November 16

What you allow yourself

Everything you've achieved is what you've allowed yourself to achieve. What will you allow yourself to achieve today?

All the actions you've taken are based on what you expect yourself to do. What will you allow yourself to expect today?

You have the tools to make a difference in life. What tools will you allow yourself to utilize today?

You can allow the excuses to hold you back, or you can allow the possibilities to propel you forward. You can allow yourself to waste precious time or you can allow yourself to enjoy spending time in productive, creative effort.

Each day in your past has been lived the way you allowed yourself to live it. You now can allow yourself to live today in such a way that you'll look back on it with satisfaction, and with no regrets.

Through all its ups and downs, life ultimately proceeds in the way you allow. Allow yourself to live today in the most positive, honest and fulfilling way you can imagine.

Ralph S. Marston

November 17

Enjoying life

Make today a great day by enjoying it. Make your efforts effective by enjoying them.

Enjoyment gives positive energy to wherever you are and whatever you are doing. The more you enjoy anything, the more reasons you have to enjoy it.

It may be tempting to try and feel superior by complaining and looking down on life. But any feeling of superiority that comes from doing so is just an illusion.

You are always at your best when you enjoy yourself and the people and circumstances that surround you. You are naturally inclined to get better and better at doing the things you enjoy.

The more of life you can enjoy, the more effective you will be. So it makes sense to enjoy as much as you can.

Whatever the situation, find a way to enjoy yourself in it. Become skilled and experienced at enjoying life, and always live life at its best.

Ralph S. Marston

November 18

You still have today

Imagine it is tomorrow, you are looking back on today, and ask yourself this. What do you regret not doing?

Whatever it is, you have just given yourself the chance to avoid that regret. Because you still have today, and you can act today to avoid tomorrow's regrets.

Too often we fail to realize how valuable something is until it is gone forever. Take this opportunity to remind yourself how valuable today is, while you still have it.

Even though this day is not perfect, there is plenty you can do with it. Even though there are frustrations, problems and disappointments, there are also a whole lot of positive possibilities.

You still have today, and with it you have the ability to solve the problems, to transcend the disappointments and to experience new joys. You can learn, laugh, love and live fully.

Today, while you still have it, you can make a difference in the way your life unfolds. Avoid the regrets of tomorrow by plunging fully into life and into action today.

Ralph S. Marston

November 19

The beauty of now

Life is lived with what you have, not with empty wishes for more. Be pushed forward by your ambition for what can be, while you derive full benefit from what already is.

If you're constantly focused on what you want to have someday, you'll miss out on the goodness and value already available to you. Honor your vision for the future by acting on it today, where you are, with what you have.

Enjoy each moment for what it is, without being obsessed about what it might someday get you. Appreciate the beauty that's already here and now, and find inspiration in that beauty, here and now.

Every desire you have for the future points to an inner value that you can express today. Let those good values flow out into the world with your words and actions now.

As great as your ambition may be, you already have enough for right now. Make full use of what you now have, to do great things today.

The more you value what you already have, the more you'll be able to do with it. See the beauty and value of right now, right here, and live it fully.

Ralph S. Marston

November 20

Do what is difficult

Achievement is the result of doing what is difficult. If you're not willing to do what is difficult, you won't get very far.

Doing what is difficult is not really as bad as it might seem, when you simply go ahead and do it. Stop avoiding, quit procrastinating, and you actually make it easier to do what is difficult and necessary.

Many times you've seen how working through challenges can strengthen you. You've felt your confidence grow by choosing to face life's difficulties rather than hide from them.

In difficulty is great opportunity. Be the person who seizes that opportunity.

Jump in and take on the tough assignments. Be willing to do what is difficult, and you bring success, satisfaction, new value and fulfillment into your life.

Show life how much you love it by having the courage to do what is necessary, even when it is difficult, uncomfortable and inconvenient. Do what is difficult, and leave a positive trail wherever you go.

Ralph S. Marston

November 21

Expect excellence

Approach your day, your work, your life with the expectation of excellence. Expect excellence from yourself and from others, and raise the quality of results you achieve.

Expect excellence, then support that expectation with your attitude, your thoughts, words and actions. Your life and your unique possibilities are too important to settle for just getting by.

There's always room for improvement. Find places for improvement, make improvements, and push the whole world a little further forward.

Throughout history good people have committed their lives to creating excellence. Today, throughout your life, you enjoy the cascading benefits of those commitments to excellence.

And now, you can continue the worthy tradition. Show your gratitude for the excellence you've known in your life by creating more of it.

Expect excellence today. And make it happen.

Ralph S. Marston

November 22

Don’t sell life short

Don’t sell life short. Don’t sell yourself short.

Everywhere you go there are opportunities for new richness. In everything you do there’s a way to make a difference.

Nothing in life is really plain or ordinary because life itself is so extraordinary. You have life, and the chance to do beautiful, amazing things with it, right here, right now.

The particular path you’ve traveled has never been duplicated in the history of the universe. Feel the value of that special perspective, and make use of it to give the world new meaning.

Whatever may have happened in your past, you have a uniquely promising future. Today is your opportunity to start living that future, to experience the fulfillment of that promise.

Dream big, expect the best, and then put forth your highest efforts in the service of those dreams and expectations. Act as if life’s greatest magnificence is yours to live, for it is, the moment you choose it.

— Ralph Marston

November 23

Your unique purpose

If you're not motivated enough to take action, you're not motivated enough. If you're not inspired enough to get up and get busy, find yourself some more inspiration.

There's something that will compel you to jump up each morning and get things done. There's some dream, some goal, some desire, something you want to do with life, that will push you to take whatever action must be taken.

The easy choice is to deny that you have a driving purpose. The easy choice is to pretend that life is conspiring to prevent you from following your dreams.

But that easy choice brings regret rather than fulfillment. You, and your unique purpose, deserve more.

You deserve to feel the passion that comes from investing yourself in what you care about. You deserve to experience the ups and downs, the frustrations and satisfactions of your own focused efforts and the fruits of those efforts.

So reach deep inside, and admit to yourself what you care about the most, and what you really, truly want to do with this day. Then stand up right now and go for it.

Ralph S. Marston

November 24

Choose to be positive

When you feel good, you make the world a better place. Because when you feel good, that good feeling flows out from you into others.

It is not selfish or self-centered to feel good. What's selfish is to burden the world with more negativity.

Give yourself permission to rise above that negativity. Give yourself permission to be a positive influence in this day, and every day.

You don't have to react to misfortune or disappointment by bringing yourself down. You can just as realistically move forward in a positive way.

Decide that if the worst happens, you'll respond by being your best. Decide that when the best happens, you'll grab the opportunity to make it even better.

Choose to be positive, helpful, encouraging, compassionate and joyful, no matter what. And add new richness and beauty wherever you go.

Ralph S. Marston

November 25

The time to live is now

The person you've been waiting to become, woke up and got out of bed this morning. The day you've been waiting for, to really, truly, fully live, is here.

The time to wait is over. The time to live is now.

Your dreams are ready for you to fulfill. Your values, your interests, your passions, your goals are all ready for you to express, here and now.

Whatever else this moment brings, it also brings the opportunity to live with richness and joy. Though the trumpets may not blare and the crowds may not cheer, this is a moment worthy of such.

This is an extraordinary moment in an extraordinary day, with possibilities that have no end. And you are here right now to live it.

Your time has arrived, loaded with opportunity. Stop waiting and start living.

Ralph S. Marston

November 26

Flow of abundance

Let the world astonish you today with its goodness. Warm the whole of your being with gratitude for it all.

Abundance flows out from every situation, with every action, in every moment. Bursting from the smallest particles of experience, stretching across the grand expanses of all existence, abundance continues its flow.

Look beyond the little problems that flicker on the surface. With your awareness, dive into the vast reservoir of positive possibilities.

Jump joyfully and gratefully into the flow of abundance that is now. Let it come to you, let it come through you, and let it come from you.

Energize your life in this moment by seeing the new goodness that is possible. With that energy, bring the possibilities to life.

Live and act, think and feel as though you are the most fortunate person ever. As you do, you are.

Ralph S. Marston

November 27

Let go of what you're not

Let go of what you're not. Your life, your time and your energy are too important to waste.

Let go of what you're not, and make more room for all you love. Drop the pretenses and embrace authentic goodness.

You can make the biggest positive difference by being you. You can change the world for the better by being your authentic best.

Let go of what you're not and celebrate all you are. Wrap your awareness around what really matters.

You'll never be satisfied following anyone else's dream. Real fulfillment comes from achieving what is most meaningful to you.

Let go of what you're not, and give yourself the space to fully live as the unique, beautiful person you are. Let go of what you're not, and free yourself to give your best to all of life.

Ralph S. Marston

November 28

More love and less drama

Life is challenging enough. Don't make it more challenging by adding unnecessary drama and conflict.

When you have the choice between fighting and forgiveness, forgive. When you have the choice between resentment and reconciliation, see if you can reconcile.

Those who decline to carry a grudge have a much lighter load. Those who focus on giving, encounter a lot less resistance.

Be willing to step up to life's challenges, be ready to stand up for yourself and defend all you hold dear. But don't fight and struggle just to fight and struggle.

Instead of looking for a fight, look for a peaceful way forward. Instead of seeking revenge, work to lift your world so high that any revenge would be meaningless.

You've seen how beautiful and joyful life can be, if you will just let it. Just let it, by creating more love and less drama.

Ralph S. Marston

November 29

You can do more

You can do more, and in fact you know you’ll enjoy doing more. You can give more, authentically, enthusiastically, and you know how great that feels.

This world is filled with problems and pains, but that never has to get you down. For there’s always more you can do to make a positive difference, to transform those problems into opportunities and then into value.

When you’ve done all you can, the amazing thing is this. You can rest for a little while, and then you can do more.

As painful as the setbacks may be, they never have to be permanent. Because you can do more.

As wonderful as any achievement may be, the satisfaction of achieving does not have to end. Because the great thing is, you can do more.

Whether life gets you down or lifts you up, as long as you have life there is a readily accessible way forward if you’ll just remember it. You can do more.

— Ralph Marston

November 30

Plan and then act

Think, but don't overthink. Consider, but don't consider so much that you fail to take action.

Plan, prepare and strategize, but don't stop there. Do what you have planned.

It's not enough to think you should do it, or hope to do it, or make elaborate plans for doing it. Go beyond mere planning, take the first step, and the next step and the next, until the job is done.

Thinking things through is great, up to a point. After a certain point, thinking becomes a substitute for action or even worse, an excuse for not taking action.

Though you may be highly skilled at anticipating what will happen, you never know for sure until you actually do it. So give some thought to it, then do it.

Yes, it's fun to make big plans. Never forget, though, what's even more fun is to see those plans come to life through your actions.

Ralph S. Marston