April 13

This day is here

This day is here. Solve its problems, deal with its challenges, make the most of its opportunities.

Actively involve yourself in life as it unfolds. Leave each moment richer for having lived it.

Ask yourself, what will make this better? Then step forward and do what must be done to bring that about.

There’s nothing to be gained by waiting for the perfect opportunity. Make something good of the opportunity that’s here right now.

Go to the trouble, endure the discomfort, push yourself beyond where you’ve gone before. Life is enhanced when you make progress and that’s precisely what you can do today.

Feel the possibilities, discover new levels of courage, of competence, and experience the joy of taking meaningful action. This day is here, and there are so many great things you can do with it.

— Ralph Marston

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Singing Gratitude.

When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I can pray and praise. I can give thanks. What am I grateful for right now? I am grateful for a meal. I'm grateful for the bird using my bird feeder. I'm grateful for the opportunities to try again. I'm grateful to be able to love my family, our friends all the Earth. What song can I sing in praise today?

Love is the key that unlock peace.

April 14

Amazing life

Take a moment to remind yourself how fortunate you are to be here on this day. Then step up and make good use of that good fortune.

Look past the worries and complaints. See the possibilities and act on the best of them.

There’s a world of positive difference you can make today. Using your time to make that difference is what will bring you the highest possible satisfaction when the day comes to an end.

Yes, life is filled with risk. Fortunately, you are filled with courage, intelligence, creativity, passion, and purpose.

You can use what you have to do what you can. With every bit of progress you make, you can build more progress and value on top of it.

Look clearly and enthusiastically at the massive opportunity that’s right here in front of you. Discover once again what an amazing life this can be.

— Ralph Marston

April 15

Serenity of now

Allow your thoughts to come and then to peacefully go. Sink in to the serenity of now.

Let your feelings be your feelings, without judgment or conflict. Be filled with the peace that is always possible.

Spend time with that peace, free from the demands of needs and desires. Notice how your spirit is cleansed and refreshed as each peaceful moment passes.

Enable all that you are to be present in the serenity of now. Know that it is available to you at any time, just by letting it be.

Allowing serenity to envelop you will not make the difficulties and complications of life go away. Yet it can strengthen your connection to positive purpose and enhance your power to handle life’s challenges.

Give yourself the gift of peace. Spend time in the serenity of now.

— Ralph Marston

Glorious Good Friday to my recovery family.

There is always peace possible with God

April 16

Loving benefactor

By all means keenly observe the world and make note of the things that can be improved. But take care not to internalize the entire deficit between life as it is and life as it could be.

You are a part of all that is. But the good you can do, as extensive as it may be, does not depend on you absorbing every burden that exists.

Your best hope of repairing what is broken is to operate from a perspective that’s apart from what is broken. Healing flows not from sickness, but from health.

Feel that healthy part of you, focus on it, celebrate it, and expand upon it. Rather than letting the problems of the world pull you down, live with so much goodness as to overwhelm them.

You have a great responsibility to yourself and to all of life. Yet that does not oblige you to agonize endlessly over every last one of life’s imperfections.

Every day, in every situation, you can make a meaningful positive difference. Seek to do so not as a grieving victim, but as a joyful, confident, and loving benefactor.

— Ralph Marston

April 17

Joy of existence

Enjoy today to the fullest extent possible, but not so much that you compromise tomorrow. Enjoy yourself in every imaginable way, but not in ways that depend on harming anyone else.

It is not selfish to engage in joyful experiences. What’s selfish is to deny joy to others, or to your future self, merely to serve the expedience of the current moment.

Neither your situation nor the world’s situation has to be perfect, or even adequate, for you to experience joy. Genuine joy is not something you take from life but is something you’re able to give that improves all of life.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that a lack of joy in your life is anyone’s fault, including your own. Realize instead that joy is your potential, obligation, responsibility, and a pointer to your highest level of fulfillment.

Joy bears little resemblance to mere pleasure. Joy fulfills, engages, and energizes your deepest values, your integrity, your body, mind, spirit, and soul.

Seek to be a source, a conduit, and a grateful repository for the joy of existence. Know that in every circumstance there is life-affirming joy to be lived and shared.

— Ralph Marston

Happy Easter.
Risen Christ, I am blessed to be part of your holy lineage. As you sent out your disciples, I hear your voice now sending me. You quite my doubt with your forgiveness. You promise me courage for the journey. Please walk with me today as I share your message of peace. Amen.

April 18

Race ahead

Fall in love again with the wonder that is your life. See with refreshed and grateful eyes the real goodness that exists all around you.

Through the best of times and the worst of times, the possibilities persist. Imagine the good you can do with them now.

Everything you’ve been through has compelled you to grow stronger. Now you’re positioned to put that strength to work in the service of what you’ve always loved.

Remember the sunrise that took your breath away so many years ago? Tomorrow morning there’s another one with even more potential to spark richness and joy.

Over the years it’s become all too easy to let fear and complacency hold you back. Yet even now, especially now, you have what it takes to re-ignite your sense of wonder at all that is and all that is possible.

Race ahead and meet the sun next time it clears the horizon. See a whole new world of possibilities come to light, allowing the wonder and richness to energize your life more than ever before.

— Ralph Marston

April 19

Plan and act anyway

You plan, you prepare, you put those plans into action. Then something completely unexpected comes along and disrupts your planned activities.

It’s possible life will not unfold as you intended. Yet that’s no reason to avoid having intentions, or making plans, or acting on those plans.

Yes, every now and then your plans could very well fall through. But if you have no plans at all then the whole of your life is what will fall through.

Sure, it might seem like a waste to put a great deal of preparation into something that could never happen. However, an even greater waste is to wander aimlessly, afraid that any plans you make might be disrupted.

So go ahead, choose what you intend to do. Then step forward and put your choices into action.

Though life offers no guarantees, there’s a good chance much of what you act upon will get done. And that’s a whole lot better than nothing.

— Ralph Marston

April 20

Realize that you can

What will everyone else think? It doesn’t really matter.

How do you get started? Identify an action you can take right now and take it.

How do you manage to keep going? Be willing to do what must be done, as often as it must be done.

What if you fall? You can pick yourself up and make another attempt.

What if no one is willing to listen to you, assist you, support you? Figure out a way to make it worth their while.

What if the goal is in sight, but you suddenly encounter a big, complicated obstacle? Realize that you’ve just come across a splendid opportunity to create value, and realize that you can.

— Ralph Marston

April 21

New experiences

Learn, experience, fail, and succeed. Ask questions, listen to the answers, seek to understand.

Wander through places where you’ve previously never been. Take on tasks you don’t yet know how to do.

You’re able to consider new information, adjust to unexpected situations, and adapt to novel environments. Keep those abilities strong by putting them to use.

It’s easy and comfortable to get settled in your ways. Yet it’s refreshing and energizing to introduce yourself to new challenges and to then work through those challenges.

You’ve come a long way in your time and accumulated plenty of interesting experiences. Keep those new experiences coming.

What makes life so good is the fact that you can live it in whatever way it may come. A new day is here, and new experiences await.

— Ralph Marston