Daily Motivator - April
 

April 1

Getting started

Talk yourself into talking. Act yourself into action.

Write yourself into writing. Think yourself into thinking.

Whatever you need to do, or wish to do, start with whatever version of it is right here within reach. Get the ball rolling, establish some momentum, and then you can build on it.

Contrary to the widespread assumption, getting started is not hard. It’s deceptively easy.

Make a phone call, read a book, pick up a stack of papers, put on your socks. Right here, right now, is your opportunity to get started.

You’re already standing at the starting line. Now is when you can go.

— Ralph Marston

Happy April 1st my awesome recovery
reading page Family. Let's thank God for
getting though the month
March one day at a time.
God bless you Tammy for all you do.
God bless you Kracker, thank you
my Reading partner.

April 2

Let your ambition come forward

It’s not selfish to move forward with ambition. What’s selfish is to waste time, skills, opportunities, and resources on aimless diversions.

You deserve a purposeful day, year, life. What’s more, you owe it to all those who sacrificed throughout history to make your opportunities possible.

It’s not easy to zero in on a worthy and compelling purpose. It’s more difficult still to follow that purpose with commitment and determination.

Yet what’s worse is to languish without any driving purpose. And then the regret for doing so can be unbearable.

Fortunately, there’s always plenty of good work to be done. Life, awareness, ability, and passion are yours to put to use.

Let your ambition come forward, and make yourself of continuing benefit to who and what you care about. Be the positive presence and force you are destined to be.

— Ralph Marston

April 3

Doing what matters

Do things that matter. Avoid things that don’t.

Think thoughts that exert a positive influence on your actions. Gently let go of thoughts that waste time and needlessly push you into dark desperate places.

Your time is precious beyond any measure. Spend that time doing what you know is good, and right, truthful, helpful, appreciative and supportive of the wonder that is existence.

Every moment, every action has a cost. You are fully entitled and obligated to make sure each cost produces a genuine benefit.

That does not in any way give you an excuse to avoid the difficult pursuits. Rather, it summons you to focus the whole of your being on meaningful pursuits, as challenging and inconvenient as they may be.

You are here today to make real, meaningful, beneficial progress. Respect the miraculous nature of that opportunity, and spend this day doing what matters.

— Ralph Marston

April 4

Trade in discouragement

What if you could act to stop discouragement the moment you feel it? The good news is, you can.

In fact, you can transform the negative energy of discouragement into positive, productive energy. To do so, recognize the power you have over your own thoughts, and put that power to use.

Discouragement exists in your mind. It is only one out of many possible interpretations of your situation.

Choose to go with a more empowering interpretation. Choose to go with a positive projection of your possibilities, of the future, of what you can do.

Let discouragement serve its purpose by alerting you to what’s important in your life. Then, trade in that discouragement for courage, energy, and effective action.

Where you go next is a function of where your thoughts are right now. Exercise the power you have over your own thoughts, making them as positive, realistic, and motivating as they can be.

— Ralph Marston

April 5

Embracing the truth

Dealing with an unpleasant truth is difficult. However, what’s far worse is to avoid that truth.

Reality is what it is, whether you acknowledge it or not. And it’s only when you do acknowledge what is real, what is true, that you provide yourself some ability to cope with it.

It’s understandable that you would want to avoid what frightens you. Yet as frightening as the truth can be, there’s no question that the suppression of truth is much more frightening.

When you’re unwilling or unable to know what’s really going on, you render yourself powerless. Retreating into lies, illusions, and self-deception only makes the situation worse.

Embracing the truth is not going to magically make everything okay. But it will provide real hope and real possibilities for moving forward.

There is no alternative to the truth that you would want to maintain for the entirety of your life. Keep that in mind and you will find the courage to speak what is true, and to successfully deal with it.

— Ralph Marston

April 6

So very much good

You lament that the good possibilities are all gone. But that’s just an easy, flimsy excuse.

You blame this person, that person, some odd factor or common situation. Yet assigning blame fails to accomplish anything of value.

Scrub your mind clean of distracting, defeating thoughts and consider this question. What can you do right now to add value, richness, and goodness to life?

Set aside the unproductive habits and obsessions, and focus in on the opportunities of the moment. Take a deep breath, thankful for the energy that fills you, and go to work.

Push yourself a little bit past what is comfortable. See how right and thrilling it feels to be you, doing the good work you can do.

Now is too valuable to waste on anything less than being your best. There’s so very much good you can do.

— Ralph Marston

April 7

Chance to give your best

Progress comes when you desire the attaining just as much as you desire what you wish to attain. Achievement is a matter of seeking the necessary skills just as earnestly as you seek the rewards.

Envision your goal and clearly connect that goal to the forces deep inside that drive you. Then connect yourself just as intimately to the challenging adventure of bringing that goal to life.

The reward is part of the process and the process is part of the reward. What has real and lasting value for you is what you give your time and effort and value to.

You won’t ever get meaningful value for nothing. And you wouldn’t want it if you could.

What gives anything value is what you’re able to put into it. Every day, every challenge, relationship, situation gives you the chance to give your best.

Grow in strength, wisdom, capability, and resilience. Every ounce of value you give adds to the richness and fulfillment of life.

— Ralph Marston

April 8

Treasure the memories

The past is over, yet its brightest treasures remain within you. Though you cannot live in the past, every day you carry its value forward.

In your attic the memories gather layer upon layer of dust as time goes by. In your heart, however, the memories gain more vitality and relevance as fresh experiences are woven into them over time.

Much of what you know about yourself comes from who you’ve been, how you’ve lived, all that you’ve discovered. Even the most difficult times in your past can offer you something of benefit today.

And today will itself soon be in your past. Let that thought remind you to live it honestly, authentically, with courage, curiosity and kindness.

For though this day is only yours to live for a short time, the way you live it will become an enduring part of you. Use the opportunity of its hours to give yourself and your world a gift that keeps on giving.

Treasure the memories, whatever they may be, and continually build on them. Learn to become even more of the best you have been.

— Ralph Marston

April 9

Tend your own garden

As enticing as the prospect may be, there’s not much you can do to control or influence the behavior of others. Yet there are plenty of improvements you can make to your own thoughts, choices, and actions.

It’s great to keep yourself informed about what the rest of the people in the world are doing. But it’s best to keep the majority of your focus and energy on the good and useful things you can do.

Tend to your own garden with care, discipline, persistence and high expectations. That will accomplish infinitely more than scrutinizing and complaining about the weeds in your neighbor’s garden.

A modest positive change in your choices can often lead to a massive improvement in the quality of your life. By contrast, fighting to control the choices of others will likely just lead to more and more fighting.

Even if you could somehow get everyone in the world to do as you wish, that would not come close to solving your problems. And then where would you turn?

The most powerful, positive, and far-reaching way to influence your world is by example. Work toward excellence in the living of your life, and let your success inspire others to do the same.

— Ralph Marston

April 10

Ideal choice

On very rare occasions you can make the perfect choice. At all other times the perfect choice is not available to you, so you must make the best choice.

None of the alternatives you have to choose from may be ideal. Yet at least one of those alternatives is likely preferable to avoiding a choice altogether.

Or it could be that all of the alternatives are highly desirable, and you don’t want to miss out on any of them. Even in that case, choosing one and excluding all the rest is better than not choosing at all.

You can’t have everything, and you don’t want to have nothing. So you must choose, and make a commitment to your choice.

Value, success, and fulfillment are general, all-encompassing terms. Yet for each of these good things to be present in your life, it must exist in a specific form.

Your choices give life to your vision, to your ideals, even when what you have to choose from is not ideal. Choose the best that you can at every juncture, and you’ll steadily work your way to where you want to be.

— Ralph Marston

April 11

Thinking about

What have you been thinking about doing? Why have you not done it?

Maybe you’ve been overthinking it. Perhaps all that thinking has gotten in the way of doing.

Thinking is an essential component of improvement and achievement. But it is not the only component.

Your thoughts bring results when they prepare you and guide you to take action. Be careful not to let those thoughts get to the point where they become a substitute for action.

Focus your thoughts not only on the results you desire, but also on all the actions necessary to get you there. Fill your thoughts with enthusiasm for the process of achievement, with excitement for getting that process started.

Then get going and get it done. Give your good thoughts the expression they deserve by putting them into action.

— Ralph Marston

Faith without action is dead.

April 12

You can be

You are not all that you could be. Today you have the good fortune to work on that.

Think of the most awe-inspiring experience you’ve ever had. What is it exactly, within you, with which that awe continues to resonate?

The beauty that leaves you stunned, the wonder, the awe, all call to your higher self. Life’s moments of extreme excellence push you in the direction of being all you can be.

There is a reason why you are drawn to stare at the ocean’s distant horizon, or the endless night sky, or a flawlessly beautiful painting. There is a reason why certain musical passages can radically alter your mood and physiology.

It is because your life has great meaning and in certain moments you can feel the extent of that meaning throughout the whole of your being. In those moments you understand that although you are not all you could be, you can be.

Let yourself be awed by life and see that in the middle of that awe, there is you. Feel the promise, feel the challenge, and commit once again to being all you can be.

— Ralph Marston

And Works without Faith ain't much Better.