May 30

New normal

If you are not completely satisfied with what’s normal in your life, create a new normal. Make a change for the better, and commit to keep that change going.

It’s not enough to merely try something new for a while. Because you’ll always feel like you can easily abandon it.

When you make a positive change, make it a real, authentic, lasting change. Integrate it into who you are and how you live.

Let your investment in self-improvement be more than just a whim. Don’t provide a way to back out.

Driven by your dreams, your desires, your frustrations, experience, wisdom and love, create a new normal. Make it beautiful, make it challenging, make it compelling, and make it stick.

You deserve your own highest level of commitment. Settle for nothing less.

— Ralph Marston

May 31

Give goodness to life

Before you act, before you speak, ask yourself this. Will it accomplish anything positive?

It might feel good in the moment to criticize, and the other person might deserve it. But will your criticism make a positive difference for anyone, or will it just be hurtful?

Your time is precious, as are your relationships and your resources. Invest them in what matters, in what moves life forward.

Just because you have the impulse and the opportunity to do something, doesn’t mean you must do it. Consider first who will benefit, who will suffer, what it will accomplish.

There are plenty of good, productive, helpful, nurturing choices in every moment. You don’t always have to go with the first thing that comes to mind.

Keep your standards high by making sure what you do has a positive impact. Give goodness to life, and life will be good to you.

— Ralph Marston