Daily Motivator - February

[bluidkiti]

February 1

Courage

You are not safe. You never will be.

Danger surrounds you all the time. There are dangers you can see, invisible dangers, obvious dangers, and dangers you’ll never know about.

You can mitigate some of the dangers to some extent. You can take reasonable, proven, effective precautions.

But without question the biggest danger to your experience of life is not some external threat. The biggest danger, the biggest risk comes if you are duped into thinking you can avoid all risk.

Because by attempting to avoid every risk you miss out on the adventure of living. By seeking to save yourself from everything you end up with nothing.

Whatever you have achieved, whatever fulfillment you have experienced, your courage has enabled you to do so. Keep living with that courage, and despite all the dangers, keep living true and well.

— Ralph Marston

[willbe275]

Happy February my dear friends in recovery, thank God for getting us though the month of January one day at a time.

[bluidkiti]

February 2

Let the improvements flow

When life is going great, you can improve on it. When life is not going so well, you can improve on it.

In some specific way tomorrow can be a little brighter than today. In every area of your life you can find opportunities for improvement.

There’s no end to the improvements you can make to your own life and the lives of others. Doing so can be a very effective use of your time and resources.

That’s because one improvement can pave the way for many more improvements. A series of small improvements will set the stage for much bigger improvements.

The hours in this day will pass whether you do anything with them or not. Use some of that time to identify and implement a few improvements.

You’re the world’s leading expert when it comes to your own life and what would improve it. So put that expertise to use again and again, and let the improvements continue to flow.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 3

Embrace the goodness

You’re always on the lookout for potential problems. Don’t let that blind you to the abundance of goodness that exists in your life.

You’re ever eager to do more. Remember, though, to give yourself credit and appreciation for everything you’ve already achieved.

Don’t limit yourself to complaining when things go wrong. Make a point to also celebrate and enjoy when life goes well.

You’ve put in a lot of work to get where you are. Allow yourself to draw from it the confidence and energy to move forward.

Don’t let one bad season sour you on all the value your life continues to encompass. Let it inspire you to live your life more richly than ever before.

When you do get what you’ve been wanting, accept it with grace, with humility. Embrace the goodness that comes your way, and spread it far and wide.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 4

Paying attention

Your time and attention are valuable. Spend them on things that are similarly valuable, or could be.

Notice what you’re paying attention to. Is it adequately paying you back?

You have the power to shift where your attention is focused. You have the power to decide where your time and effort are expended.

By choosing wisely, you can get more out of the time, attention, and effort you’re already spending. Invest yourself more in what matters and reap the great rewards you’re capable of creating.

Based on what’s important to you, decide where your attention will be pointed, and why. Then stick with your decision.

Use the great power you have to do great and beneficial things. Use the value of your attention to create and support value and excellence throughout your life and your world.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 5

Painful lessons

You’re painfully aware of what you should have done and what you should not have done. Now is your opportunity to get something good in return for that pain.

Last time, and the times before that, you learned your lesson. Now, put that lesson into positive practice.

Before you act, consider this. A year from now, what will you wish you had done, and what will you wish you had avoided?

There’s a good reason the painful lessons are so painful. The purpose of the pain is the make sure you remember.

Yet remembering is not enough. You must also adjust your actions to avoid the same pain again.

What should you have done last time? This time you have the good fortune, and a powerful, memorable reason, to make sure you do it right.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 6

Repeating positive actions

The things you do once make a difference, the things you do repeatedly change your life. There’s only so much you can accomplish in this moment, but you have more than this moment.

You have the rest of today, you have tomorrow, you have next month, you have next year. Imagine what you can do when all those days and hours are pointed in a consistent direction.

Time provides enormous leverage. And like any powerful thing, that can be used to your benefit or to your detriment.

Arrange your life so the time you spend accrues to your benefit and to the benefit of others around you. Do what makes a positive difference in the world, then do it again, and again.

After achieving something, don’t just sit back and congratulate yourself. Tap into the momentum you’ve created, and do it again.

You may not have a lot of impressive resources or connections, but you do have as much time as everybody else. Make good, purposeful use of that time by repeating your positive actions again and again.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 7

Gift of time

Give yourself the gift of time. Slow down to the pace at which life’s richness can keep up with you.

Give yourself time to take in and enjoy the beauty in every place, every moment, every person. Give yourself time to connect with all that’s meaningful in your life.

Enable yourself to go far beyond first impressions. Look past the flashing colors and fleeting shadows and see the truth that’s really there.

Spend sufficient time thinking through the consequences that will come from your choices. Give yourself the time to consider what might be hidden from view.

Enjoy and benefit from the value of stillness with a calm and confident demeanor. Breathe in, breathe out, step forward, keep going at a pace that gets you there without wearing you down.

Use your time in the way it is meant to be used. Use your time to do it right, to do it well, to fully and richly live.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 8

A day for achievement

Set a goal and then reach it. Make a plan and then do it.

Define a path and then follow it. Be clear, be specific, be detailed.

Achievement is not some distant ideal. It is what you can do in any situation, especially right now.

See a problem and solve it. Identify a need and fill it.

Determine what will make the world better, for you and for all those you share life with. Take the first step, then the next and the next, until you have done what you set out to do.

This is a day for achievement, a life in which the process of achievement is as close as your next action. Take that action in the direction of your intent and make achievement happen.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 9

Feeling opportunity

What does opportunity feel like? A thousand different things.

When you feel frustration, there’s opportunity nearby. Whether you feel joy, disappointment, doubt, excitement, or boredom, opportunities abound.

If your feelings are strong about anything, you are in the presence of opportunities to increase life’s richness. You can harness the energy of your feelings to make the most of those opportunities.

When you feel passionately, you’re in position to act decisively and effectively. Transform those feelings into lasting positive value.

Whether you feel great or you feel awful, there’s energy in those feelings to accomplish good things. Recognize the opportunity and put it to use.

What do you feel like right now? That’s the feeling of opportunity.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 10

Bask in the joy

Bask in the joy of this irreplaceable moment. It is here, it is now, it is yours.

Whatever has been, whatever will be, all the value of now is yours to experience. Live it for all it can be.

Consider the endless wonder that extends out in all directions. Imagine the possibilities that continue to build upon each other.

You are here to take it all in, to discover the beauties and joys hidden in obscure corners. You are here to live with your highest purpose in the midst of it all.

In this place, at this moment, choices, options, ideas, and actions are available to you. Life is yours to live in the best way you can do.

Remind yourself of what a good thing you have. And bask in the joy of all you can do with it.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 11

In the presence of strength

Get yourself around strong people, strong ideas, powerful environments. Living in the presence of strength enables you to grow stronger.

Appreciate and experience the strength that exists outside you. It encourages you to develop and expand new strength within.

The ocean is beautiful and inspiring, and at the same time powerful, unforgiving. Walk beside the ocean, let its waves dance with your feet, and make some of its strength your own.

Listen to a passionate speaker making a strong, sincere, and compelling argument. Whether you agree or not, you can draw strength from the ideas and the competent way they’re presented.

Rather than always feeling envious or fearful of the strength you encounter, seek to be inspired by it. Let its best attributes resonate with you, challenge you, and increase your own strength.

Go where there is strength that you can see, hear, feel. In the presence of strength, you’ll grow stronger.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 12

Something new

You feel something new today. It’s a level of confidence you have not felt before.

You have a sense that life is going in a more positive direction. Your purpose is stronger, the possibilities are more clear.

When sunshine breaks through the clouds, it looks a little brighter than you’ve noticed lately. Instead of being annoyed by the cool breeze, you welcome the fresh experience of it.

Accept that this positive feeling is real. Then step forward and do something with it.

Certainly the world is not perfect. Yet today you have the very real opportunity to do something good and useful and meaningful with what you have.

Grab that opportunity, embrace that hopeful feeling. Though it won’t always be easy, step forward and fulfill its best promise.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 13

What compels you to care

Pay attention to what resonates with you. Take notice when anything or anyone energizes your spirit.

Certain words, music, colors, places, people, food, sensations and other experiences can take you to a good place. Keep track of what they are, and go often to that good place within.

Regularly arrange the details of your life, of your experience, to boost your energy level. Assemble a whole collection of ways to be good to yourself, to invigorate you at the deepest level.

There is a reason why cathedrals have large, expensive pipe organs and soaring ceilings. Things like that matter in ways that surpass understanding.

Go often to where you have the indisputable knowing that life is good. Do, again and again, those things that affirm your highest hopes and best instincts.

Touch, taste, feel, see, hear what compels you to care. Let life be good in ways that drive you to make it even better.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

February 14

Faith, commitment, purpose

What do you have faith in? What are you committed to?

Ask yourself these questions often. The answers are yours and yours alone, and they matter.

There is a reason you push forward. Keep yourself connected to that reason.

There is a purpose you seek to fulfill. Live each moment with that purpose embedded in your awareness.

With your faith, your commitment, your purpose, you give unique meaning to the world you inhabit. And that is no small thing.

Think, feel, and act on those parts of your life that truly matter. Make the very most of this one of a kind life that is yours.

— Ralph Marston