Daily Motivator - September

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September 16

Feel good by doing good

It feels good to do good, to be good. It feels good to help, to make a difference, to shine a bit of positive light into the world.

By simply offering a genuine smile, a friendly word, you can make someone else’s day. It will make your day as well.

You have the power to brighten the world. Use that power, and live in that brighter world.

Honest consideration will tell you it really doesn’t feel so good to push people out of your way. No lasting satisfaction comes from abusing or minimizing others.

There’s something that feels much better than winning at the expense of others. It’s winning in a way that benefits all.

Create positive people, positive feelings, positive experiences everywhere you go. Feel good by actually doing good, and make life better for everyone.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 17

Opportunity to love

See it not as a chance to criticize. See it as an opportunity to be patient, an opportunity to love.

See it not as a disagreement. See it as insight into the other person’s perspective.

Get your ego out of the picture and amazing things happen. You don’t have to waste energy being offended, angry, or resentful.

Though you have every right to be frustrated, you have every reason to let it go. Though you are justified in feeling sorry for yourself, that is never your best option.

Focusing on yourself attracts stress. Loving others, loving life and its miraculous beauty, enables peace.

Every encounter, every situation, every moment is an opportunity to love. See the opportunity, take it and live it, now.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 18

Turn it into a good thing

If you’re disappointed with yourself, with someone else, with a particular situation or just with life in general, you’re at a powerful starting point. You can channel that energy of disappointment in a positive direction and do great things with it.

Feel the disappointment, and then let it pick you up, push you forward and get you going. Suddenly you’re fifty miles down the road, well on your way to meaningful achievement.

Don’t concern yourself with what went wrong, or with whatever things you dislike. Focus your attention on a great, shining vision of how you want life to be.

Give the power of your attention to your positive goals, to your dreams and highest aspirations. Give your time and energy to making all those great things happen.

Doing something positive with your disappointment takes a lot more effort than just sulking and brooding. And yet, very quickly, it feels a whole lot better to be doing something than to just stay mired in negativity.

When life disappoints you, the best choice you have is to turn it into a good thing. In fact, decide to make it into the best thing that ever happened, and leave your disappointment far behind.

— Ralph Marston

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September 19

Better than you’ve been

Decide today to be better than you’ve been. Commit to raise your life to a higher level.

Start with your thoughts, letting go of the ones that hold you down. Replace them with thoughts of excellence, of possibility, with visions of achievement.

Next, raise your expectations. You deserve to do more, to be more, to understand more, so expect it without question.

Then, push yourself into constant, effective action. Invest great effort, driven by your higher thoughts and expectations.

You can be better than you’ve been, reach higher than you’ve reached, and do much more than you’ve done. You get to be the person who makes all that happen.

Inject the power of passion and purpose into every experience. Choose to get better, act to get better, every moment, every day.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 20

When life demands much

You wish for comfort, for the long, difficult challenge to be over somehow. And yet, in that challenge you can continue to find new strength and meaning.

In meeting all the challenges, day after day, life grows in substance and richness. As difficult and uncomfortable as it may be, working through challenges makes you more fully alive.

There are no quick solutions, no easy answers to life’s most significant challenges. Yet in stepping up and dealing with those challenges, you connect with great value.

You learn what’s truly important, and figure out how to support and expand it. You come to more deeply treasure all you love.

You grow more capable, more resourceful, more caring, understanding, patient. The more costly the investment you make in life, the more valuable your whole world becomes.

Go ahead, feel your strength, step up to the challenges, make a difference in your own way. When life demands much, that’s your opportunity to give even more.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 21

There is an answer

There is an answer to your problem. Just because you haven’t found it yet, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

There is an answer, and very likely it hides behind your own ego. When you accept that you don’t know it all, can’t do it all, you’re closer to finding the answer.

Life constantly changes, and the way things worked before may no longer be a good model. If the problem is due to some new development, the best solution could be something new as well.

Instead of fighting, sulking or giving up in the face of the problem, use a different approach. Accept it, and even be thankful for it, eager to learn what it can teach.

Then, open yourself to all possibilities. Don’t reject a solution simply because you can’t take credit for it.

There are answers, solutions, good and workable ways forward. Allow yourself to find them, free of any preconceived notion, and you will.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 22

Living in harmony

You won’t change minds by criticizing what people believe. The way to influence minds and hearts is with love, care, respect, understanding.

No one gains enthusiastic cooperation by trickery or by fighting for it. To achieve true cooperation, find a way to align your interest with the other person’s interest.

If you act with brute force you are met with brute force. When you act with understanding you earn understanding in return.

Whatever you care about is best served by supporting whatever those around you care about. Though you may not agree with others, you can still benefit from living in harmony with them.

Be a positive example of what you believe, of the values you hold. People will listen when they’re inspired, not when they’re scolded.

Act with respect, tolerance, understanding and love. Allow the other people in your life to be an endless source of joy and fulfillment.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 23

New adventures

There are so many good things you can do, places you can go, people you can meet. Don’t let yourself get stuck in the habit of only doing what is comfortable, what is familiar.

A whole world exists beyond what you already know. Regularly explore some new part of it, physically and intellectually.

Refresh and revitalize yourself with new ideas, new experiences, new situations and new acquaintances. Each day is unique, so fill it with new, unique substance.

It’s easy to retreat to what’s comfortable. But by doing so all the time, you build a prison from which it’s more and more difficult for you to escape.

Opinions, beliefs, relationships, interests, skills and knowledge all benefit from being regularly challenged. Strengthen yourself by venturing beyond what’s familiar.

Get out of the comfortable sameness. Push yourself into new adventures where you’ll add great new richness to your life.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 24

Get out of your own way

Did someone hurt your feelings? Get over it and get on with life.

Are you trying to get people to feel sorry for you? Even if you get what you want, you won’t have anything of value.

Are you putting time and energy into being offended? Do you understand what an extreme waste of your life that is?

Don’t make life more difficult than it has to be. Rise above the need to fret about what others say or do or think or feel.

Choose to be a positive influence, no matter how the people around you are being. Decide to live by the highest standards, free of the need to judge the standards of others.

Let go of any desire to be seen as a victim, and replace it with the drive to make a difference. Get out of your own way, and do all the great things you are meant to do.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 25

Everyday creativity

Sometimes creativity starts with a flash of inspiration, but that is actually pretty rare. Most good and valuable creations are made by people who simply get started and stick with it.

Certainly it is romantic to think you have a special muse who bestows her creative brilliance upon you from time to time. In between those scarce celestial moments, though, it's good to have a more practical plan.

In fact, all sorts of magnificent, soaring fruits of creativity come about through plain old hard work. From rocket ships to business plans, musical compositions to golf lessons, magnificent paintings to website forms, creativity is an everyday affair.

You don't have to be a celebrated artist or film director to be meaningfully creative. You just have to take the time, do the work, and put your care and attention into it.

Life itself is a continuing creative process, and you have an opportunity to participate in it every day. Decide to make a positive difference, follow through on your decision, and you're being creative in a valuable way.

Gather inspiration from all the creativity you experience around you, and then do the work to make even more goodness in life. Whether your muse is calling to you or not, create something wonderful out of every day.

Ralph S. Marston

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September 26

Joy where you are

What you enjoy doing, you do well. When you enjoy the moment you’re in, you rise to a higher state of awareness, of effectiveness, of existence.

Let your enjoyment be based on choice, not on judgment. Instead of deciding in advance what’s enjoyable and what’s not, simply decide to enjoy whatever is.

No, not everything is enjoyable. Yet a whole lot more people, situations, and activities can be enjoyable if you’ll just let them be.

Let go of the stressful, anxious need to run somewhere else. Peacefully direct your energy into creating real joy, real enjoyment, right where you are.

Allow a little enjoyment, and create more patience, understanding, confidence and focus. Rather than fighting against a difficult situation, choose to enjoy a unique and valuable moment.

Find joy, encourage joy, make joy right where you are. The more you enjoy life, the more there is to enjoy.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 27

Entice yourself

Give yourself something to look forward to. Then work your way toward it.

When you know you’re going somewhere desirable, you’ll bear almost any burden to get there. When you’ve chosen a specific direction, you’ve enabled yourself to make progress.

Give yourself the gift of a meaningful and rewarding destination. Inject enthusiasm into your moments, into your work, into your attitude.

What would you most like to be doing next Saturday, or next February? Commit to a real reward for yourself, and begin immediately to benefit from its positive power.

You deserve a future that you can be enthusiastic about. You have what it takes right now to point yourself toward such a future.

Entice yourself with a promise that will pull you through the challenges, inconveniences and disappointments. Give yourself something to look forward to, and invigorate your spirit as you move in its direction.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 28

The dream inside

Inside you is a dream. Inside you lives a vision of life at its absolute best.

The world will tell you your dream is unrealistic, and it probably is. But being realistic is not the purpose of your dream.

The dream inside has great value, no matter what it is. For it is authentic, it embodies your highest ideals, and it will drive you to do amazing things.

Pay heed often to that dream, for it guides you in a positive, fruitful direction. It shows you what really matters, and pushes you to be your best in every situation.

You live in an abundant universe, but the abundance by itself has no meaning. What’s inside you is what makes it all matter.

Feel that warm, persistent richness of the dream that lives inside. Go ahead, let it give energy and positive purpose to all you do.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 29

Give more

If you’ve settled for less than you can be, now is a good time to stop settling. Today is your opportunity to get a whole lot more from life by giving more.

If you sense emptiness in the moments, that’s your cue to fill them with more living. It doesn’t have to be complicated, sophisticated or impressive, just real.

You want more, you deserve more, but wishes and worthiness won’t take you all the way. You must make it happen, and you can, and that’s a great thing.

You’ve provided life with a lot of positive contributions. Looking back, it’s easy to see that making a difference is what makes you feel great, what makes you feel intensely alive.

Now you can expand on that great feeling. Now you can further enrich your life by using your energy to enrich the lives of those around you.

Be more, do more, give more than ever in your own unique way. And no matter what happens, your life will be far better for the effort.

-Ralph S. Marston

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September 30

Discover your way forward

If you’re not sure how to begin, you’re in good company. No one is ever one hundred percent certain how to start on something new.

The only way you can be sure of what you’re doing is to already have it done. So wherever you are, whatever you know or don’t know, go ahead and get started.

Your approach might be totally wrong. If it is, you’ll quickly find out.

You will absolutely need to make adjustments as you go. The path will never be exactly as you imagined.

Though you’re not sure what to do, there is one thing you can be sure of. The only way to figure it out is to start.

Get going, do something, give it your best with a commitment to see it through. Discover your way forward, and you’ll get it done.

-Ralph S. Marston