly. Because one way or another, it comes back to you.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 9

Deeper perspective

The problems and disturbances are all near the surface. Go deep, and you’ll find your way beyond them.

The tumult and confusion can be overwhelming if you keep yourself in the middle of it. Take a step back, and give yourself some perspective.

When you become completely wrapped up in the comings and goings of your outer life, it can quickly wear you down. Connect often to your inner purpose, and let it revitalize you.

There is nothing to be gained by running away or hiding from your troubles. Yet there is everything to be gained by detaching yourself from them.

You are more than whatever is troubling you. Give yourself some distance and give yourself the opportunity to successfully address the causes of your problems, not just the symptoms.

Your difficulties do not define you, yet they do give you an opportunity to move powerfully forward. Go deep, to your most treasured purpose, and the storms on the surface cannot stop you.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 10

The response you choose

Smile at the setbacks, laugh at the frustrations. Life is the way it is, yet you have wide latitude in the responses you choose.

You can be serious while also having fun. You can be tolerant and open to new ideas while also standing firm in your deeply-held values.

It’s completely possible for you to be imaginative and at the same time realistic. Those things other people assume to be in conflict, you can bring together in creative and valuable ways.

You don’t have to get caught up in an assumption that going with one option necessarily excludes all the other options. Many things can be true, many things possible, at once.

When conventional wisdom seems to make no sense, give yourself permission to be unconventional. Dare to say what’s obvious, and dare to see beyond the obvious.

Just because it’s always been done, just because everyone is saying or doing it, doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for you. Take all you know and feel and care about into account, and go with the response you choose.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 11

Solid focus and effort

You have a little bit of time and a lot to do. That’s not a good reason to be in a frantic rush.

Do your best to focus all your attention on one task and get it done before moving on. Worrying about what you need to do next won’t help what you’re doing now or what you’re doing next.

Few people ever have as much time as they would like. Even so, many people are able to accomplish all sorts of amazing things with the time they do have.

You can too, right here, right now. Just give good, quality attention to the work at hand.

Conditions are not ideal, perhaps you’ve been put in an unfair position, the task is difficult and complicated. Yet you have the ability to set aside all those factors you can’t control.

When you do that, the results can be almost magical. Without the frantic rush, with no agonizing over the difficulties, with solid focus and effort, there’s much you can achieve.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 12

It can wait

You’d like to do it all at once. But that’s just not possible.

Focus your awareness and energy on the single best choice for now. Intentionally set aside other matters until you can give each one the time and attention it deserves.

Occasionally you’ll encounter a genuine emergency, a situation you must address immediately. But for anything else, you’ll benefit by reminding yourself it can wait until you’re done with what’s at hand.

Your eagerness to get started is great, and your concern about waiting too long is well founded. Yet you must work within the reality that there’s only so much you can do at once.

Certainly you don’t want to put off any important task indefinitely. However, it doesn’t accomplish anything to get too far ahead of yourself.

Fully enjoy what you enjoy, and deal effectively with what must be handled. Instead of failing to do everything at once, succeed by giving to each experience the time required to live it well.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 13

Ordinary wonder

Experience and enjoy the ordinary wonder that is all around you. Marvel at the enchantment that exists within a single beam of sunlight.

Stop, open yourself, and give life the chance to amaze you. It always will.

Slow down and examine the endless implications behind some of those things you normally rush right on past. Discover the extraordinary depth and richness that stretch out in every direction.

Everything you know gives you the opportunity to know more. There is no end to what you can explore.

As useful as your knowledge and models and assumptions may be, they are all based on partial information. You can always experience anew, always learn more, and thereby vastly improve the quality of your life and your world.

Great treasures forever remain in the ordinary wonder that constantly surrounds you. Find a few and share them today.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 14

Dedication to truth

Speak up, and speak the truth. Be honest, and give others the opportunity to be honest with you.

Make no apologies for recognizing and acknowledging what is true, what is real. Your dedication to truth not only improves your own life, but is ultimately beneficial to everyone.

It can be convenient in the short term to pretend that what’s obvious is not really there. But all that does is create more problems down the road.

The sooner you get the truth out in the open, the better. The longer you wait to deal with a painful truth, the more painful it will be.

Being truthful is an act of love, of confidence, of trust and understanding and kindness. Even when truth hurts, it helps.

Speak and act and live on the side of what is real. As challenging as life certainly can be, it is always best when aligned with truth.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 15

Incremental progress

You can’t learn a new language overnight. But you can learn two or three new words each day.

You can’t jump instantly over a 300-foot hill. Yet you can walk up one side and down the other without too much trouble.

Everything you seek to do is going to require some effort over time. When you take the necessary time, and make the appropriate effort, just about anything is possible.

It’s not usually going to be quick or easy, maybe not particularly simple. Still, with sufficient persistence, you can work your way from where you are to where you wish to be.

In doing so, you’re likely to face more challenges than some people would face, and probably less than others. Rather than wasting your time obsessing over the unfairness of that reality, put your energy into the achievement itself, every chance you get.

Each moment is an opportunity for incremental progress. Make wise use of all those opportunities that continually arrive.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 16

Dialing down your desire

A certain amount of ambition is healthy and beneficial. But don’t let your ambition blind you to the value of what’s already yours.

Yes, you can always desire more, always think of ways to improve your life, your situation, and the lives of those around you. Yet it’s also good to enjoy, appreciate, and fulfill the potential of what you already have.

Perhaps today is not perfect, not completely ideal. Nonetheless, it is here right now, here for you to live.

Instead of obsessing over what would make it better, you could focus on what makes it good. You could dial down your desire and simply enjoy your reality.

Maybe you could simply let yourself be happy and content for a while. After all, you’ve put much time and effort into getting here, and you deserve a little enjoyment.

The challenges will continue to arrive, and it’s good that you’ll continue to have plenty of ambition to deal with them. Yet it’s also good, every now and then, to give that ambition a rest, and to enjoy being the beautiful person you are.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 17

Simple miracle

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you apply yourself with sincere purpose. It’s shocking how empty life can become when you don’t.

Fulfillment is not a matter of merely getting what you want. Fulfillment comes from giving what you can, to your own life, to the lives of others.

Pleasure feels good while you’re experiencing it. Then the good feeling quickly fades.

Making a difference also can be rewarding while you’re doing it, yet that is only the beginning. For the rewards of contributing positively to the world will endure far beyond the moment, far beyond you.

There’s a simple miracle you can perform today, and every day. With your intention, with your discipline, with your actions, you can transform potential value into existing value.

It’s a formula for success that’s already created enormous goodness in your life and in your world. Today you have the opportunity to keep that good trend going.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 18

Engage with existence

Possibilities dance around you, tempting, warning, inviting. Pick the one that best serves your purpose right now, and go with it.

Don’t settle for merely wondering what might have been. Engage with this magnificent existence you’re part of, and discover what can be.

Is the weather cloudy, sunny, stormy, hot or cold? Are the people around you disagreeable, helpful, distant, or kind?

Whatever the situation, there’s something good you can do with it. A few short steps away is a new experience ready to be lived.

In the next few hours you can transform potential into concrete value. You can pull some particular and meaningful form of richness from your imagination and bring it into reality.

Give yourself a big, healthy dose of the satisfaction that comes from participating fully in life. See what great things happen when you embrace the good fortune of being here right now.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 19

What you can when you can

You don’t have enough time to get it all done. But you always have enough time to do what you can.

The clock is ticking. But then, it always is.

You can fret and complain about your limited amount of time. But that will drain even more time away.

Instead, go ahead and do just a little bit of what needs doing. And although it might only be a fraction, it’s a whole lot better than nothing.

Then eventually you’ll have a little more time. With that time you can do a little more, and even more with the time that will surely come later.

And you’ll discover that by doing what you can when you can, something amazing will happen. You’ll get it all done.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 20

Positive, purposeful direction

Not every attempt brings the results you intend. Yet every desired result you are able to achieve comes from making an attempt.

The odds won’t be completely in your favor when you move forward. But the odds are entirely against you when you decline to take any positive action at all.

No matter what has happened in the past, no matter where you are in the present, one fact remains true. There’s always something you can learn, some new effort you can make, a particular path you can pursue toward a desirable result.

Today in a small way, or a more ambitious way, or perhaps even in a big way, you can attempt more. You can make the decision to move higher, and you can put that decision into action.

If today’s effort doesn’t work out, that’s okay. Because you can learn from it and make a more informed and experienced effort tomorrow.

Keep pushing yourself consistently in a positive, purposeful direction. Eventually you’ll work yourself to your intended destination.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 21

Life in all its richness

You are here today to experience life in all its richness. Embrace every opportunity to do so.

Succumb to the pleadings of your curiosity. Exercise the power of your courage.

Offer healthy challenges to your mind, your body, and your assumptions. Grow stronger in all dimensions by working honestly through those challenges.

Share who you are, what you know, how you feel with the other people who inhabit your life. With your words and especially your actions, fortify existing bonds and seek to build new ones.

Though it can be all too easy to repose endlessly in your habitual comforts, you know you deserve much more. Ignite your sense of adventure by intentionally stepping away from what’s comfortable and expected.

There are specific pathways today that will show you how intensely alive you can be. Choose one, follow where it leads, then keep the richness going.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 22

Desire and purpose

It’s all too easy to get locked into a pattern of chasing one desire after another. Though you often end up getting what you want, it never seems to be enough, and is quickly replaced by more desires.

To get beyond that dilemma, turn your focus toward purpose. Each time a desire arises, stop and consider whether what you want in the moment aligns with a more enduring purpose.

Desire drives you to achieve. Its energy can push you into action and sustain your efforts.

Make sure all that energy is pointed in a meaningful direction. Rather than merely satisfying a fleeting desire, you can use the energy in the service of a fulfilling purpose.

Though you certainly must address immediate needs, seek to do so without compromising your long-term goals. You’re actually very skilled and experienced at achieving what you choose to achieve, and it’s in your best interest to use that power thoughtfully.

Before jumping and striving for what you desire, ask if it will matter a year from now, and if not, then what will? Turn your energy and awareness toward deeper purpose, and create the fulfillment of which you’re capable.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 23

Let the minor things go

A minor aggravation is just a minor aggravation. Don’t fall into the trap of magnifying it into something bigger than it is.

Most likely you can simply forget all about it and everything will be fine. Plus, you’ll free your time, energy, and awareness for more meaningful pursuits.

But it gets much better than that. Because the more you’re able to let the minor things go, the stronger, more purposeful, more resilient you become.

That doesn’t mean you don’t care. It means you choose to invest your attention and your effort in what truly matters, in what will make a difference.

By being less easily annoyed, less easily offended, you become much more effective. By letting go of your seething and frustration, you’re able to engage in real, transformative action.

The next time you’re tempted to obsess over some minor issue, remind yourself of the option and the benefits of simply letting it go. Enjoy the freedom, the power, and the intentional energy that gives you.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 24

This day that’s here

This is the day that’s here. This is the day you now have.

You won’t gain anything today by wishing for what might have been. You’re not going to create any value by filling your thoughts with resentment for whatever brought you to this point.

What matters now is what actions you take to fill today with the best you have. What matters now is making positive, meaningful use of the day that is.

This day has the very real potential of being a turning point in your life. Years from now, you could be looking back on today with an overflowing sense of satisfaction and gratitude.

What can you do, right now, to bring that about? What can you put into this day that will grow ever more precious as time goes on?

Today provides the time and the place for you to carry your life forward. So where do you choose today, right now, to go?

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 25

Yours today

Whatever you are, however you are, own it. Whatever you do, engage in it fully.

Live every moment with authentic intensity born of gratitude, wonder, kindness, love. Marvel at all that’s available to you, at all you can do with it, and transform that feeling into action.

When you don’t know, admit that, and then you can learn. When you do know, make good use of that knowledge, apply it toward positive and meaningful purposes.

Begin each day early, ready and willing to make a positive impact. Persist in your effort, long after you’ve worked on through the initial impulse to give up.

Recognize the unique position you occupy. Understand the richness of time and opportunity with which you’re endowed, right now.

Do, think, dream, feel, with everything you are. Life is yours today, and well worth all you can give.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 26

Meaningful experience

There’s something you can do today that you’ll treasure later. Consider what it might be.

Many of your day’s activities will rush quickly into awareness and then recede just as quickly. Yet with the right amount of attention and caring, you can always make any particular experience meaningful and memorable.

Shared experiences are often the ones that have the best chance for enduring significance. Authentic experiences that demand the best from you can be similarly meaningful.

It can be easy to convince yourself you’re too busy to connect with someone special, or to trouble yourself with authentic, enriching activities. Most of the time, though, that’s not really true.

You have the ability, you can find the time. The opportunity exists for rich and meaningful experience, if you’ll make it a priority.

Your life is precious, all of life is precious. Remember to give it the care and attention it deserves.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 27

Reasonable, commonsense middle

When one perspective is opposed to another, that doesn’t necessarily mean one is totally right and the other completely wrong. You’re likely to find truth, wisdom, and utility in each one.

The same forces that are empowering and beneficial in some ways can also be oppressive and destructive in other ways. Life as we know it would be impossible without water, yet in certain contexts water can be deadly.

Just because a concept, person, organization, or process has certain negative aspects, doesn’t make it all bad. Just because something is useful and has positive qualities, doesn’t make it worthy of unquestioned worship.

You have to be willing to accept the bad with the good. Otherwise your choices narrow to almost no choice at all.

In the world of computers and logic, binary choices can be configured to be highly useful. Yet to successfully navigate the messy, imperfect world at large, you have to be more nuanced.

Be careful of accepting or rejecting anything based on just one or two factors. Give yourself access to all the value that’s found in the reasonable, commonsense middle.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 28

Dare to achieve

Go ahead and dream. Go ahead and act on your dream.

Dare to desire improvement, progress, achievement, fulfillment. Do the work to make it happen.

Embrace the challenges as they point the way to your goal. Learn, adapt, inquire, wonder, and most of all, act.

Your life today is greatly enhanced by the ambition, competence, and achievement of countless individuals going back for centuries. Keep the goodness of their achievements going with your own positive focus and dedication.

Seek to better understand and experience the reality of existence. Work to improve upon what you discover.

The possibilities have no limit. Do your part to bring the best ones into being.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 29

Avoiding new regrets

Regret does not bring back missed opportunities. But it can prevent you from taking current opportunities for granted.

There’s a good reason why regret can be so painful. It reminds you not to make a similar mistake again.

Though you cannot escape the regrets you’ve already created, you can make positive use of them. You can learn from them and be motivated by them.

With your choices today, you’re able to avoid being burdened by additional regrets. You have the opportunity to leverage your past experience and thereby improve your future.

Instead of being more regretful tomorrow, you can be more thankful. Rather than wishing you had done things differently, you can be satisfied with your choices, priorities, and actions.

Consider what you can do right now to make that happen. And let your regrets recede further and further into the past.

— Ralph Marston