August 10

Avoid regret

The best way to deal with regret is to avoid creating it in the first place. If you know you’ll regret it, don’t do it.

In fact, a great way to make choices is to ask yourself whether or not you will regret it later. Words that have been spoken cannot be unspoken, and actions that have been taken cannot be taken back.

Yet you can always contemplate those words and actions before you commit to them. You can envision the long-term effects they will have.

Regret, once created, never completely goes away. Choose, as often as possible, not to create it to begin with.

Rather than being burdened with regret, you can be filled with satisfaction for the life you’re living. Rather than facing difficult consequences for the choices you’ve made, you can be enjoying magnificent rewards.

Make regret your friend by making it preventative rather than punitive. Think long into the future before you act, and live a life with no regrets.

— Ralph Marston

Thanks for sharing that deep message, most definitely words to live by.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change courage change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Thy will not mines be done.
Amen.

August 11

Forgive and get beyond it

You can’t change unfortunate things that have already happened. What you can do is forgive, and move on.

Forgive yourself, forgive others, forgive whoever and whatever caused it to happen. Forgive, and get beyond it.

The longer you carry a grudge, the heavier it gets. Forgiveness lightens your load, frees your energy for more positive pursuits.

Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. It brings you peace, resolution, and freedom.

Forgiveness puts you in control of how you feel. Forgive, and experience the positive power.

The pains of your past have already continued long enough. Forgive, be finally done with those pains, and allow new joys to take their place.

— Ralph Marston

August 12

Care in action

Care, even if nobody is looking. Care, even when there’s no possibility anyone will ever know.

Care, because it is the right thing to do, not because it looks good. Care, without caring so much about who gets credit.

Care, by doing more than just clicking a button in support of a cause. Care by taking action, not merely by saying you care.

Caring can be painful, burdensome, inconvenient, frustrating, and at the same time, fulfilling. Genuine caring feels good, and right.

Care, make a positive connection to all that is, and gain a new sense of purpose. Care, and be a conduit through which life supports, heals, nourishes, encourages, renews and rewards itself.

Care, and let it bring out your best. Care, and learn how vital and loving you can be.

— Ralph Marston

August 13

Good can come from it

What if the problem is not really a problem? What if that’s just the way you’ve chosen to see it?

What if the difficulty might eventually turn out to be helpful? What if the disappointment could soon lead to a valuable gain?

Step back from your assumptions. Imagine differently, optimistically, with confidence and a positive perspective.

See your situation as it is. Then envision a whole set of favorable possibilities flowing out of it.

You have an opportunity here. The future has not happened, and what you do right now will have an impact on how your future plays out.

Acknowledge reality while also seeing the good things that can come from it. Now, get to work making those good things happen.

— Ralph Marston

August 14

Going to the trouble

Living a productive, successful day can be a lot of trouble. Go to the trouble.

Getting yourself in a good place physically, financially, spiritually, requires a good bit of trouble. It’s well worth the trouble.

Value does not appear in your life simply because you think of it and desire it. You have to work it into existence.

Do you ever feel like you don’t want to go to the trouble to do something? That’s a good sign that you’ll benefit greatly from going ahead with the effort anyway.

What seems like trouble before you do it can quickly turn into enthusiastic action once you get started. After you get the work done, you’ll wonder why you ever hesitated in the first place.

Make it your business to go to the trouble. And make a great life for yourself and others.

— Ralph Marston

August 15

Higher version of reality

Allow all to be right with life, right now. It’s not really so hard to do.

You cannot change anything about what has already happened, so choose to let it be. This moment is not perfect, yet it’s the one you have, so recognize the goodness in it.

Allowing all to be right with life is not a matter of being naive or denying reality. Indeed, it is the acknowledgement of a higher version of reality.

In every difficulty is the opportunity to give love, to offer hope, to engage in positive effort. In every challenge are real possibilities for progress and new value.

Allow all to be right with life, and connect yourself with those possibilities. See today from a higher perspective, and expand upon the goodness that’s already present.

Fix your awareness on a higher version of reality, in which all is right with life. Let yourself be energized to make a positive difference in everything you do.

— Ralph Marston

August 16

Maybe

Maybe you don’t have to answer the phone every time it rings. Maybe you don’t need to squeeze every last penny of profit out of your efforts.

Maybe a day in the sunshine would clarify your thoughts. Maybe a swim in the ocean would energize your passion.

Maybe those conditions you’ve been putting on happiness, you’d be better off without. Maybe joy can be lived right here and now, without waiting for where you think you need to be.

Maybe doing the difficult, challenging work will actually turn out to be fun. Maybe commitment, responsibility, discipline, and effort will raise your life to a new level of enjoyment.

Maybe some of the opinions you so staunchly defend could benefit from some challenges and revisions. Maybe you’d actually be okay if you could let go of the need to prove you’re right.

Maybe life can be a whole lot better than you’ve ever thought it could be. Maybe today is a great day to find out.

— Ralph Marston

August 17

Beyond the horizon

Today would be a good day to consider possibilities you’ve never considered before. Now would be a great time to explore some new options.

It’s all too easy to get comfortable where you are, doing what you’ve always done. The problem is, if you keep ignoring other options, those options will start to disappear.

You’re smart to stick with what works. But don’t stick to it so relentlessly that you get stuck.

Make a point to widen your awareness. Go out and see what’s beyond the horizon that’s become so comfortably familiar.

Somewhere out there are things you’ve never experienced, that you would surely love. Beyond your current awareness are people, places, ideas, groups, and activities that may very well change your life.

You already know a great deal, yet you certainly don’t know it all. Take a little time to discover a little more, and add new richness to the exquisite experience that is your life.

— Ralph Marston

August 18

Smile at the disruptions

Something will interrupt your concentration today. Decide right now that you’ll take it in stride.

Some situation won’t turn out the way you planned. Whatever it may be, make the commitment to take it in stride.

You have every right to be upset, flustered, frustrated when life doesn’t go the way you want. Yet you never have to exercise that right.

You can choose instead to take it in stride. Rather than wasting your time and energy, you can quickly adjust to the new development and keep going.

Feeling upset and sorry for yourself never gained you anything in the past, and it won’t help you now. What will help is your determination to smile at the disruptions while you stick firmly with your original purpose.

Smile at the disruptions, take them in stride. And you’ll quickly put them behind you.

— Ralph Marston

August 19

Consistent effort

Occasional effort can create the illusion of success. Consistent effort is what brings lasting success, achievement, fulfillment.

Are you working out once or twice every couple of weeks, or every day? Are you writing a chapter just when you feel like it, or every morning before breakfast?

Your life is too precious to merely dabble. In work, in play, in health, wisdom and relationships, you deserve the luscious fruits that consistent effort will bring.

A single heroic effort might be fun and impressive, but is soon forgotten. Yet small, unassuming efforts, when repeated with consistency, can bring a never-ending stream of value.

If you’ve done it once, you can do it again, and again. When you do, great things result.

Give your life and your world the benefit of your best effort, not once, not twice, but over and over again. With consistent effort, build a path all the way to your most treasured dreams.

— Ralph Marston

August 20

Savor the journey

Don’t let yourself become too obsessed with hurrying to get there. While you’re on the way, savor the journey.

Go fast enough to get it done, but slow enough to do it well. Do what you must to achieve the goal, while enjoying all the richness you find in the effort.

Sometimes the road is more interesting and fulfilling than the destination to where it leads. Often what you learn along the way is more valuable than what you find when you get there.

Rushing ahead of everyone else is not an indication of how enlightened or important someone is. It’s actually a sign of ignorance and insecurity.

Be confident enough to make the journey at an enjoyable, sustainable pace. Be smart enough to understand how much value can be created and collected along the way.

Keep going, steadily, and you’ll get there. As you do, savor the journey, every step of the way.

— Ralph Marston

August 21

Reward yourself

You work hard. Reward yourself for it.

You deserve some genuine appreciation. Give it to yourself.

Offer yourself a great reason to keep on doing what you’re so good at doing. Provide yourself with a meaningful reminder of the value that you’ve worked to create.

The world needs much more of the good work you can do. So encourage yourself in the best ways you know.

It’s not selfish to be good to yourself. It’s smart to be supportive of your own good efforts.

When you’ve done a great job you deserve a great reward. Enjoy rewarding yourself, and let that reward push you to do even more.

— Ralph Marston

August 22

Power of your thoughts

If you are in good physical condition, you can make your way up a long, steep hill. But only if you think you can.

Your thoughts give you access to what is possible. Your thoughts put you in the frame of mind to achieve what you choose.

You are the vehicle through which good things can come. Your thoughts are what power that vehicle and determine its direction.

Negative, low-energy thoughts result in low-energy action. Positive, uplifting thoughts can make you unstoppable.

It’s really very easy to choose your thoughts. And by choosing your thoughts you are choosing the way your life proceeds.

What are you thinking, what will you think today? The choice is yours, and it matters very much.

— Ralph Marston

August 23

Greet this day

Lift up your eyes to the dawning of this day. You have great things to do.

Stand up tall, straight, shoulders back, head held high. Feel the immense energy of your possibilities.

Push yourself confidently out into that field of possibilities. Carry with you a strong, positive purpose.

Watch the problems melt away as you work your way through them. Watch life become ever brighter as you give your best to it.

Greet this day and every day with the highest of expectations. Commit yourself to make the most of the great opportunity you’ve received.

This is the time, this is the place where life is yours to live. Fill it with the best you can imagine.

— Ralph Marston