Daily Motivator - November
 

November 1

Your instincts

Your instincts are not perfect. Yet they do have value, and deserve your attention.

When you know, even though you’re not sure how or why you know, trust that you do indeed know. Not all truth can be distilled into facts and logic.

If you can verify what your instincts are telling you, great. But even when you can’t verify them, respect the truth they’re sure to contain.

Challenge your instincts honestly, and as thoroughly as you can. But don’t let other people with their own agendas cause you to doubt what you know in your gut to be true.

You know more than you’re aware of knowing. Just as your thoughts and sensory perceptions inform you, so do your feelings.

Wisdom resides in the full spectrum of your awareness. Make good and confident use of it all.

— Ralph Marston

November 2

Adventure into life

Something deep inside you longs for adventure. And for anything to be an adventure it must be challenging.

Adventure happens when you choose to confront the unknown. It could be a journey to a place you’ve never been, an activity you’ve never before undertaken, or a thousand other things.

The point of adventure is to better understand yourself and the universe in which you live. Adventure widens your perspective and compels you to become more capable and competent.

And though the adventure itself might seem self indulgent, its benefits have the power to extend far beyond you. At its best, adventure provides you with more substance and value that you can offer others in countless ways.

It is no accident that those who contribute most to life are often the most adventurous. Perhaps that’s why the desire for adventure is so deeply ingrained.

Fortunately, whatever your situation, there are plenty of opportunities for adventure. See if you can find a way to answer the longing, and add new value to life, by undertaking your own adventure.

— Ralph Marston

Happy November Tammy and Kracker!
Thank God for getting us through the
month of October one day at a time.
May this new month of November be full of joy,
Thanksgiving, and happiness.
May the grace of God be with you.
Peace to you always my dear friends.

November 3

The work you do

A special form of happiness it is to do a job well. You prove to yourself that you can, that you exist, that you make a difference, that you matter.

Leisure has its place and can offer certain pleasures. Yet it is work that resonates most deeply with the enduring reality of who you are.

That reality is one of great creativity and usefulness. Every effort advances you toward a future in which more value exists than in the present.

During each step along the way, work adds its positive dimensions to your experience. You start with purpose and intention, you continue with strength, and you finish with well-earned satisfaction.

As you apply focus, discipline, and persistence you gain new appreciation for what is, new confidence in what can be. You are engaged by the challenges, energized by the progress.

Throughout your existence is the ever-present magic of what’s possible. Continue to do the work that brings great possibilities to life.

— Ralph Marston

November 4

Live with courage

You know you’re vulnerable but it does not stop you. That’s courage.

With courage you go where you do not know what waits. What you find is life, and richness, and more courage.

You say what is true when it is not pretty. You give when you’re not certain how you’ll get more.

With courage you find out who you are. Courage takes hold with your first step, and then grows stronger as you continue to move forward.

You know it’s real because you have no need to announce it. You feel its power in the face of every fear.

You live with courage, through courage. There really is no other good way.

— Ralph Marston

November 5

Make room

Make room in your life for goodness. Make room in your life for joy.

Make time in your life for purposeful living. Make space in your life for wonder, for awe, for growing wisdom, for love.

If you allow your surroundings to fill up with junk, there’s no room remaining for anything useful. If you fill your awareness with negativity, you can crowd out everything else.

Make room for something better. Make room for the richness you seek to experience.

There’s only so much you can think about, or do, or carry with you. So be choosy about how you fill your life.

Make room for what benefits you, your world, and the lives of others. Make room for what matters, and give yourself a fulfilling and rewarding place to be.

— Ralph Marston

November 6

Show up

Don’t overthink it. Don’t worry about what might or might not happen.

Just show up and give your best. Deal with the ups and downs as they come, and work your way through.

So very much is possible and pretty much nothing is guaranteed. Stay alert and aware as the situation unfolds and respond accordingly.

Make reasonable plans and be prepared to revise them. Learn from all you’ve done but don’t be so arrogant as to assume you know it all.

Sometimes you’ll do great, at other times you’ll get it wrong. Nonetheless keep showing up, keep giving your best.

Show up and do the work. Show up and earn the rewards of a rich and fulfilling life.

— Ralph Marston

November 7

Add life to life

This day, this situation beckons you to add life to your life. Now is when you step forward to satisfy the stirrings of your soul.

Adventure is not some distant concept. It begins wherever you are, the moment you act from the truth of who you are and all you love.

Challenges and complications get in the way, and they’re all part of the experience. They provide ample opportunity to deepen your commitment and to sweeten the rewards.

You transform your life into a meaningful endeavor one hour at a time. Here now is another golden hour with which you can bring enduring value into existence.

It’s tempting to decline that opportunity, to wrap yourself in the comfort of doing nothing. Yet so much more is possible.

You deserve all the richness you’re capable of creating and experiencing. As time moves forward, choose to move forward with it, always adding new life to life.

— Ralph Marston

November 8

Get playful

Carry a sense of playfulness into the heart of whatever you’re doing. You have work to get done, and you might as well make it fun.

Start things off with a smile. That in itself elevates your mood and ignites your creativity.

Discover how you can be resolutely serious about what you’re doing while maintaining a playful demeanor. As complicated, difficult, and demanding as life can be, you’re able to have fun with it.

Playfulness connects you with the authentic person you are, and with the authenticity in others as well. That will boost your energy, unleash creativity and enhance resourcefulness.

Do successful people have fun because they’re successful or are they successful because they have fun? It’s probably some of both, yet it never hurts to find out for yourself.

Not only is playfulness fun, it’s powerful. So why not?

— Ralph Marston

November 9

Make more encouragement

Encouragement is cumulative. Every little bit matters because those little bits add up.

Encouragement is omnidirectional. Giving encouragement to someone else, even merely observing it, encourages you too.

What could you do to give yourself a little bit of encouragement right now? What could you do to encourage someone else?

Raising the level of encouragement in any moment is always a good thing. The energy it creates will continue to resonate across time, across distance.

It can seem like a little thing. Yet it could just be enough to make a big difference.

Wherever it comes from, wherever it goes, encouragement benefits your world. Use every opportunity to make more.

— Ralph Marston

November 10

Purposeful focus

Don’t beat yourself up for the time you’ve wasted, because that would waste even more. Just decide what good, productive, meaningful use you can make of your time now, and begin.

Stop ruminating over what caused you to lose focus. Simply set aside a generous and specific amount of time and commit it to staying focused on what will make a difference.

The potential distractions will always be there to entice you. Yet your commitment to purposeful focus gives you the power to resist their temptations.

It’s your mind, it’s your awareness, it’s your effort, it’s your time. You can choose to focus, you can choose the subject of your focus, and you can continue making that choice.

By so doing, you immunize yourself and your thoughts against intrusions that could otherwise disrupt and derail your efforts. You give your mind space in which to do miraculous and meaningful work.

You are one choice away from the power of purposeful focus. Experience all the valuable results that come when you put that power to work.

— Ralph Marston

We are not a glum lot...
That's referring to the Post
from on on 8th.

November 11

On the side of truth

Truth is often harsh. But truth is never your enemy.

Even in the worst of circumstances, it’s better to know the truth than to hide from it. When the choices are difficult and painful, still you’re better off knowing clearly what they are.

Truth empowers you to be effective in creating the best outcomes. Truth enables you to forge solid, valuable and enduring connections with others.

Pretending that a particular truth does not exist won’t make it go away. Doing so will render you less able to deal with that truth.

The sooner you discover the truth of a particular situation and acknowledge it, the sooner you can put it to positive use. Your actions bring the best results when you are acting on the truth.

Keep yourself firmly on the side of truth. As difficult and inconvenient as it can often be, truth is how you move forward.

— Ralph Marston

November 12

Reflection for the Day

Now that we’re sober and living in reality, it’s sometimes difficult to see ourselves as others see us and, in the process, determine how much progress we’ve made in recovery. In the old days, the back?of?the?bar mirror presented us with a distorted and illusory view of ourselves: the way we imagined ourselves to be and the way we imagined ourselves to appear in the eyes of others. A good way for me to measure my progress today is simply to look about me at my friends in the program. As I witness the miracle of their recoveries, I realize that I’m part of the same miracle—and will remain so as long as I’m willing. Am I grateful for reality and the Divine miracle of my recovery?
Today I Pray

May my Higher Power keep my eyes open for miracles—those marvelous changes that have taken place in my own life and in the lives of my friends in the group. May I ask no other measurement of progress than a smile I can honestly mean and a clear eye and a mind that can, at last, touch reality. May my own joy be my answer to my question, “How am I doing?”
Today I Will Remember

Miracles measure our progress. Who needs more?

Today's reading is from the book A Day at a Time: Daily Reflections for Recovering People*

November 13

Active, continuing involvement

Celebrate the good things but don’t let your celebration become tinged with arrogance. Enjoy your good fortune without allowing it to make you complacent.

In much the same way, when you lament the inevitable losses don’t let it fill you with intractable despair. Accept whatever difficulties may come while at the same time working to move toward more positive results.

Momentum is a powerful force, but that does not mean your current trajectory will continue indefinitely. Your active, continuing involvement has great power too.

So whatever yesterday looked like, make your actions today purposeful, positive, and productive. Whether your recent results have been favorable or not, there’s something to be learned from them, and useful responses you can choose.

What matters more than where you’ve been is what you do today. Let the past inform and inspire you without letting it immobilize or confine you.

Your choice is here, your choice is now, regardless of what has happened before. Make it a choice that propels your life in the direction you most want it to go.

— Ralph Marston