Daily Motivator - December

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December 1

You made it through

You've experienced difficult situations you thought you would never get through. And yet you did make it through.

There have been times when challenges seemed to completely overwhelm you. And though you thought you might never overcome them, you did.

You've suffered losses you thought you'd never be able to get beyond. And as painful as they were, you found a way to move forward.

So here you are now, stronger, wiser, with valuable skills, knowledge and experience. Every difficulty that has come, you've made it through, and have grown as a result.

Yes, there will likely be more rough times ahead, and perhaps you're going through some particularly difficult ones right now. So it's good to remind yourself often of those times when you couldn't see yourself making it through, and yet you did.

There's really never any reason to doubt yourself, for each time the challenges seemed insurmountable, you made it through. And even more importantly, going forward, you will again.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 2

A life lived with goodness

You cannot win an argument by arguing. To bring people around to your point of view, you must first win their hearts.

You cannot obtain value without providing value in return. The only way to have value that means anything is to earn it.

You cannot cheat at cards, at love or at life without eventually paying a price that far outweighs anything the cheating brings you. Choose instead to put your energy into living with integrity, to create lasting richness with your time and efforts.

The opportunities are many and the rewards can be great. Don't cheat yourself out of experiencing a life lived with goodness.

Don't waste your precious time clamoring and fighting for what seem to be shortcuts. Go the full distance, make the whole effort, with love as your strategy and joy as your inspiration.

Step up to the challenge of living every day in goodness, true to your highest ideals. Let go of any fantasy that you'll get something for nothing, and discover the immense richness of giving the best you have.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 3

Giving kindness

Giving kindness feels better than just about anything you could get. Giving kindness improves the world, and you can do it any time you choose.

When you become outraged by negativity, then negativity has won. Instead, become kinder, more tolerant, understanding and compassionate.

Make kindness a key part of whatever you say. Include genuine kindness in whatever you do.

Boasting and self-centeredness are quickly forgotten, if they are even noticed in the first place. Kindness is long remembered and deeply appreciated.

Kindness is a sure sign of strength. Exercise your strength with kindness and you grow even stronger.

The world can always benefit from more kindness. Give it some more, every chance you get.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 4

Countless possibilities

Let go of your inclination to find something wrong. Give yourself the intention to see what is good, what is beautiful, useful and valuable.

Acknowledge the problems and deal with them. Then let them go.

Stop imagining the world has something against you. Start reminding yourself more often of the countless possibilities open to you.

Allow yourself to be satisfied in this moment. Allow the peace that is always within you to fill your awareness.

Free your thoughts from the distracting echoes of events that are long past. Focus on the new beauty you can create now.

Draw fresh strength from the wondrous existence in which you're immersed. Take that strength, invest it in now, and make rich, meaningful experience with it.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 5

Go to the trouble

Go to the trouble, take the initiative, do the work and make good things happen. Throw off the excuses, blast past the distractions and get it done.

Stand up, step forward, get started and keep going for as long as necessary. This stuff isn't that hard and you can do it.

You'll thank yourself for how good it makes you feel to get the work done. You'll thank yourself again when you realize you've exchanged fleeting moments for lasting value.

The purposeful part of you hungers to make a difference. Get yourself busy and feed that hunger.

Don't sink into the comfortable mediocrity of doing nothing. Challenge yourself to live with the richness you deserve.

Fill this day with focused effort, new experience, and the satisfaction of achievement. Enjoy the rewards you create for yourself and all those you care about by going to the trouble.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 6

Easy to be thankful

It’s easy and natural to complain when life is not meeting your expectations. What if it were just as easy, just as natural to be thankful and to see the good in whatever is going on?

In fact, it can be just as easy, and completely natural, to be thankful. All you have to do is make the choice.

Being thankful is really very easy. It’s even easier when you understand and experience how powerful it can be.

Gratitude gives you a distinct advantage. And it is just as reasonable and just as accessible as any alternative.

Remind yourself how easy it can be to simply be thankful. Then take that easy route to real richness in life.

There is no good reason to deny yourself the power of gratitude. Make the easy choice to be thankful, and you’ll easily be thankful you did.

— Ralph Marston

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December 7

Activate your willingness

Don't let life throw you off track. Do what you have decided to do.

Though the distractions entice, you don't have to give in to them. Though the excuses promise an easy way to quit, you can roll right on past any temptation to do so.

Make a commitment, and then honor it. Set a goal, and then reach it.

Look beyond the immediate moment, and see what you can achieve. With that vision in mind, persevere through whatever comes and make the achievement yours.

Sure, there are factors and forces working against you. Don't be one of them.

Go ahead, take the next step, and the next and the next, until you have done what you set out to do. Exercise your focus, exercise your discipline, activate your willingness to do what must be done, and enjoy all the richness you're able to create.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 8

Free yourself from anger

When anger arises, you can let it go, and create more room for joy. Though you have the right to be angry, you also have the right to free yourself from anger.

When someone or some situation angers you, step back and consider your options. Choose the option that will bring the most positive value in the long run.

Anger can quickly clarify your priorities, raise your energy level and get you going. But anger won't sustain your efforts.

When you've been hurt, it's natural to be angry. But don't perpetuate the pain by hanging on to the anger.

Let the anger go, and transform its energy into positive determination. Direct your efforts toward building and improving, not toward destruction and vengeance.

Do yourself a favor by doing what's best for you and for everyone else. Free yourself from anger, and free yourself to be your best.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 9

Continued path forward

Each failure is an investment in your ultimate success. Don't squander the investment by beating yourself up over it.

Instead, let your biggest failures set the stage for your biggest successes. Let your worst mistakes position you to reach your greatest achievements.

When you learn through actual experience what doesn't work, you're making yourself an expert at what does work. Treasure the real-world expertise that comes from the setbacks and errors, and build on it.

Look objectively at what went wrong, and consider new ways to make it right. Transform the energy of your past disappointments into forward-looking determination.

Whether you get the desired result or not, give yourself credit for making the effort. Then take what you have learned and make another effort.

Keep going, keep learning, keep gathering experience through the ups and the downs. Decide that whatever happens will provide a continued path forward, and it will.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 10

Every ordinary moment

Do you wish to live an extraordinary life? Then be sure to give value, respect and appreciation to the ordinary moments.

A rich and satisfying life is built over time. Most of that time comes packaged as ordinary days, ordinary moments, ordinary tasks and circumstances.

In every ordinary moment, you have the opportunity to give your best, to create new value, to make a difference. The more of those opportunities you make full use of, the more fulfilling life will be.

There is no magic wand you can wave to instantly ease all your burdens and fulfill all your desires. However, you can work the magic of your own effectiveness, bit by bit, in each moment that comes your way.

By doing that consistently, your burdens will indeed be eased and your dreams will absolutely come to life. By harvesting the value of each moment as it arrives, you can create a life of meaning and fulfillment.

This day is filled with ordinary moments, each with its own opportunities. Act now, and work to gather life's treasures as they flow steadily into your world.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 11

Involved and inspired

Get yourself moving, speaking, writing, listening, building and creating, and the inspiration you seek will come. Raise your energy level and you'll attract inspiration like a magnet.

The times when you are most inspired are the times when you are most involved in life. Get involved and you will be inspired.

Speak, and you will find your voice. Dance, and you will find your rhythm.

Work, and you will find a worthy and fulfilling purpose. Step forward, set forth on the journey, and you will find the path.

A ship sailing across the sea is guided by its rudder only when it is in motion. In the same way, inspiration will guide and enhance your life to the extent you make yourself an active participant.

Waiting for inspiration is nothing more than an excuse to avoid effort. Stop waiting, start moving, and live a truly inspired life.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 12

Where the time has gone

Some days can make you wonder where the time has gone. However, the time has not really gone away, but has been steadily making you into who you are.

Though it can seem that time is slipping away, it is not. The moments, the hours, the days that come and then go are filling you with richness, not passing you by.

All the time, you are becoming a more experienced, wiser and more capable version of you. As time moves past it is never lost, but is woven forever into the fabric of your life.

It is never too early and never too late to embrace the moment you're in, to live the fullness and beauty of right now. The more you make of this time while it's here, the more valuable it will always remain in your life.

As the clock continues to tick, see that it measures not what you are losing but what you are continuing to gain. No matter what has happened before, you always can make this moment, this week, this year better than the last.

Time is yours in which to act, to love, to grow, to learn, experience and live. The more of it you live, the richer you become.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 13

Plain old hard work

What transforms a great idea into a great achievement? Mostly, it is plain old hard work.

It doesn’t hurt to be clever or well connected, or to be in the right place at the right time. Yet what matters most to any success is simply showing up and doing the work.

Great big wonderful things of value are built by adding together small bits of value created in the ordinary moments. The most reliable way to success is to be reliable about putting forth the effort.

Though you may have many great and powerful tools at your disposal, don’t expect those tools to do the all work for you. The more you invest yourself in the achievement, the more you’ll get out of it.

Plain old hard work is not something to be avoided, but rather something to be sought after and celebrated. In addition to building worthwhile achievements, it builds you, your skills, your confidence and self esteem.

Seek the work, embrace the work and do the work. In that plain old hard work you’ll find your very own path to fulfillment of the most satisfying kind.

— Ralph Marston

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December 14

Positive feelings

The way you felt up until this minute is no longer relevant. What matters now is not how you used to feel, but how you choose to feel.

If you've felt weary or listless, discouraged or distracted, that's all over. You've just arrived at the opportunity to feel energetic and enthusiastic, purposeful and focused.

There's never any reason to complain about how bad you feel. Because you can always choose how good to feel.

Pick a feeling that will serve you well, and then fill yourself with that feeling. Positive feelings are just as accessible and realistic as negative ones, plus they're a whole lot more fun and productive.

Feel empowered, feel creative, feel motivated and eager to take action. Instead of letting any outside factor get you down, let your own intentions lift you up and push you forward.

Decide now to feel creative, productive, joyful, energetic and ready to give your best to every situation. Choose positive feelings, and act so that life unfolds according to your choice.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 15

Getting your way

Do you realize how much worry, frustration and anxiety you could save yourself by simply letting go of the need to always get your way? Getting your way, just for the sake of getting your way, adds no value to your life, and can seriously sour your moments and relationships.

In a similar vein, proving you're right, just for the sake of proving you're right, brings you nothing worthwhile. Mainly, it gives people reasons to resent you and avoid you.

Trying to impress people with how rich or stylish or sophisticated or informed you are, can also be a big waste of your life. Seek instead to connect in a friendly, genuine, humble and caring way, and your efforts will bring much more fulfilling fruit.

Life gives you too many good opportunities for you to be wasting your time on pursuits that won't do you any good. Put your time and energy not into satisfying your shallow ego, but into making positive, meaningful progress.

Certainly it is important to do what you intend to do and to make yourself and your perspectives understood. Yet there's nothing to be gained by alienating other people in your life in order to meet your goals.

Look for ways to give your love and focused, caring efforts to life. That will bring you considerably more joy and fulfillment than merely getting your way.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 16

Grace and integrity

Do the hard stuff. The hard stuff is what brings new value into the world.

Commit to excellence, never failing to honor that commitment. Though you know it is not easy, you also know it is best.

Embrace difficult challenges. Somebody has to push life forward, and you are just the person to do it.

Think, speak, act and live with responsibility. Set a positive example, showing all the world how good life can be when it is lived with no excuses.

Be always deeply thankful for the possibilities, for the beauty, for it all. Abundance grows when it is recognized and appreciated.

Add joy to each moment. Meet, then exceed life's demands, and with grace and integrity, live it well.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 17

Putting yourself on the line

You have to go through the defeats in order to appreciate the victories. You have to live with risk in order to create meaningful rewards.

If all you ever do is remain hidden away from the messiness and discomfort of life, you'll never know much of its richness. Confining yourself to a safe, comfortable space, and avoiding every challenge, will cheat you out of life's greatest experiences.

Give yourself the opportunity to make a difference in the face of real world risks and demands. Give yourself the satisfaction of calling upon your wits, your discipline, your efforts and your persistence.

Know how great it feels to grow stronger as you work through the challenges. Give yourself the incomparable experience of triumphing over difficult circumstances.

Seek out people, places, situations and ideas that challenge you. Discover and strengthen what you truly care about by putting yourself on the line.

Life is difficult and magnificent at the same time. Work eagerly through the difficulties and earn yourself a place in the magnificence.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 18

Live the wonder

Live in awe of this day, of this existence, of this magical time and place you call now. Breathe in the ever fresh air of possibility and let it fill you with inspiration.

Delight in the biggest of wonders that exist within the smallest of details. Experience joy just because you choose to.

Look around, with eyes wide open, and see the magnificent realm in which you are immersed. Reflect, consider, dream, imagine, and feel the exhilarating spark of new possibilities as they fill your awareness.

Go forth in a state of awe and gratitude. Be inspired to the core by what is, and determined to make something good out of it today.

You are alive, aware, unique and capable. Remind yourself of the immense opportunity that exists right now and of your responsibility to do something beautiful and meaningful with it.

See the true wonder in all there is and in all you can do. Live the wonder, now and always.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 19

Essential mission

You are here today to live a life of meaning, and to live it well. You are here today to make a difference.

You are here today to witness the beauty of this life. You are here today to take action, and to create new goodness.

Today, you are here to express values you treasure. Today, you are here to support all you love and care about.

You are here today to learn, to grow, to feel and to give. You are here to wonder, to explore, to share and to encourage.

You are here today because no one else can do what you can do. No one else can offer what you have to offer.

Live today as though it is your unique, essential mission to be you and to be doing what you do. For in countless ways, on all kinds of levels, it is.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 20

No need to criticize

Let go of the need to criticize yourself and others. Enjoy doing good things without doubting what you do.

Put your energy into effective effort, not into second guessing your own work or the work of anyone else. Let what has happened be, and move positively forward from it.

Honor the thoughts and feelings you have by turning them into positive action. There’s a good reason you are the way you are, so let yourself be the authentic you.

Use your time and your brilliant, creative mind to move yourself forward. Don’t waste that valuable creativity on excuses or doubts or unnecessary judgments.

Be okay with what has been, with where you are, with what you’ve done and with what you have to work with. Then grab the next positive possibility and run with it.

There’s no need to criticize, to doubt or hold yourself back. Today, let the greatness within you flow freely into your world.

— Ralph Marston

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December 21

Limitless ways
If you grow a little stronger and wiser today, you have succeeded. If you give love today, then today has been worthwhile.

If you learn something today, and become more capable, then you have been successful. If you have seen and appreciated the beauty that surrounds you, then you have made significant progress.

It is a sad mistake to limit your definition of success to just a few superficial things. In truth, there is no limit to the number of ways you can succeed.

Life is overflowing with opportunities that are loaded with abundance and piled on top of possibilities. Real, meaningful success is available in every moment, in countless ways, in any circumstance.

You can invent new ways to succeed that have never before been contemplated. You can find and live new richness that has never before been experienced.

Live, love, share, learn, build, experience, appreciate and enjoy. Success is yours to create in a thousand million different ways right now.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 22

Guided by purpose

If there is no purpose behind your effort, it's difficult to do even the simplest, easiest things. Yet when you have a meaningful enough reason, nothing can stand in your way.

When you have a good reason, you can do anything, and you will. With a solid purpose behind you, you are able to endure any hardship, undertake any effort, and work through every difficulty.

If you feel tired and unmotivated, listless and dejected about doing anything, it's not the effort itself that is the problem. The problem is that you have not connected the effort to something you really, truly care about.

Give yourself the advantage always of knowing where you are going and why you want to go there. Put in the time and the thought and the searching of your soul to understand without a doubt what it is you care about.

Then, make sure your life is pointed in that direction. Give yourself the energy, the enthusiasm, the electric spirit of a good, worthy, personally meaningful purpose.

There are many things you care deeply about. Stay connected to them and enjoy the beauty of a life guided by purpose.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 23

What you make of this

In the next hour you can move closer to the goal, or the goal can end up further away. The choice is yours, and that choice is made with your actions right now.

In the coming day, you can live in a way you'll always be thankful for, or in a way you'll quickly regret. Now is your opportunity to decide which it will be.

No matter what the excuses, distractions, dramas or conditions may be at this time, one thing is certain. You can decide what you make of this.

You can decide whether to do what's right, or merely what's most convenient. You can decide to do what's best, or just what's easy.

Your direction depends on what you decide to make of this. Aspects of your life that stretch far into the future are determined by what you make of this day right here.

The opportunities and influences of right now are more than you can imagine. So when you're deciding what to make of this, let it be the best you can possibly make it.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 24

Love real and present

Woven into every thread of existence, beauty astounds and amazes. Wonder grows in abundance and depth the more it is experienced and enjoyed.

The darkness may be vast, yet even the smallest light melts it away. Goodness endures through any challenge, beyond all that reason can understand.

Peace finds a place in even the coldest heart. Joy dares to lift the spirit whenever and wherever it is expressed.

Though life can sink deep into despair, it can then be raised higher than ever before. If that is not a miracle, what else can it be?

Love abides, real and present, throughout all of life. Hope persists, and within it lives pure truth.

As snow gently blankets the land, springtime has already begun to gather energy for its vibrant birth. A new day dawns, filled with moments, spaces and opportunities for life and love to create new wonder.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 25

Joy of giving

To live at your highest level is to give of yourself. To live fully is to make a difference in the lives of others.

Look away from your problems, complaints, and dissatisfactions. Look toward ways you can be of service.

Life at its richest is life at its most helpful. There is always much you can do.

Seek only to take, and you will have nothing of value. Seek to give of yourself, and you can have everything that matters.

The joy of Christmas is the joy of a gift given in grace and pure love. Such joy has no logical reason, yet it fills countless lives.

Let your life be enriched by the joy of giving, today and every day. Give, and discover, in giving of yourself, all that you do best.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 26

Happy from deep within

If you place conditions on happiness, even when those conditions are all met you won't enjoy real happiness. You'll be living in fear that those conditions will change.

Make your happiness a choice, not a reaction or result. Give happiness to life rather than waiting for some particular set of circumstances to bring it to you.

The world can and will treat you unfairly, and yet happiness is still yours to choose. When you do, you activate the power to change your world for the better.

Being happy with life is not some silly, superficial emotion that evaporates with the next moment. Real, unconditional happiness is deep and empowering.

In the unimaginably vast expanse of time and space, you have the great fortune to be alive here and now, able to choose and to make a difference. From your gratitude for all that is, for all you are, let happiness flow.

Be happy from deep within. Let the light of that happiness brighten your whole world.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 27

Let yourself enjoy

Let yourself enjoy the moment you’re in, the place you are, and the things you’re doing. Let yourself enjoy the life you have right now.

It’s great when you work to make life better, richer and more fulfilling. But don’t ever give up the chance to enjoy all the goodness you already have.

The more fully you enjoy this day, the better tomorrow will be. Instead of indefinitely putting off your enjoyment until some idealized time in the future, experience enjoyment at every opportunity.

You don’t need for everything to line up in a certain way in order to enjoy yourself. All you really have to do, is make the choice.

Instead of judging each situation, each person and each activity, make the choice to give of yourself. Give your joy, and make the moment truly enjoyable.

Joy instantly makes life richer and more satisfying. Go ahead, right now, and let yourself enjoy.

— Ralph Marston

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December 28

Discover more

Immerse yourself in the richness of life. Open yourself to bright lights and dark corners, blizzards and warm breezes, new ideas, to unique people and the stories they tell.

Life is much more diverse, colorful and fascinating than you could ever imagine. Discover a little more of its magnificence and wonder each day.

Don't become so consumed with your own concerns that you forget there's a whole universe of beauty and possibilities yet to be experienced. Venture beyond what you've always known, and discover more.

If you feel there has to be more to life, that's because there is. Step away from the comfort of what is familiar, and discover more.

There will always be problems and challenges, but you don't have to let them keep you confined. The more of life's richness you take in, the better equipped you'll be to deal with life's difficulties.

All you've experienced so far is just a taste of everything life has to offer. Discover more, and enjoy the richness that is yours to live.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 29

Give joy a chance

Instead of dismissing the possibility of joy in this moment, give joy a chance. Your joy will change things for the better, right now.

Go ahead and be joyful that you're you, that you're here, experiencing this time and place. Whatever the circumstance, joy is possible.

And not only is joy possible, it is powerful. Joy forces you to consider your best options and connects you to your highest values.

Joy reminds you of what really matters. Joy lifts you above your limiting assumptions.

Even when problems surround you, especially when problems surround you, give joy a chance. Joy is a choice that requires strength, and by expressing joy you experience your strength.

You have it in you to be joyful, now and always. Give joy a chance, and feel the positive power as it sweeps across your world.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 30

Every action creates progress

Every action creates progress. Even when the results are not what you seek, you have moved closer to the goal by taking action.

Often, the times when you're making the most progress are the times when it feels like your efforts are not getting you anywhere at all. Yet when you're making those efforts, you're making progress.

With every mistake, you're learning more about what doesn't work and what does. With every dead end you reach, you're becoming more familiar with the territory.

Yes, of course your goal is to get the results you want. Don't intentionally seek disappointing results, but don't let them stop you either.

Realize that even the setbacks prove the value of your efforts. Then get back up, with more knowledge and experience than ever, and make more efforts.

Whatever the outcome of a particular action, that action has created progress. Keep going, keep taking action, keep getting better and better at it, and you'll arrive at precisely where you wish to go.

Ralph S. Marston

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December 31

New life

You've come a long way in the last year. Keep going, and make it all count for something.

You've worked through tough problems, enjoyed pleasant moments, discovered new things about yourself, your world, and the people you share it with. Think of how you can now put your passion and experience to work in new, valuable ways.

Think of how your life over the past year would appear from the objective viewpoint of another person. Consider what advice that other person might give you for moving forward.

Remind yourself how fortunate you are to be alive in this universe of possibilities, and able to make a difference. Take stock of all the good and meaningful aspects of your life.

Then, with gratitude and determination, look eagerly ahead. Polish your treasured dreams and values to a brilliant luster, so they can light the way forward.

This day has found you on a magnificent journey. Keep going, keep doing, keep living, keep loving and embrace all the new life that's headed your way.

Ralph S. Marston