Serendipity

Good things will come to you in ways you could never anticipate or expect. Yet if you're constantly placing judgments, conditions and restrictions on your life, you'll miss out on most of those good things.

Being open to the abundance of life means being open to the unknown and unexpected. If you hide away from what you do not know, you'll never discover anything new.

The world is constantly changing, and many of those changes can seem frightening. Yet within each and every change there is opportunity.

When the world changes, legions of positive possibilities are born. When the unexpected happens, there is much new value to be created.

Choose to welcome the constant newness that is essential to life. For it brings new ways to more fully express and fulfill your own unique purpose.

In every unexpected turn of events is a pleasant surprise waiting to be discovered. Open yourself to the freshness of each dawning moment, and find those magnificent treasures that have just been born.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Hunger for meaning

Are you so busy chasing pleasure that you leave no room for joy in your life? Are you so obsessed with proving how happy you are that you make yourself miserable?

Step back for a moment and remember who you are. Even if you reach them, the generic goals and aspirations you borrow from others will not bring you even a moment of real fulfillment.

Life does not gain meaning through the things you see advertised on television. If all you want is what the world tells you to want, you'll find yourself in a perpetual state of lack, limitation and frustration.

Within you is a hunger for meaning. Within you is a burning desire to make a difference and to express a purpose that is special to you alone.

No one can give that purpose to you, for it is something you already have. Let go of the need to nourish your shallow ego, and you'll begin to connect with the real, meaningful purpose that is woven through your whole life.

Free yourself from the off-the-shelf definition of success that is nothing more than an empty fantasy. Instead, find real success and joy by giving life to the purpose that has always been within you.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Beauty and goodness

Think of the most beautiful thing you've ever witnessed, and multiply it by a thousand. What you then have is only a small, barely detectable fraction of the magnificent creation that is life.

What if you could experience the full beauty and goodness of life in one instant? You would surely and uncontrollably weep with tears of pure joy at the realization.

And there is something you would know, without the slightest doubt. That no problem, no challenge, no difficulty, no pain can ever really diminish the wonder and grandeur that is life.

There is a truth you would understand, in a way surpassing all thoughts and words, and it is this. Although the difficulties are very real, they are also very small when compared to the positive possibilities.

It pays to continually put things in perspective. For the more ground your perspective encompasses, the more valuable opportunities you'll have to live with genuine richness.

Choose as your perspective the wondrous and ever-expanding beauty of life. Within that golden territory, you'll find all the goodness and value you could ever desire.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Already fulfilled

When you don't need anything, then you truly have everything. When you know that you already have enough, that you already are enough, that everything is as it should be, then your life will be rich indeed.

Get past the need to possess and you'll discover that the whole world is yours. Abandon the need to be right and you'll find real truth.

Let go of the need to impress others and you'll have their sincere respect. Move beyond the need to control every detail, and your influence will grow stronger.

As long as you feel you need something, it cannot possibly be yours. The more you focus on the need for anything, the more you deny it to yourself.

Why would you want to do that? Instead, realize that whatever you desire is already available to you, and enjoy the process of expressing it more fully as you move through each moment.

Appreciate, understand and focus your energy on the good and valuable things in your life. And you'll know that your most authentic desires are already fulfilled.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Make something beautiful

The victories bring joy, and new opportunities. The defeats bring wisdom, strength, determination, and new opportunities.

In this way, life moves continually forward. In each moment, you can build upon whatever has come before.

Sometimes things happen just as you expected they would, and then there are times when nothing goes the way you had it planned. In any event, there is a way to respond triumphantly.

Learn to see the value no matter what outer conditions and circumstances may be concealing it. Know that there is value, and you will find it.

Right now, you are where you are supposed to be. For right now, you are where you can truly make a difference.

The ups and downs and ins and outs of life have brought you to this day. And on this day, you can make something beautiful out of it all.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

When effort feels effortless

It is your true nature to create and achieve. Today, allow that true nature to be fully expressed.

If you think you must struggle to get things done, that is precisely how it will be. If you see life's abundance as being apart from you, that abundance will be out of your reach.

Consider how completely right it feels when you are living in harmony with your most authentic purpose. Think of how effective you can be when doing something you love.

The objectives for which you strive and agonize will bring no real fulfillment, even if you're able to reach them. When you're moving toward a goal and the effort feels effortless, that is a goal that will bring real lasting value.

Let go of the need to struggle for what you don't really desire in the first place. Instead, allow your life to unfold each moment in accordance with your true creative nature.

Connect to the purpose that is sincerely you. Express that purpose, and you'll fill your world with richness.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

The values in your heart

When your world seems frustrating, keep in mind that the most important part of you exists beyond those frustrations. When life feels painful, never forget that the pain, however difficult it may be, is confined to just a small portion of who you truly are.

All around you are things you can see and touch and physically manipulate. They are part of life, but they are by no means all there is.

You cannot hold love in your hand, and yet you know for certain that it exists. You cannot capture joy in a box or an envelope and yet you have no doubt that it is real.

When the outward concerns of life seem to be overwhelming, remind yourself, there's more. There is so very much more to living and being than those things you can see and hear, taste and smell, touch and possess.

Even those losses and disappointments that feel big and burdensome, are small in comparison to all the beautiful, positive possibilities living within you. Look beyond the noisy, superficial distractions and remember the miracle of your existence.

Live your life around the values in your heart. And those everyday pains and nuisances will lose their power to bring you down.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Tired of nothing

It's certainly true that the effort necessary for accomplishment will make you tired. And yet the lack of any effort at all will surely bring on an even greater amount of weariness.

It's far better to be exhausted from focused effort than to be tired of doing nothing. After you've grown tired from productive effort, you can renew your energy with a little bit of rest and relaxation.

But when you're tired because of a lack of meaningful effort, that's a different story. No amount of rest can overcome such weariness.

What can overcome that kind of weariness? It will disappear as soon as you start to take purposeful, directed action.

Too much of anything will make you tired, especially too much of nothing. If you're going to be tired, then make sure you gain something valuable from it.

So go ahead, set your sights high, and do something truly useful and challenging with your time. You'll make yourself tired, and it will feel great.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 3,000 positive messages plus motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.