Daily Motivator - May
 

May 1

Own your mistakes

You’re going to make mistakes. When you do, acknowledge them, learn from them, and move on.

It all sounds so simple and obvious, as indeed it is. But that doesn’t mean it is trivial.

Each mistake can be either a powerful opportunity if you are honest about it. Or it can become a crushing burden if you’re not.

Some mistakes are costly. Yet the sooner you pay their price, the lower that price will be.

That’s why the moment you realize you’ve made a mistake is a moment to be thankful. For that’s when you can begin to transform the mistake from a problem into an opportunity.

Own your mistakes. And proceed to create real, positive value from the truth of what you have done.

— Ralph Marston

Happy New Month family,
Thanking God for getting us though
the month Of April sober happy and free.
God bless you on your new month
Journey in the Lord. Amen.

May 2

Good and tired

Being tired from ambitious effort feels a whole lot better than being tired of doing nothing. If you’re going to be tired anyway at the end of the day, then make it count for something.

Perhaps the weariness you feel is not because you’re doing too much. Perhaps it’s because you’re not invested in what you’re doing.

A difficult challenge that’s aligned with your purpose will generate far more energy in you than an easy task that has no real meaning for you. You can accomplish much more when what you’re accomplishing is what you care about.

When your body is tired, a good night’s sleep will revive you. When your spirit is weary, you’ll need something more.

You have a unique voice and a unique purpose that are longing to be expressed. Start living that expression and you’ll find an endless source of energy flowing through your life.

Get yourself good and tired with focused, disciplined work on a purpose that connects with who you truly are. And you’re likely to discover each day you have even more energy than the day before.

— Ralph Marston

May 3

One thing or another

Devote more time to joy, and there will be less time for anxiety. Make more space for love, and there will be less room for anger.

Light and darkness cannot exist in the same spot. Hope and despair cannot share the same stretch of awareness.

Choose more of what’s desirable, of what’s good and beautiful. Encourage and support that goodness with your time, your actions, your focus.

Even when the going is slow, keep going forward. That’s what prevents you from sliding backwards.

In every situation you can focus your energy on one thing or another. Invest that energy on the one thing that is most beneficial for you and all you care about.

Every decision makes a difference in how the world unfolds. Decide to help all that’s good overwhelm all that’s not.

— Ralph Marston

Good Friday morning.

Love's gentle touch,
Guiding the broken soul,
God's grace shines bright,
Wisdom's steady hand at helm,
Yacht of recovery sails on.

Selflessness blooms,
In service to others' needs,
Awareness dawns,
Gratitude fills every sail,
Yacht of recovery stands tall.

Through storms we learn,
Patience, strength, resilience grow,
Love's beacon calls,
Guiding through darkest of nights,
Yacht of recovery prevails.

In the end, we find,
Triumph over all despair,
Love's light prevails,
Yacht of recovery, a beacon,
Guiding others to safe shores.

May 4

Also enjoy tomorrow

Momentary pleasures are great, provided they don’t result in long-term burdens. If the cost lingers longer than the pleasure, it’s probably not worth it.

With each choice you make, consider more than just the immediate results. Though you cannot stop the future from coming, you can avoid making it needlessly burdensome.

No matter how much fun you have today, tomorrow will arrive precisely at its scheduled time. Position yourself so you can welcome it with eagerness rather than with regret.

Give your future self the benefit of your thoughtful consideration. Make your future self thankful for what you’re doing right now.

Yes, by all means live in the moment, making the most of your present opportunities. Just keep in mind there are many other moments to follow.

Enjoy today in such a way that enables you to also enjoy tomorrow. Be good to the person you’ll soon become.

— Ralph Marston

May 5

Something good from it

What irritates you does not last. Consider that, let go of the irritation, and move on.

What frustrates you provides insight into your own priorities. Use that as an opportunity to focus on those priorities rather than on the frustration.

What angers you gives you energy. Find a way to point that energy in a positive, productive direction.

What frightens you alerts you to possible dangers. Use that awareness to better prepare yourself for successfully handling or avoiding the dangers.

What initially arrives as difficulty, discomfort or unpleasantness can be turned to your advantage. That’s been the catalyst for much of your skill, wisdom, strength, and will continue to be.

What is going on in your world right now, and how can you make something good from it? Challenge yourself to find a way, for your very own history proves that you will.

— Ralph Marston

This is an awesome read from todays thought.

Resolve to be thyself; and know that who finds himself, loses his misery.

~Matthew Arnold

Our need for approval compels us to try to look good - no matter what's going on. We imagine that somehow everything will be okay as long as it looks okay. Our hearts may be breaking from fear, disillusionment, and rejection, real or imagined, but we keep smiling so that no one will guess.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Is it so hard to turn to a friend and say, "Hey, I'm hurting. I’ve been having a bad time and I need help"? Would the earth tremble if we said it right out, just like that? We're not likely to get what we don't ask for. Instead of denying that our knees are shaking, our hands are sweating, and our stomachs are in torment, we can admit and share the truth. We don’t have to say "Fine!" when someone in the program asks us how we're doing. Our real friends aren't impressed by stiff upper lips; they're impressed by personal honesty.

Today, I will tell someone the truth about how I feel. If I'm not fine, I won't say that I am.

May the fourth be with you:)

Petitions to my Higher Power

God,
Each day You present me with new opportunities to build up my faith and renew my strength. When the time is right, lead me on a path to helping newcomers. Help me to keep my focus on the narrow path and walk hand in hand with You today.
Amen.

May 6

New fulfillment

Allow your life to be good. Appreciate everything you have the opportunity to experience.

There have been times you would have given just about anything to be where you are right now. And here you are, so live it well.

Things are far from perfect, but so what? You have plenty of good possibilities to choose from.

Connect your thoughts to what you love, to what you care about. Dwell on the things that fascinate you, that impassion you, that you wish to explore, support, and expand upon.

There’s so much you can do from where you are, with what you have, in the time that’s available. Just a few moments of focused imagination can give you a wealth of ideas.

New fulfillment is yours to create. Make it your business right now to do just that.

— Ralph Marston

May 7

Step up and start

The bolts are rusty. But give them a forceful turn of the wrench and you just might be able to loosen them.

The stack of papers is twenty inches high. Yet one page at a time, you can get everything organized and in its place.

Your good ideas will receive some pushback. Go ahead and lay them out anyway.

It’s very easy and appropriate to anticipate all sorts of problems and challenges. But you don’t have to let that stop you.

Anything worth doing is going to be demanding. The sooner you step up and start addressing those demands, the better.

Rather than letting the potential problems stop you before you start, let them prepare you and inspire you. Then step forward and discover just how well you can work your way through them.

— Ralph Marston

May 8

Different choices

Just because you didn’t, doesn’t mean you can’t. Though you may have wasted much time and opportunity, there’s no need to continue doing so.

The past is the past and it doesn’t have to continue into the future. Because here you are right now in the present, able to turn in whatever direction you choose.

What if your disappointments stopped disappointing you? What if they started teaching you and motivating you to make different choices?

Today you have the opportunity to choose action, effectiveness, and valuable results. Whatever happened yesterday no longer matters.

If you’ve ever wished you had done something differently, your wish can now come true. Here is your chance to make the different, better choice, and to follow it through.

You know very clearly that your choices matter. Right now is when you can act on that knowledge.

— Ralph Marston

May 9

Promises, promises

You wouldn’t rely on the promise of promptness from someone who is always late. You can’t rely on the promise of payment from someone who is always broke.

A promise that’s easy to make is just as easy to break. Certainly words have meaning, but actions mean a whole lot more.

When a promise sounds too good to be true, that’s exactly what it is. Just because you want to believe it, doesn’t change the reality.

It can be tempting to depend on empty promises from others, and even from yourself. What’s better, though, is to hold out and insist on proven competence and reliability.

A promise has great value when it comes from someone with a long history of reliability. So before you consider the promise, carefully consider the source.

When you hear a promise, put in the diligence to be sure it means something. When you give a promise, put in the work to make sure it happens.

— Ralph Marston

May 10

Keep growing

Right now you have an opportunity to grow. Take advantage of that opportunity to add depth, substance, and meaning to life.

No matter what you’ve already accomplished, every challenge you take on can bring new benefits. Whatever your level of learning and experience, you can always learn and do more.

When you get to thinking you’ve seen it all, that cuts you off from new and enlightening experiences. Think instead about the possibilities of the moment, draw fresh energy from them, and jump out of your complacency.

If you ever feel like you have all the answers, get busy and find more questions. See that each new discovery is a starting point, not a final destination.

The joy of life is in the journey. The fulfillment you accumulate is in the growing.

Whatever comes, whatever goes, keep growing. Never let it stop.

— Ralph Marston

Hey Kracker, missing you here.
I hope and pray that that all is
well with you. Stay safe.

May 11

High standard

Hold yourself to a high standard. Don’t make it an impossible standard, but don’t let it be too easy either.

Remind yourself frequently of that high standard. But never speak of it to anyone else, at least not in so many words.

Instead, let your actions, your results, your priorities do the speaking. Express your high standard in the life you live, in the love, and value, and joy you give.

Take your high standard into consideration when making decisions small and large. As you grow in wisdom and experience, look for how you can raise that standard.

No one has a flawless concept of what makes life good, but you have some pretty good ideas from your own life and others. Codify those ideas into an intentional, specific standard that can nudge you to live in the ways you know are best.

Give yourself a good, honest and reasonable standard to optimize your own choices and viewpoints. Keep that standard at the front of your mind, from where its benefits will spread to every corner of your world.

— Ralph Marston

May 12

Live as who you are

Some people will agree with you and some people won’t. And in most cases, there’s nothing you can do to change that.

Some people will like you, admire you, respect you, and others won’t. That will be the case no matter what you do.

Yes, you can strive to impress and accommodate people in an effort to gain their favor. But such overt desperation is unlikely to earn any agreement or genuine respect.

Your best option is to simply be your authentic self. You cannot force everyone to admire you, but you can enable people to see who you truly are.

Some people are never going to resonate with you. Yet many people will appreciate and admire you for being open and honest about who you are.

Do and say what’s real, what’s true, what’s in line with your values, your preferences, your passions. The most impressive thing you can ever do is to live as who you are.

— Ralph Marston

May 13

The work of life

You never knew everything you had. You still don’t know the full extent of what you have.

So what can you do with it all? You can be grateful beyond what you even know, and determined to live what you have as fully as you can.

Today gives you the opportunity to allow, experience, and extend new vitality into existence. Here is where real life takes place.

With your thoughts and efforts, you’re able to bring goodness into focus. Out of raw and uncaring time, you create meaning and sweet fulfillment.

Do the work of life because it matters, and because you can. It is your heritage, your responsibility, your path forward.

In stillness, in turmoil, in long stretches of sameness, offer the unmatched warmth of authentic living. This is the beauty of what you do, and nothing can take the place of it.

— Ralph Marston

Amen, That was a awesome read l.

May 14

Experience now

Not sure what to do, what to say, how to feel? Start doing, start saying, start feeling, and find out.

It’s great to plan in advance based on what you think you want and believe. But no plan, no matter how elaborate, can take the place of experience.

You must step forward and actually deal with the day, with the situation, with your life. To know what is the best way forward, you must experience yourself as you move forward.

That experience will include pains, disappointments, and mistakes as well as joy, satisfaction, and achievement. Every bit of it adds value and substance to your life and your world.

Only through experience can you discover who you are and what you care about. As your experience continues to unfold your life gains new truth, strength, competence, and meaning.

Stop wondering what to do and start doing what you wonder about. The time to experience is now.

— Ralph Marston

There is no better time than the present.

May 15

Make the time

If you’ve been meaning to get it done but haven’t, here’s what will help. Make the time.

Show yourself and everyone else that you’re serious. Carve out sufficient time to get it done.

Don’t trick yourself into thinking you can just squeeze it in between everything else. Give it the time and focus it deserves.

The difference between an empty wish and a real achievement is the commitment of your time. Set aside a specific block of time, and fill that time with effective effort.

Every hour is filled with potential. Choose to transform more of that potential into lasting value.

Make the time. And you’ll make it happen.

— Ralph Marston

May 16

Invest your effort

Where effort goes in, meaning comes forth. When you invest time, thought, focus, and action, you end up with value and fulfillment.

Machines and elaborate systems can leverage your effort but they can never take the place of it. Because expending actual effort is essential to any rich, satisfying experience.

When everything is done for you, nothing of significance comes from you, or accrues to you. All the material wealth and convenience in the world cannot ever substitute for the experience of making a difference.

What effort can you make today that will provide real substance? Go forward with that effort and bring its many benefits into being.

Seeking to be completely free of effort is an empty and disappointing pursuit. Put your energy instead into making your efforts more effective, beneficial, and influential.

Giving your best effort creates goodness that reaches deep within you and extends far beyond you. It’s an opportunity you cannot afford to ignore.

— Ralph Marston

May 17

Obligations

You need to be needed. As burdensome as they may be, your obligations add greatly to your life.

Obligations don’t care about your resentment of them. So rather than resenting them, make it your business to embrace those obligations.

By doing so, you are embracing your own competence, perhaps your generosity and thoughtfulness as well. You are actively making yourself more useful to yourself and others, and that’s a beneficial thing.

Obligations impose structure on your life. That structure can end up providing enduring support to all aspects of your existence.

You enrich your life when you take on new obligations. You raise your level of discipline by meeting those obligations.

Have the courage to obligate yourself in meaningful and beneficial ways, and find the strength to honor your obligations. You’ll simultaneously add value to your own life, to all the lives you touch, and beyond.

— Ralph Marston

May 18

Slow and steady

Perhaps you’ve entertained the fantasy of rushing in on a white horse and saving the world. But it doesn’t work that way.

Much of what improves life comes out of boring and tedious work. The good things in life don’t require saving so much as they require ongoing maintenance, support, and appreciation.

Glamour and cleverness don’t matter nearly so much as commitment and persistence. It’s important to do what must be done rather than doing merely what appears fun and exciting.

In the ordinary hours and ordinary efforts, extraordinary achievements are built. The work that no one gets excited about will end up being the work everyone benefits from.

It’s thrilling to drive a sports car down the highway at 70 miles per hour. Yet for that to happen, someone must build the highway, a few feet at a time.

Enjoy the exciting experiences when you can. But don’t dismiss all the value and fulfillment you can create with ordinary, slow and steady work.

— Ralph Marston

May 19

Plain old ordinary work

Life’s dramas are interesting, invigorating, instructive, and often consequential. But a good life is about more than drama.

The mundane, tedious parts of life matter, perhaps even more than the drama. Because it is in those circumstances that much of life’s important work gets done.

Keeping an electric generation plant maintained and running is not particularly dramatic. Yet it makes a major difference in the lives of thousands of people.

Driving a truck that delivers fresh groceries to supermarkets is a somewhat tedious job. Nonetheless, it provides families with reliable, healthy nutrition.

In the ordinary is great value. In the mundane are widespread opportunities to make a positive difference.

Drama can be very entertaining. What sustains life, though, are quiet competence, dependability, and the willingness to do plain old ordinary work.

— Ralph Marston

Amen, I'm missing my daily
Motivational friend Kracker I pray
All is well with them.
Amen.

I have sent them a message but have not heard back from them.

May 20

Discovery and experience

Make something beautiful just for the beauty of it. Do something meaningful just because it has meaning to you.

Fulfillment is not a formula, not a step-by-step recipe that you can mindlessly follow. Fulfillment is a process of discovery and experience.

Be curious about the big picture as well as the minor details. Keep yourself aware of what’s going on around you and look for how you can add your own positive value to it.

Appreciate what exists solely for its own sake. Give your love generously and you won’t feel the need to demand it.

Life is more than just a game to determine who can collect the most trinkets. It is a vast and dynamic domain with wonder, mystery, and possibility in every direction.

Engage in the endless discovery, live the unbounded experience. Fill today with a life that’s real and worthy of the beautiful and unique person you are.

— Ralph Marston

Thank you Tammy, can I get
you to be one of my speaker on
July the 13th? We have known each
other for a very long time now, and
Would love to meet you. My anniversary
Will be at my Zoom home group.
God bless you and have a great day
on purpose.

I have an appointment that day.

May 21

Know the reason

To make sure you get it done, give yourself a reason why. If a compelling reason isn’t apparent, dig deeper.

Create a solid connection in your mind between what you must do and what matters to you. Maintain that connection until the work is done.

If your motivation and enthusiasm begin to fade, remind yourself of the reason why. When difficulties and complications arise, let your reason push you through.

Look beyond the effort and envision all the benefits of getting that effort completed. Focus on why and you’ll figure out how.

Be clear on your reason why, and you’ll activate the power of your purpose. You’ll find the strength to take each necessary step along the way.

For everything you’ve ever achieved, there’s been a reason. Know the reason, and you’ll get it done.

— Ralph Marston

May 22

Firsthand

Engage using your mind. Engage using your presence, with all you are.

Your life is not some flat, detached, concept. It is a dynamic, direct experience.

Go beyond merely wondering what various places and people and events would be like. Get yourself involved in them, with them, around them, and discover firsthand.

Trek through the living reality as it stimulates all your senses. Strengthen your skills and broaden your perspective by immersing yourself in things you never could have expected.

Learn much more than you could ever know from mere speculation. Feel the depth and uniqueness of your existence as you interact with what you can never fully understand.

You’ll get the most out of whatever you put the most of yourself into. Engage yourself fully with the richness that’s possible in every moment.

— Ralph Marston

May 23

Ideal circumstances

Those who hold out for the perfect partner often end up with no partner. Those who seek the perfect opportunity may never find the opportunity they seek.

It’s great to expect the best out of life. But it’s foolish to expect the best to be handed to you upfront with no contribution on your part.

You’re simply not ever going to walk into a ready-made set of ideal circumstances. Yet you’ll encounter circumstances all the time where you can work to create much value.

A situation without any challenges is a fantasy. Look instead for situations with meaningful challenges.

Perfection is not usually a condition you can work from. It is, however, something you can always work toward.

Go with what you have, with what’s available. And you’ll be able to go to some truly great places.

— Ralph Marston

May 24

Opportunities for goodness

Some things you can change for the better, and others you can’t. Your effectiveness, your peace of mind, your levels of satisfaction and fulfillment depend on knowing the difference.

If you can improve the situation, take action. If nothing you do will make a difference, move on to something else.

Put your time and energy where they can make a positive contribution. Engage in pursuits that bring new value into the world.

There’s never a good outcome when you spend your days filled with resentment and bitterness about what you can never change. You have too many opportunities to waste even a moment of your life with such negativity.

Accept the reality of what has happened, of what is. Decide to identify meaningful portions of that reality where you can make a difference, and go to work.

Always, there’s something good you can do. Let go of what’s beyond you, and let the available opportunities for goodness pull you forward.

— Ralph Marston

May 25

Grand opportunity

Real magic is not to be found in some quick and easy solution. The magic unfolds in the living of your life.

Joy comes not from some particular, momentary pleasure or acquisition. It is in the authentic living of each moment that joy infuses your experience.

Skill, wisdom, and confidence cannot be successfully hacked by some clever system or trick. They accumulate as you live through the days, months, and years, in the triumphs and disappointments, in the pain and the love.

The value of life is not in any single possession or experience or feeling. The value of life is in the living.

You’ll gain nothing by attempting to second-guess life. Every genuine goodness you experience comes from living each moment with all the love, energy, gratitude and awareness you can muster.

This is a day for living your life. Embrace fully the grand opportunity.

— Ralph Marston

May 26

Great new experiences

Treasure the good experiences in your past by creating more good experiences in the present. Express gratitude for what you’ve done with your eagerness to do more.

Honor all the good books you’ve read by finding more to read. Pay homage to the beautiful places you’ve visited by discovering new beauty in the present world.

Celebrate the great friendships you’ve known by continuing the ones you can while also being open to new friends. Acknowledge the good work you’ve done by expanding and making further use of your skills.

Remember the lessons you’ve struggled to learn and look for opportunities to put them into practice. Think of what made the good old days so good and bring those values to life in the present day.

It’s good when you can ponder your pleasant memories. What’s even better is to transform that past goodness into present action.

Be inspired by the life you’ve lived so far. And let that inspiration serve as the starting point for great new experiences.

— Ralph Marston

Get the job right here and now.

May 27

Making a difference

What you do makes a difference. Keep that in mind, and keep doing the good things you do.

To the extent you’re able, find ways to do even more. Because each time you make a positive difference, the benefits extend far beyond that single episode.

It’s easy to assume that errors will be corrected, that justice will prevail, that inefficiencies will be improved. But mere assumptions don’t accomplish any of those things.

When life gets better, it’s because people do the work to make it better. It can be a very satisfying and enriching experience to be one of those people.

You’ve felt that satisfaction before. Today is your opportunity to do what will bring forth that feeling again.

You have the ability, you have the time, you have the thoughtfulness and creativity, and you can put it all to good use. What you do makes a difference, so do it.

— Ralph Marston