Daily Motivator - April
 

April 1

Positive is always possible

Even when a positive response is not the most appropriate response, it is the most powerful. Even when there's no reason to be joyful, appreciative or enthusiastic, those qualities benefit you greatly.

When darkness is all around, it is still possible to shine a light. And a light in the darkness can abruptly change the situation for the better.

If you're surrounded by despair, be different than the despair. When you encounter negativity of any kind, respond in a positive way.

What matters most is what happens next. And what happens next is influenced by your attitude and expectations.

Whatever else the moment may hold, it also holds the possibility for progress. Shine your light on the best possibilities, and then act to follow them.

Positive is always possible. With a positive response, you can turn life around when life needs it the most.

Ralph Marston

April 2

Invest yourself in hope

The reason to be hopeful is because you are hopeful. It is by living day after day with hope that your hopes are realized.

If you convince yourself there is no reason to be hopeful, you're right. However, when you choose to be that reason, hope returns, and improves your whole outlook.

You always have the choice to live with hope. And you have the power to fulfill that hope.

It is perfectly normal to become discouraged when you encounter negativity. And it is completely realistic to melt that discouragement away with your own deep reservoir of hope.

By its very nature, your hope is well founded. Allow it to fill your awareness now, and again and again, as often as you feel the need for it.

The more you live with hope, the more power and reality you give to it. Invest yourself in hope, and bring your best possibilities to life.

Ralph Marston

April 3

Give in

Give in to your best intentions. Give in to your dreams.

Give in to the opportunity of this moment. Give in to the positive possibilities, and let them pull you forward.

It is good that you’ve been where you have been, because it has brought you to where you are now. Allow the joy that is now possible, allow the fulfillment, allow the love and richness and life.

Enjoy moving past any excuses and limitations you may have imagined. Give in to your highest vision, and bring that vision to life today.

Spend some time reminding yourself how good life is at its heart. Let go of your hesitation, and experience the great life that you deserve and that you are able to create in this moment.

You know how great life can be. Give in to your own unique greatness, and share it joyfully with all the world.

— Ralph Marston

April 4

Peaceful energy

You can be energetic without being frantic. Peaceful energy is the kind of energy that gets work done.

Peaceful energy is sustainable energy. Peaceful energy is smart, purposefully directed energy.

There's no need to approach your work with a sense of dread or anxiety. Approach it with a sense of joy and positive expectation.

Be thankful for the job you have to do. Be thankful for the opportunity to make a difference.

If you're going to make the effort, you might as well make it enjoyable and productive. Instead of clenching your jaw and being uptight, relax and put a genuine smile on your face.

Give peaceful energy to your efforts. And many good things will come of them.

Ralph Marston

April 5

Dos and don'ts

Care about other people, not about what they think of you. Focus on doing what's right, not on proving you're right.

Let happiness be the fuel for your actions all along the way, rather than just a reward at the end. Allow joy to flow out from you instead of expecting it to be given to you.

Create value out of what you have instead of making excuses out of what you lack. Set your goals high but not so high that you fail to act.

Be dependable and reliable without being tedious and predictable. Live fully in the moment today while working to create an even better tomorrow.

Expect the very best while gracefully accepting and dealing with whatever life brings. Think before you act, but don't let thinking take the place of actions.

Sing your own special song in harmony with all the other songs being sung. Make each moment you inhabit the best for all who are there.

Ralph Marston

April 6

The arrival of now


Lovingly let go of the beauty that has been, so you'll always be able to treasure the experience of it. Make room to welcome the beauty being born right now.

Happiness continues as long as you don't try to hold it. Let it be, let it go, and let it enrich you again as it arrives in new and surprising ways.

What you pursue eludes you. What you allow fills your world.

As long as you focus on need, fulfillment is pushed away. Put energy into creating more of what you love using all of what you have, and need is nowhere to be found.

Every effort transforms abundance into new richness. Keep letting the richness inspire new effort.

Have the courage to allow the substance of now. And in it you will always find new richness to live.

Ralph Marston

April 7

Dealing with mistakes

What's the best course to follow when you've made a mistake? Admit it, correct it, apologize for it, learn from it and get on with life.

Everybody makes mistakes, and most people understand that mistakes happen. Even those who expect the very best in every interaction do not expect perfection every moment of every day from every person.

If you try to cover up a mistake, or deny it, you make it ten times worse. Eventually, the truth always comes out, and when it does you want to make sure you've consistently been in agreement with that truth.

The way you handle a mistake, whether your own or someone else's, shines a bright light on your true character. It can in fact be an opportunity to demonstrate how much you care and how capable you are.

Aim for perfection, but don't pretend you are perfect. Give every effort your best, and don't be afraid to admit when you've fallen short.

When you quickly admit a mistake and then make it right, you show how authentic and honest you are. And those are two excellent qualities to be known for.

Ralph Marston

April 8

Decisive action

Do more than merely deciding. Act on your decision.

Don't just think about it. Put sustained effort into it.

Action pays off. It's not always a sure thing you'll get the desired results, but it's a thousand percent better than nothing.

Be careful, but don't be paralyzed by fear of what might happen. Get busy with action and determine what does happen.

You can turn your life around with action. You can expand on what's already great, on what's already working, with action.

The time for dreaming, planning, wondering and considering is past. Now, today, your life deserves your decisive action.

Ralph Marston

April 9

Inspired by anything

You don't have to depend on sugary platitudes or once-in-a-lifetime spectacular experiences for inspiration. You can be inspired by anything.

You can be inspired by pleasure and by pain. You can be inspired by the routine and the unexpected.

Instead of assuming you must continue to feel sadness, you can transform that sadness into inspiration. When you feel excitement or boredom, love, gratitude, frustration or disillusionment, you can be inspired by any of those feelings.

Life is a grand miracle that constantly unfolds on countless levels. Look, with caring and curiosity, at any of those levels, and you'll find inspiration.

There's no need to wait for the moment to be right for inspiration to come your way. Inspiration is a choice you can make in any situation.

Open yourself to all the inspiration that's possible right now, and always. Any time you wish to lift your spirits, you have plenty of ways.

Ralph Marston

April 10

A day of substance

Make today a day of substance. Let go of your concerns about the superficial things that really don’t matter, and devote your energy to the things that do.

Life is a grand experience and there is so much more to it than just keeping up appearances. Even the small, unimpressive moments can be profoundly rich if you’ll just allow them to be.

Remind yourself how fortunate you are to be living this day. See how silly it is to worry and fret over the things you don’t have when you do have so much.

Grab hold of the opportunity that is now. You can make good things happen, and you already know how great that will make you feel.

Look around at the world and smile a great, big, satisfied and joyful smile. Realize, at a deeper level than ever before, how great and limitless your possibilities are.

Use this day for real, substantive progress, the kind you care about so much. Be amazed at the abundance, and be delighted at what you do with it.

— Ralph Marston

April 11

Problem solving power

Solutions come from problems. Achievements come from difficulties.

When something doesn't work, you have a strong incentive to figure out what does work. When all your options have been exhausted, that's when you create new, better options.

No matter who you are or where you come from, life has its difficulties. By working through those difficulties you can find some of life's greatest blessings.

You are a powerful problem solver. All that power becomes fully engaged when you have a meaningful problem to address.

A problem is not a lifetime sentence of burden. It is your chance to do what you do best, to achieve.

Out of each problem, positive possibilities can arise. Find satisfaction in using your problem solving power to bring those possibilities to life.

Ralph Marston

April 12

Peaceful power

In springtime, rich green foliage and flowers in a rainbow of colors burst into being. The magnificence is all born with no effort.

Flowers do not try to grow, nor strive to display their colors. They simply allow themselves to unfold according to their true nature, with spectacular results.

Wind stirs and mighty storms thunder across mountains, plains and valleys. It all happens because nature is simply being what nature is.

Gravity does not make any attempt to hold planets in their orbits, yet the orbits continue on and on. Seasons follow seasons, waves arrive upon shorelines in never-ending succession, not from trying but from the very nature of reality.

What beauty, what power within can you allow to unfold in similar fashion? What achievements can you give to life without the need to strive against the truth of who you are?

Enjoy the gentle breeze as it effortlessly touches your face. Learn from the peaceful power, allowing your own unique beauty and value to spring to life in its flow.

Ralph Marston

April 13

Quality relationships

You cannot gain the support of others by shaming or lecturing. You won't succeed through begging or desperation.

The way to earn respect is to be respectful, helpful and consistently honest. The way to be loved is to give love without requiring or expecting love in return.

People don't really care so much about who you are or what you have or the things you've done. More than anything, by far, people care about how you treat them.

And faking it doesn't work at all. It doesn't take a college degree, or even a high school diploma, to spot a fraud.

You already know all this, and have for quite some time, yet situations arise when you're tempted to lay it all aside. Let this be your reminder to not give in to that temptation.

Care about people, with your words, actions, priorities, and people are more likely to care about you. The highest quality relationships come from putting your highest and best qualities into them.

Ralph Marston

April 14

Inner perspective

Everything you know, everything you experience, is within the context of your own inner perspective. What you think of life determines how you experience life, literally, from moment to moment.

From your point of view, nothing can really be objective. Everything is filtered through your assumptions, your preferences, your fears and your love.

Though you cannot escape your own unique perspective, you can shape it in whatever way you choose. Though outside influences act upon you, inner choices determine how it all affects you.

You will always live whatever you focus upon. Focus on love, on goodness, on respect, compassion, value, joy, and your experience is filled with those good qualities.

No, you cannot change iron into gold merely by thinking it to be so. What you can do is much more powerful, much more beautiful.

You can transform despair into joy, hatred into love, boredom into passion, emptiness into fulfillment. Take care how you think of life, because from your perspective, it affects everything.

Ralph Marston

April 15

Allow yourself to be you

Let go of anger and joy fills the space left behind. Allow apprehension to fall away, and peace begins to encompass you.

When fear loses its hold, love proceeds to work its miracles. As you move beyond the hollow demands of ego, you also move beyond its limitations.

Fulfillment is built upon effort but that effort is not a struggle. Indeed, the effort of fulfillment is your natural inclination.

That inclination to create and achieve with love, positive purpose and generosity has always been there. Stop fighting to suppress it, and watch it spring into action.

Even in ordinary, everyday concerns, you can operate from a deep sense of purpose. In moments big and small, you can be powered, informed and encouraged by all the good things you truly care about.

Step away from the assumption that you must struggle to be this or that, and simply allow yourself to be you. In the truth of who you are, in the power of all you love, is the fulfillment of all you could ever desire.

Ralph Marston

April 16

Start now and keep going

Whatever must be done, you can do. Just start, and keep going.

Difficult problems are not pleasant, so don't make them worse by prolonging them. Confront each problem, take action, and get it behind you.

Looking ahead to the work you must do, it can seem overwhelming. Yet as soon as you take action, you begin to realize that yes, you can get it done.

Take the first step, and suddenly you're looking at the situation from a perspective of power. You can instantly switch from the self-pity of a victim to the effectiveness of a problem solver.

Take the second step, and you begin to put momentum on your side. With each successive action, your doubts melt away, your confidence and commitment grow stronger.

Whatever goal you wish to reach, whatever problem you wish to solve, you are a specific number of steps away from doing so. Start now, keep going, and get it done.

Ralph Marston

April 17

Wishes and actions

Do you wish you had done certain things differently in the past? Going forward, you have the power to make those wishes come true.

There are times when you wish you had been more diligent, more disciplined, more considerate, or any number of things. Though there is nothing you can do about what has already happened, there is everything you can do about what will now take place.

Whatever you’ve wished you had done, this is your chance to do it. This is your opportunity to turn regrets into action.

You don’t have to create any more painful wishes about how life might have been. You can take the actions that will create the life you wish to live.

Take all those wishes about the past and transfer their energy into purposeful actions in the present. Enjoy making life happen the way you choose.

This is your day, filled with great possibilities. This is your moment to stop wishing and start living.

— Ralph Marston

April 18

Feel each moment

Think, but don't let your thoughts about the situation distance you from the situation. Experience where you are, who you're with, what you're doing without overanalyzing it into triviality.

Your life in this universe is not just some abstract concept. It is a real, living, unique adventure, so treat it as such.

Release the temptation to outthink the moment, and find richness in living the moment. Take in that richness not by mentally outlining its benefits, but by participating in its substance.

Sunshine warms your back and a rain-cooled breeze cools your face. Treasure life as you live it because it feels so good.

Thinking is a powerful, useful pursuit. Yet there is more to life than just thinking your way through.

Feel each moment and experience its rich sensations. Be where you are in person as well as in thought.

Ralph Marston

April 19

Focus and commitment

You have plenty of good possibilities on this day, in this situation. Pick one at a time, commit to it, and go with it, no looking back, no holding back.

If you fill your mind with worry about missing out on other things, you miss out on everything. Focus on what you've chosen, find satisfaction in it, and leave the other things for other times and places.

Your attention is at its most powerful when undivided. Your work is most effective when it is focused.

Doing two, three, four or more tasks at once means you're not doing any task as well as you could be. Give each effort, each experience the full attention it deserves.

Let go of the mistaken assumption that your work is merely something to be endured. Put all you have into each thing you do, and watch as you continually add new richness to life.

Honor every activity, every moment, every person and situation with your full attention and respect. And delight in the great rewards earned with focus and commitment.

Ralph Marston

April 20

Sincere goodness

When you run into carelessness, don't let it get you down. Instead, let it motivate you to be more caring and intentional.

If you encounter arrogance, don't fight against it or complain about it. Deal with it by finding new ways to live with humility, respect and appreciation.

You can't eliminate the negativity of the world with more negativity. What you can do is overwhelm it with positive living.

Let the ill-mannered behavior of others be their problem. Let the lifting of life to a higher, kinder level be your mission.

Living well, with purpose, compassion and understanding, is your best response to whatever comes your way. Instead of being frustrated by fighting against crudeness, be inspired by all the good things you can do.

Rather than despairing, lecturing, giving up or giving in, be strong in your gentle living of sincere goodness. Life has much more potential for that goodness than you might guess, if you will simply and consistently encourage it to be.

Ralph Marston

April 21

The attitude you choose

Your attitude is too powerful to be left to chance. Make it a choice, not a reaction.

You're perfectly able to be positive when there is no apparent reason to be positive. And in fact, that's when your positive attitude will empower you to achieve the most.

You can be hopeful, energetic, enthusiastic, even when outside factors do not warrant such. With the power of that positive perspective you can change those outside factors for the better.

You can utilize any and every circumstance as raw material for moving forward. It all comes from the attitude you choose.

Whatever challenge you face at the moment can be an excuse to give up, or an opportunity to excel. What you make of it depends entirely on what you choose.

Your choice of attitude colors all your other choices and thereby impacts every part of your life. Make it consistently positive, back it up with focused effort, and choose to live the great life you deserve.

Ralph Marston

April 22

Achievable reality

Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by all you must do. Let yourself be energized by the progress you can make.

Sure, the task looks daunting before you start. The only way to stop feeling so overwhelmed is to begin.

Begin the task, and you transform it from an intimidating concept into an achievable reality. Make the first phone call, write the first sentence, pull the first weed, walk the first fifty yards, and suddenly you're doing it.

Even if you're not sure exactly what that step should be, take the first step. Establish momentum, and soon that momentum is a wind at your back, pushing you forward, adding its own power to your intention.

In an instant, you can go from feeling it can't be done to discovering how you can get it done. You can go from zero progress to continually accelerating progress.

The road to achievement is just one positive action away. Take that action, get on that road, and follow it all the way to your most treasured dreams.

Ralph Marston

April 23

Energy to keep going

How do you keep going when everything seems to keep going against you? How do you push forward when it feels like the whole world is pushing back at you?

The way to keep going is to remind yourself why. There is a reason you've chosen this path, and connecting with that reason will keep you on the path.

When you started, that reason was clear, visible and present, fresh in your awareness. It gave you the energy, enthusiasm, drive and determination to get started.

Go back now and revisit that reason. Claim that enthusiasm and energy again, recharging yourself with it all in the present moment.

Your love and your purpose are stronger by far than any challenge you face. Do what you must do to remind yourself of that, as often as possible.

You have what it takes to keep going, and it's been there right from the start. Remember, reconnect, feel the love, feel the purpose, and engage the positive energy to push through whatever may come.

Ralph Marston

April 24

Where to start

Are you not sure where to start? The place to start is where you are.

Are you having trouble deciding on the first step to take? Just pick a step, take it, and you’ll suddenly be in a much better position to know what must be done next.

Instead of waiting and wondering, speculating and procrastinating, worrying and making excuses, just go ahead and start. Put your time and energy into moving forward.

You may not get it exactly right at first, in fact you probably won’t. Yet even if you make some initial mistakes, that’s a whole lot better than doing nothing.

Start where you are, and go from there. Start where you are, and discover how much you enjoy the effort.

The best way to know what to do next is by doing what you can do now. This is where to start, so do.

— Ralph Marston

April 25

Success demands specifics

Success demands specifics. You can be immensely successful but you cannot be ambiguously successful.

You always possess great potential. To be realized and manifested, that potential must have a precise target.

Whatever your personal limitations and shortcomings may be, life's greatness can flow through you in limitless measure. For that to happen, you must give it somewhere to flow.

When you set your mind upon a purpose, and commit yourself to fulfill that purpose, positive energy suddenly floods into your life. Every action, every thought, every moment, every circumstance brings opportunity to make progress.

It doesn't really matter if your purpose seems silly or trivial, unsophisticated or incomprehensible to others. What matters is that it matters to you, and that you focus on it with all you have.

You are filled in every moment with life's miraculous energy, eager to be put to use. Direct that energy in a specific, meaningful way and the results will be nothing short of amazing.

Ralph Marston

April 26

Benefits of discomfort

The discomfort of strenuous exercise makes your body stronger, and your spirit as well. The discomfort of an unfamiliar place heightens your senses, and soon results in greater confidence.

Your life benefits from your willingness to do what is uncomfortable. Go beyond where you are comfortable, and you grow in your capabilities, your relationships, your knowledge, your confidence and more.

If an opportunity or an idea is completely comfortable to you, it's probably not of much value to you. If a person, a task or a situation never challenges you, there's little chance for growth.

There's nothing wrong with taking refuge in what is dependably comfortable. But don't imprison yourself by refusing to ever leave those comfortable spaces.

Hone your best capabilities by reaching beyond what you already know you can do. For the sake of your own possibilities, seek out new people, places, responsibilities and concepts that make you a bit uncomfortable.

Discomfort strengthens you, teaches you, sharpens your senses and illuminates new, valuable possibilities. By making yourself a little vulnerable, a little uncomfortable, you can make your life a lot better.

Ralph Marston

April 27

Give good time

Give yourself the time necessary to make the best of what you do. Your life has great value, so respect that value by investing the time to get it right.

Don't settle for a cheap, superficial imitation of whatever you seek to experience. Take the time, put in the effort to get it right, to do it well, to give it a depth of meaning.

The world offers many flashy distractions, yet behind their flash is mostly nothing. Rather than rushing through empty diversions, seek the substance that comes from extended, focused attention.

The latest thing is always overshadowed quickly by an even newer latest thing. Instead of striving to keep up with what's hot, give quality time and attention to what's important and fulfilling.

The richness you accumulate, whether from friendships, experiences or accomplishments, is a function of the time you invest. Remind yourself of what really matters, and make plenty of time in your life for it.

Time is worth more than money, so don't let shallow, fleeting concerns steal that valuable time. Give good time to all you love, and make the goodness grow.

Ralph Marston

April 28

Perfect days

If every day were perfect, no day would be special. What makes life so good is the fact that you can take whatever you have and make it better.

The bulk of your life is lived on days that are far from perfect. A less than perfect day is no reason to hold yourself back.

On the contrary, the difficult days are when you can make the biggest positive difference. Go ahead, whatever the circumstance, and live true to the highest of your abilities and desires.

Don't postpone the joy in your life just because conditions are not ideal. Live the joy now, and your living of it will make everything better.

Use each day to create achievements and experiences, not to collect excuses or resentments. Do your best work, live your highest vision of life, free of the need to judge how things are.

Every day, every moment, is beautiful and valuable in its own way. Live the beauty as it comes, always, no matter what.

Ralph Marston

April 29

Dance of possibilities

Now, allow peace to permeate your awareness. With no need for judgment, free from every worry and concern, join in the dance of possibilities.

Feel waves of positive energy as they cascade into this time and place. Let visions of all the goodness, love and fulfillment you can create gently glide through your awareness.

Envelop every thought, every feeling in a soft blanket of love. Observe and be endlessly thankful for all you see from your empowered perspective.

Joyfully let your every action be worthy of the positive, creative person you are. Delight at how effective those actions can be when they are guided by loving intention.

Embrace and appreciate the beauty that's always right in front of you. Feel a sense of clarity and purpose as your spirit is refreshed.

Your new, empowered moment is born. Give yourself over to the dance of possibilities and live the wonder you love so much.

Ralph Marston

April 30

Energy of emotion

Anger, regret, fear, desire and determination are all powerful emotions, and there are plenty more. When they arise within you, let their power push you to take positive action.

Emotions can feel overwhelming, but you don't have to stay overwhelmed. You can quickly choose to let those emotions empower you.

Your emotions connect you directly to what's most important to you. That can be a very good thing.

Powerful emotions remind you of what really matters, in a way you can't ignore. Use those compelling reminders to give positive purpose to your thoughts, words and actions.

In each emotion, you feel the miraculous energy of life. Direct that energy in ways that make a beneficial difference in your world.

You cannot change whatever past event caused the emotion, yet you can control what you do with it. Choose to do good, and use its power in your own way to lovingly lift up life.

Ralph Marston