Daily Motivator - August

[bluidkiti]

August 1

Eager to be proven wrong

What is there that you cannot see? What is in front of you that you choose not to notice?

What you know of life is considerable, yet there is much more you don’t know. All that you don’t know provides an endless pathway for discovery and improvement.

Can you open yourself to the possibility that you might not be sufficiently informed? If so, you will right away begin to be better informed.

Humility makes you much smarter than smugness. It also makes you more enjoyable, effective, and interesting.

The point of knowledge is not to prove how much you have or how right you are. The value of knowledge is in applying it with useful and practical action.

Embrace the opportunity that exists in all you do not know. Be eager to be proven wrong, and learn how to live even better than you already do.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 2

Let now be good

Let now be good. Let now bring its unique fulfillment and richness.

Those days in the past that you remember as perfect had their problems and shortcomings. Those future times you imagine as ideal will not be flawless.

Be thankful for what has been, for all that will be. And experience each joy as its time arrives.

Now is everything you have. It is far from perfect, yet it is more than enough.

Do the good you can do, now when you can. Be the authentic person you are, now when it matters.

Let go of any longing for what might have been, or what was, or what could be, and just let now be good. Now is here for you, so be fully here for now.

— Ralph Marston

[willbe275]

Happy August Tammy & Kracker, thanking God for watching
Over our family's and us during the month of July.
May our Higher Power continues to bless us while
We are on this journey called life. God bless you my
Friends. Your friend in recovery,
Wayne aka Willbe275??

[bluidkiti]

August 3

Promises to keep

You’ve made promises to yourself, promises to others, promises to life. Do what you can to keep those promises.

You’ve always had potential, and have accumulated even more potential as time has passed. Do all you can to fulfill the best of that potential.

It’s tempting to settle in, hide away, be satisfied with what you’ve done, and leave it at that. But you have promises to keep, possibilities still waiting for you to bring them to life.

Today you can work to deliver on all the good promises you’ve made. Today you can live your life according to how you always said you would and expected you would.

Nothing is holding you back from doing so other than your own choices. Whether your promises result in achievement or disappointment is up to you.

You know how good you’ve envisioned life to be, how good you’ve promised it can be. Now is your chance to make good on that promise.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 4

The best way forward

Declining to lift a weight will not make you stronger. Refusing to deal with a challenge will not make the challenge go away.

Giving yourself less to do will not enable you to get more done. Putting off your work will not result in accomplishment.

Rise to the challenges. Do it sooner rather than later.

Your activities on any day can be easy or they can be meaningful, but not both. A week from now, a decade from now, meaningful will bring much more richness to your world than easy.

Of all your choices today, which ones will result in new value? Go with those.

The best way forward will demand much from you. This is your chance to give it willingly, enthusiastically, and to enjoy the goodness that flows from all you’re able to accomplish.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 5

Step by step

Make little improvements and maintain them. Then make more.

You can’t immediately get everything to be perfect. You can’t solve every problem by the time you go to bed this evening.

Yet you can make progress. And every little bit of progress makes a difference.

When the problems seem overwhelming, ask yourself this. Is there some specific something you can do right now about one of those problems?

Instead of focusing on how overwhelmed you are, turn your attention to what you can actually do to make a positive difference. Even if it’s not much, find an initial step you can take, and then take it.

Step by step you can make things better. And better is always a very good direction to be going.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 6

Look in the mirror

No leader, no ruler, no guru, no law, no concept can change human nature. Yet you can learn to live with your own nature, and that of others, and do so with great success.

There is no arrangement, legal, financial, physical, social, that will make life perfect. It is within life’s imperfections that you have endless opportunities to make life good.

Begging, forcing, or shaming other people into doing what you think they should do will not bring value or fulfillment to your life. Instead, look in the mirror.

You are already in control of your own behavior, so use your own actions to move life in the direction you desire. Though it’s easy to blame your problems on others, it’s far more powerful when you take responsibility for them no matter who is to blame.

Sure, many factors beyond your control affect the quality of your life. Nonetheless, your best chance at improving that quality comes from the way you choose to live.

If you’re looking for someone to hold responsible, look in the mirror. Live up to that responsibility and make yourself a beneficial influence in your own life as well as in the lives of others.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 7

Visualize and act

Visualize yourself starting, visualize yourself persisting, and visualize yourself finishing. Then do what you envision.

If you can’t get yourself to take action, then get yourself to visualize taking action. Use the power of that vision to push yourself into action.

In your vision, see the necessary effort and see the positive outcome of that effort. See that it’s worth your time and trouble, and see yourself going ahead with it.

Provide yourself with a vision that inspires you. Empower yourself with a vision that fills you with enthusiasm.

At any time, in any condition, without any special tools or skills, you can visualize a positive future. You can make that vision compelling enough to get you creating that future.

Visualize and then act on your vision. See clearly that you can do it, and you will.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 8

Adventure

Adventure is a story that never gets old. When you make your way out beyond where you belong, you discover a whole new dimension to life.

Whether you experience it directly or vicariously, adventure puts you in touch with your vulnerability. That’s actually a very good thing.

The experience of vulnerability brought on by adventure brings a renewed sense of humility. That opens you up to gain new wisdom, to develop new capabilities, to grow stronger in the truth of who you are.

Adventure is rich in risk and reward, and that’s precisely its point. When you crave adventure what you are craving is life in its most meaningful state.

You have the power of purpose, the power to prevail through challenge in service of that purpose. Adventure makes that abundantly clear.

Adventure is when you know how it feels to be fully alive. And that’s an essential thing to know.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 9

Expand life’s excellence

You seek to live with excellence, but the world does not cooperate. Live with excellence anyway.

Excellence is always yours to choose, even when it is not widely supported or encouraged. In fact, when there is minimal respect for excellence is when excellence is needed most.

Live with excellence, not out of arrogance but out of love. Live with excellence that is not dependent on outside support but courageous enough to exist on its own terms.

The value of excellence is not based on who is looking or who is not. You know what is good, what is right, what is excellent and beautiful, and that’s more than sufficient.

Treasure excellence, savor it, learn from it, gain inspiration from it, emulate it, create it, share it. But don’t get caught up in what anyone thinks of it or does with it.

Take the strength and skill you have earned, and expand on life’s excellence. With excellence, make every day the best opportunity ever.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 10

Live your courage

Everything in life involves some risk. But that doesn’t mean you have to live in constant fear.

Momentary fear can be useful. Yet if you give fear a place to persist it will reliably lead you straight toward whatever you fear.

Feel the fear, listen to the fear, take precautions based on it. Then leave the fear behind, because it has done its job and has nothing more to offer you.

Let your actions be partly informed by fear, not dominated by fear. Keep your attention focused on a purpose compelling enough to keep fear in its proper perspective.

Step forward with a tiny bit of courage and suddenly you have more courage. Make it your business to grow that courage by putting it to meaningful use.

Fear is not your enemy and it is certainly not your refuge. See fear for what it is, and live your courage for all it can be.

— Ralph Marston

[willbe275]

Lord, help me to focus on what the Holy Spirit is doing in my life and starve the flesh. Praise God, I am not alone in my fight against fear; I have the Holy Spirit and the angels. The Holy Spirit and the angels are standing with me and in me.
Conquer fear with pure love. Amen.

[bluidkiti]

August 11

Sadness and happiness

Life can sometimes become consistently good for a long, continuous stretch. Yet eventually difficulties will show up.

In other times, life can feel like a never-ending string of problems. Even so, there are sure to be new joys to experience ahead.

Through the prospect of future joy and your confidence that it will come, you’re able to endure the hard times. And because of those difficult times, you’re able to more fully appreciate the joys when they do come.

Sadness and happiness are not as far apart as you might imagine. Over time they continue to enable and contribute to each other.

Because of this dynamic, in your happiness you can feel genuine gratitude. And in your sadness you can feel well founded hope.

Life has been changing for a very long time, and will reliably continue to do so. And in that very process of change, life always gives you much to be thankful for and much more to look forward to.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 12

Force of good

The world can always benefit from more goodness. Make it your business to offer that goodness.

Challenge yourself to be a force of good in whatever you happen to be doing. It will benefit those around you, and will also benefit you.

Projecting a positive demeanor takes almost no effort and costs you nothing. Yet it has the power to significantly improve life.

Imagine how you would feel and how you would act if everything were going your way. Then choose to feel that way, to act that way, no matter what’s going on.

No, it won’t magically make all your endeavors fall perfectly into place. Yet it will give you a significant advantage with your own energy level and with the people you encounter.

Do what you can, where you are, to be a force of good. And experience how that goodness provides you with a powerful and positive space in which to operate.

— Ralph Marston

[bluidkiti]

August 13

Strength inside you

You can handle a little risk. You can handle a little discomfort.

You can handle a little pain. You can handle a little inconvenience.

You can handle a little embarrassment. You can handle a little effort.

You can summon a little patience. You can summon a little discipline.

You can do whatever must be done when the reason is meaningful enough. You can get yourself to take the necessary action when it serves a worthy purpose.

What have you avoided, made excuses about, or put off until later just because you thought you couldn’t handle it? Imagine all the good that will come when you go ahead and utilize the strength that’s already there inside you.

— Ralph Marston