October 16

Adding richness

Let whatever happens give new richness and meaning to life. Instead of rushing to make a judgment, seek to be thankful.

Take a moment to look back on your life. See how everything you've been through has contributed to the wise, strong and capable person you are.

No matter how today's experiences may feel right now, eventually you'll have new value in your life because of them. Let go of the resentment, the fear and the anxiety, and let the best possibilities take hold.

You have a chance to move forward now, with new knowledge, new strength, a higher level of determination and a stronger sense of purpose. Feel the power in that opportunity.

Whatever happens today, let it renew the love you have for all you love. Let it inspire new ways to express that love and to fulfill your highest values in even the ordinary, everyday moments.

This very day, this very situation is adding richness to your life. See it, accept it, live it and expand it far and wide.

Ralph S. Marston

October 17

Love what life brings

Need pushes fulfillment away. Love dissolves need, and builds a place for fulfillment to flower.

Life's best possibilities are cast into darkness by striving. Love illuminates all those possibilities, revealing their power and beauty.

Love this day, with all that is in it, and love empowers you to live it well. Love the ups and downs, the obvious and the subtle, the disappointments and the triumphs, and give birth to great new value.

Look with love upon all who cross your path, whatever they may do. See the good fortune, the misfortune, the sincere and the devious, and love the positive possibilities they all encompass.

Love each effort, and each effort gains effectiveness and the power of purpose. Love the challenges, and you transform them into achievements.

Love what life brings, what life is, what life can be. And with your love, lift it higher.

Ralph S. Marston

October 18

Jump in and get moving

Life can be great when you simply jump in and get moving. Instead of excessive worrying or endless analyzing, just make your choice and then go with it.

Your first instinct is often your best one, because it comes from your authentic self. When you start taking a lot of other conflicting opinions and perspectives into account, your options quickly shrink.

Certainly it pays to think things through, and to consider the advice of others. Just don't let it all dilute the passion that can energize your life.

Trying to make the perfect decision can often lead to no decision at all. Trying to avoid every mistake can be the biggest mistake, because you also avoid getting anything done.

Though you can plan for the future, you cannot precisely predict it. So go ahead with the best you have, and you'll be completely able to deal with whatever may happen.

Even though it has no guarantees, this day is an incredible opportunity. So step confidently, enthusiastically forward with a smile on your face and go with it.

— Ralph Marston

October 19

Endless opportunities for joy

Life has no shortage of simple pleasures for you to enjoy. Seasons change, stars progress across the sky, water flows through gentle valleys and ocean waves lap at the shore.

A rugged, elderly woman offers a wise, sincere smile in return for your own. The stillness of an autumn evening is broken by the distinctive, plaintive call of an owl.

Life's common pleasures are simple, yet profound, and even miraculous. Children play noisily in the distance, and entire, amazing lives stretch out before and beyond them.

When you seek to have more, first remember this. You already have so very much.

The simple pleasures are no less enjoyable, and just as enriching as any complex, sophisticated experience you might wish to concoct. Yes, by all means reach for those impressive heights, but don't lose your appreciation for the goodness you already have.

Everywhere, life offers beautiful, simple pleasures and with them, endless opportunities for joy and gratitude. Take those opportunities, live the joy, feel the gratitude, and experience the boundless richness that is your life.

Ralph S. Marston

October 20

Get past the fear

What if you gave yourself permission to no longer fear whatever you fear? What if, instead of blindly fearing it, you learned more about it, and sought to understand it and even to positively respond to it?

Fear gets your attention by being overly dramatic. Whatever you fear is not so bad as your fear has made it out to be.

Fear is useful in the short term because it can prepare you and spur quick action. Yet over time, fear builds walls that imprison you and alienate you.

Listen to the fear, but don't let it become a permanent part of you. Learn from the fear, draw energy from it, and then get yourself past it.

Get past the fear, then summon your newfound courage to accept, to understand and to make something good out of the situation. Instead of letting the fear drain you, allow the positive possibilities to empower you.

You are strong, smart, capable and motivated to make a positive difference. Get past the fear, and do all the good things you know you can do.

Ralph S. Marston

October 21

Give yourself an intention

If you're not following a meaningful purpose, you'll end up following a meaningless one. If you have no specific intention for the day, the world will steal your precious time in the form of empty distractions.

You have the energy, skills and knowledge to do great and valuable things right now. A specific intention, with a commitment to that intention, will put it all to good use.

As useless as they are, the world's distractions can be very compelling nonetheless. Give yourself an intention that is even more compelling.

Decide what you will do with the unique opportunity that is this day. Plant your intention firmly in your awareness, and keep it there.

You don't have to be tossed around by a chaotic, contradictory and confusing world. You don't have to settle for regret at the end of the day.

You can plot a course, and stay true to that course all day long. Set your intention, use this day to make it happen, and give your world value that can be treasured and enjoyed for a long time to come.

Ralph S. Marston

October 22

Joy you deserve

Effort itself is a joy, once you get going with it. Usually the problem comes with getting yourself going in the first place.

So if you're reluctant to start, remind yourself of this. Effort is a joy, and not only is it a joy, it solves problems, creates value, and brings other great rewards.

Effort is an opportunity to make a difference. Effort enables you to do something meaningful and creative with your time.

Effort is a whole lot better than just sitting there. Sure, there's a time for relaxation, but too much relaxation will quickly make you miserable and restless.

Effort connects you to your best possibilities. Effort brings your dreams to life.

As difficult and inconvenient as it might sometimes be, effort is a joy you deserve to experience again and again. So go ahead, make the effort and give yourself some of that joy right now.

Ralph S. Marston

October 23

Respond with kindness

Kindness makes life better for those who give it, for those who receive it, and for those who are around it. Kindness is something you can give, that continues to give to life as it goes far beyond you.

Being kind does not mean letting people take advantage of you. Being kind does not mean being naive or allowing others to get away with injustice.

Being kind is a matter of making the most powerful, positive choice in the way you respond. It's easy to react with anger, spite, pity, revulsion or smugness, but more powerful, in the long run, to respond with kindness and respect.

When you disagree with someone, anger will push you further apart. Kindness, even in a disagreement, will help bring you closer together.

There's nothing of value to be gained by trying to prove how much better you are. There is much to be gained, for everyone concerned, with kindness.

Whatever happens, see if you can find a way to respond with kindness. Keep kindness in your heart, and you'll add real richness to your life.

Ralph S. Marston

October 24

Find some good challenges

You are a problem solver. You are well equipped to take on tough challenges and skilled at doing so.

But more than that, making a difference in the face of difficult challenges is an essential part of what makes you feel alive. Go too long without meaningful problems to solve, and life gets boring and tedious.

So how do you find those challenges that give you the opportunity to energize and enrich your life? You step forward in the direction of your dreams.

Make the commitment to build, support, create or expand something you really care about, and soon you'll run into some formidable challenges. At that point, you can be sure the adventure has begun.

Even if you don't go out and find them, challenges will eventually come into your life. So you might as well choose the ones through which you can work toward your dreams, in support of all the things you value most.

Put your capabilities to work by finding yourself some good challenges. Once the goal is reached, you'll thank yourself for the great adventure you've been able to enjoy.

Ralph S. Marston

October 25

You can do this

You can do this. You can go from where you are right now to wherever you wish to be.

Achievement is not a mere concept, and not just for a lucky few. Achievement has brought you this far, and will carry you to what you choose next.

Whether you think of it this way or not, your life to this point has been a unique achievement. Every day, you have taken what life has thrown at you and you’ve made the choices that have resulted in your current situation.

If you are thrilled and delighted about that situation, then by all means keep on doing what you’ve been doing. If there are things you’d like to change, now is the time to adjust your approach and take the actions to get you there.

Whether it has been desirable or undesirable, or somewhere in between, you have achieved. Going forward, by making choices, and acting on those choices, you will achieve again and again.

You can do this, and you will do this. So choose right now to do it in a way that makes your life the best you can imagine.

— Ralph Marston

October 26

Be yourself

Your job is to be yourself. Some people will like who you are and some won't, but there's really nothing you can do about the preferences of other people.

What you can do, is be your genuine self. What you can do is live and work and speak and act according to what's important to you, not worried in the least about what others might think.

You have the opportunity to live each moment in the service of all you love and treasure. True fulfillment will come from doing so, and not from the admiration of others.

Certainly it pays to be polite, respectful, friendly and decent to others. But none of that matters if you are not also your authentic self.

People can spot a fraud pretty quickly. It's much easier, and a whole lot smarter, to be yourself.

You are unique, valuable and worthy of a great life. Be yourself, give your special gifts sincerely to life, and enjoy the beautiful experience of living as the real person you are.

Ralph S. Marston

October 27

Someday is not good enough

When it comes to what you intend to do, someday is not good enough. Someday never comes, and is nothing more than a way to put things off indefinitely.

If you really want to get it done, give yourself a deadline. Stop listening to your own excuses and start moving ahead with the work.

Give yourself a deadline and make it challenging, yet realistic. Then get started making it happen.

You have many great ideas for making life even better than it already is. Those ideas deserve to be acted upon.

A deadline forces you to focus, prioritize, innovate, take action and persist. A deadline provides you with a tangible way to measure progress, and to make adjustments along the way.

Transform your feeble hopes and empty wishes for someday into real, effective actions today. Give yourself a deadline, and give yourself the incomparable experience of bringing your best intentions to life.

Ralph S. Marston

October 28

Savor the experience

Whether you're brushing your teeth, delivering a speech, driving through traffic or building a website, there's nothing to be gained by rushing through it. Give your love, attention and awareness to what you're doing, and savor the experience.

Instead of breeding anxiety by obsessively focusing on what's next, create gratitude, joy and effectiveness by savoring what is now. This is where you are, and this is what you're doing, so do it well.

Richness is found not in some future set of circumstances. The moment to enjoy life's richness is the moment you're in.

Pay full attention to now, to the people who share it with you, and to the good things you've chosen to do with it. Rather than imposing a judgment on whether your activities are desirable or not, find the positive value in each one.

Whatever you may be doing, keep in mind that your life is a miracle beyond compare. Rejoice at the good fortune you have to live that miracle in any way it happens to unfold.

The value in your life is the value that you choose to place on it. Savor the experience now, and always, and enjoy maximum value and richness in every moment.

Ralph S. Marston

October 29

One hundred percent you

Your life is what you decide to make it. Though you are pushed, pulled, bumped and disrupted by outside influences, whatever you nurture inside wins the day.

Your life unfolds according to what you value, love, admire, emulate and commit yourself to. That doesn't mean merely what you say you care about, but what you truly care about with your actions and priorities in every moment.

Go ahead, activate your confidence in your own unique life. Admit to yourself and proclaim to the world what matters to you.

Celebrate all you love about life so often, so intensely you never forget it. Drink in the beauty, immerse yourself in goodness, and act accordingly.

You have great reasons to make the positive choices that empower your life and fulfill your best possibilities. Keep those reasons in mind as you go through the day, through the years, through all the ups and downs.

Life is what you decide to make it, here and now. Show the world how great life can be in a way that's one hundred percent you.

Ralph S. Marston

October 30

Dive into the details

Before you do the work to reach your goal, do the work to convince yourself you can reach it. Get beyond your doubts by reminding yourself how willing and capable you are.

Any ambitious effort will seem daunting when you first contemplate it in a generalized, abstract way. To give yourself the confidence to do it, dive into the details.

There are plenty of tasks you're ready, willing and able to tackle. You can assemble those tasks together to achieve whatever goal you have chosen.

A solid, realistic pathway leads from where you are right now to the place you wish to go. Knowing what you already know, with skills and resources you already have, you can take the first step on that path today.

Make a detailed list of all the things you're willing to do to reach your goal. Having that list will give you the confidence to know you can do it and the inspiration to move forward.

Then go ahead, take one of the actions on your list, and another and another. Keep on going, one task at a time, and you'll reach the goal that once seemed so far away.

Ralph S. Marston