A life with no problems

The difficulties are not what make life so difficult. What makes life difficult is trying to avoid the difficulties.

When you can accept that life is always going to have difficulties, it becomes much less difficult. When you stop running from the challenges, they become much less challenging.

Living a good life is not living a life without problems. Living a good life comes from acknowledging, facing, and then transcending each problem as it comes.

If you let the problems get you down, you'll always be down. Choose instead to let the problems get you up, get you going, and get you working on solving them.

Choose, in fact, to be thankful for the problems. For in each problem is a new opportunity to create value and to move life forward.

A life with no problems is no life at all. Live with the problems, work successfully through the problems, and enjoy a rich and fulfilling life.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

All the details

If you wish to achieve a great and ambitious vision, you have to be willing to fill in all the little details. Though they may seem terribly tedious at times, those details are what give substance to the dream.

Don't ever consider the details to be beneath you. Doing so will put the achievement of your dream beyond your reach.

Yes, it is enormously helpful when you can delegate tasks to others. Yet to do so successfully, you must have full respect for the value of those tasks and for the people who perform them.

Dreams are not achieved by those who merely imagine and articulate them. Dreams are achieved by those who take responsibility for making sure that every little detail gets done.

Dream the dream, and then do the work. Envision the achievement, and then find a way to tend to all the details.

No detail is unimportant or beneath you. For it is all those details, combined together, which bring the dream to life.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

You make a difference

What you do makes a difference. It may not seem like much, but it is.

What you do has an influence that goes far beyond you. What you do is an important part of the fabric of life.

The world around you is not only your home. It is your responsibility.

The way you see the world plays an important part in what the world becomes. Your vision for the future helps to create the future.

Live with hope, with joy, with love, and you add hope, joy, and love to the world. Live with honesty and integrity, and you give the power of truth to all of life.

Day in and day out, what you do truly matters, more than you can ever know. Live each moment as though what you do changes the world, because it surely does.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Not quite perfect

Perfection is an admirable goal. But even when you can't quite get it perfect, make sure you get it done.

Hold yourself to the highest standards. But don't make those standards so unattainable that you fail to make the effort.

Seek always to create great and useful value for others. But don't get bogged down in worrying about what others might or might not think.

Be careful and diligent in whatever you set out to accomplish. But don't be so worried about making mistakes that you fail to get anything done.

Go ahead, from where you are, with whatever you have, and make the effort. Even when conditions are far from perfect, there is still much progress you can make.

Focus not on the imperfections or limitations, but rather on the task at hand. And even when you can't get it perfect, you can make an important positive difference in your world.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Run with it

Let your life come fully and positively to life. You are here on this glorious day, so make the very most of it.

You have passions and interests, so pursue them. You have dreams and desires, so get busy and fulfill them.

You have unique perspectives and opinions, so express them. A magnificent, fascinating universe surrounds you, so experience it.

There are people about whom you care deeply. So give them your time, your attention, your love and fellowship.

You've already experienced yesterday, so don't live it again today. This is a day to bring new and interesting and meaningful substance into your life.

On this very day you have the priceless opportunity to live. Take that opportunity, right now, and run with it as far and as high as you possibly can.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

A day to be thankful

Every day is a day to be thankful. Life's abundance has no limit, and gratitude is what keeps that abundance flowing.

In every circumstance there is something for which to be thankful. Even when there seems to be nothing else, there is hope.

Being truly thankful makes you infinitely more resourceful. By sincerely appreciating what you have, you find new and valuable ways to make use of it.

Gratitude makes you more generous and creative. By focusing on how fortunate you are, you're able to give the best you can give.

When you are happy, be thankful and your happiness is greatly multiplied. When you are feeling down, be thankful and you'll soon be feeling much better.

Whatever may come, see it as an opportunity to be sincerely thankful. And let life's abundance flow more and more freely into all your world.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Think your best thoughts

Your thoughts give specific direction to the immense energy that is your life. So focus those thoughts not on what you fear or detest, but on what you love.

Fill your mind with thoughts of the very best you can imagine. Think your way in the direction of where you truly wish to go.

Your life will faithfully express whatever you genuinely think of it. The highest, most consistently positive thoughts are what will push your life in the most positive and fulfilling direction.

In every moment you are thinking about something. Each of those thoughts is an opportunity to set the direction of your life.

Think thoughts of joy, of love, of healing, compassion and achievement. Where your most persistent thoughts lead, your actions and your life do naturally follow.

Think, with passion and in great detail, of how you wish your world to be. Think your best thoughts, again and again, and bring those thoughts to life.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Richness in your life

The richness in your life is determined not by how much you have. It comes from how much you treasure and appreciate what you have.

Living richly is not necessarily a matter of living extravagantly. Living richly is living with purpose, with meaning, and with authentic joy in every moment.

You don't need a certain set of circumstances to enjoy a life of richness. What it takes is a profound sense of gratitude for the life you have.

On this very day, in this very moment, you can live as richly as anyone. You can give great meaning and fulfillment to this moment by simply appreciating the fact that you're in it.

Life's endless goodness and richness surround you even now. Open your awareness to the positive possibilities and choose to live them.

Be truly rich, not by virtue of what you have, but by how much genuine meaning you give to each moment. Be truly rich, and let life's goodness freely and unceasingly flow through all you do.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Success is a way of life

Success is not a secret. Success is a direction, a process, and a way of life.

Success is not merely something that you get. Success is all about the way you choose to live.

You can be successful right now. Simply turn your focus, your awareness, your thoughts and actions in a positive, meaningful direction.

Success is the journey, and not merely the end of the road. Every moment is your opportunity to live the success you seek.

Dream without limits, and act on those dreams. Live without excuses or apologies, and with a persistent, driving desire to make a difference.

Success is a way of life. Choose that way right now, and in every moment of every day.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Live the goodness

Life is difficult when you assume it to be so. Yet you never have to make that assumption.

Life is good when you allow it to be so. And you can always allow it to be.

It is not the situation itself that makes life one way or the other. It is the way you choose to view and to live the situation that makes all the difference.

Make the assumption that your life today is the very best it can possibly be. Then go out and prove that assumption true by the way you live.

Operate from a positive perspective and that will enable you to see the positive possibilities. Focus on visions of goodness and fulfillment, and the most valuable opportunities will fill your awareness.

You are immensely powerful, capable, and creative. See the goodness, be the goodness, live the goodness, and fill your life with the best possibilities.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

What you pay for

You get what you pay for. So look at each opportunity to pay as an opportunity to enrich your life.

When you seek to get something for nothing, what you usually end up with is nothing worth having. It is by investing yourself in life that you're able to reap life's best rewards.

In the effort, in the commitment, in the price you pay is the value. Don't cheat yourself out of that value.

Be willing to pay the price, and you become able to enjoy the reward. Be willing to invest your time, effort and resources, and you'll be capable of creating real, meaningful value.

You get what you pay for, so it makes sense to give your best in every situation. Pay the price, with authentic gratitude in your heart, and enjoy life's greatest rewards.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Choosing your consequences

There are some actions that empower and enrich your life. There are other actions that lead only to regret and disappointment.

There are choices that build value far into the future. There are other choices that seriously compromise your future in the interest of a fleeting, momentary pleasure.

Before each action you take, before each choice you make, ask yourself this question. Will it truly and permanently lift up your life and your world, or will it not?

There's no need to get caught up in labeling things as good or bad or easy or difficult, or even as right or wrong. Look instead at the ultimate consequence of what you choose to do.

The way to do what is good and right is to do what will bring goodness and value. The way to build an empowered and fulfilled life is to make empowering choices.

In every moment, with each thought and action you take, you are choosing your consequences. Take advantage of each opportunity to choose the very best.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Always a way

Changing conditions may change the path to fulfillment of your dreams, or even the nature of that fulfillment. Yet the essence of your underlying purpose remains the same.

What could have been, can still be. At its deepest level, no dream is ever rendered impossible.

There is always a way to live the life you choose. There is always a way to express your own beautiful, most authentic vision.

Dare to dream, and dare to live with the confidence that your dream will come true. When it means enough to you, there is a way for it to come about.

Plan and execute your approach. And if the plan happens to fall short, know that there is most certainly another way.

Don't hold yourself back with limiting thoughts about how it might or might not happen. Push yourself forward with enthusiastic, positive expectations and actions, and bring the dream to life.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Great courage

You have great courage. Use it.

Whenever you feel fear, you are also feeling your potential for courage. Go ahead, feel the fear, and then let that courage of yours spring to life.

The fact that you can feel the fear means you also have the courage to get beyond it. Otherwise, the fear would serve no useful purpose.

Put that fear to good use by allowing it to ignite your courage. Put that courage to good use by utilizing it to move toward positive, meaningful objectives.

Feel the fear and know it means you have the courage. Learn from that fear and then step forward with all that courage.

The beginning of courage feels like fear. Follow through on that feeling, let the courage come, and with it you will achieve great things.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Enough time

Make time to do your dream. Make time to live the richness.

Make time for what's important by remembering how truly precious your time is. There is always enough time when you give sufficient value to your time.

Complaining that there's not enough time merely wastes more of your time. Instead of being resentful about what you must do, be appreciative of what you can do.

Is there something you're doing that doesn't seem like it's worth the time? Then you can either stop doing it or find ways to put more meaningful value into it.

If there's something you're doing that's not important, consider how you can make it important. Put more real value and meaning into your efforts, and the time you give to those efforts will be time well spent.

Appreciate each moment as it comes, giving your authentic best to it. And you'll have plenty of time to live the life you truly wish to live.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Put your heart in what you do

If you're making excuses for failure, it probably means you don't really want to succeed. When you're focused on what's holding you back, it may mean that your heart is not really in the effort to move forward.

Instead of seeking to explain your failures, take an honest look at your intentions. Is there something else you could be doing that would inspire you toward a more positive and effective focus?

The obstacles you face may not be your fault. Yet when you promote and defend them, you give them more power than ever.

When you find yourself sabotaging your own efforts in this way, it's time to reconsider those efforts. Either find a way to positively invest in what you're doing or find a way to move on.

You have the power to make things happen and to succeed in the face of even the most difficult obstacles. To fully access that power, you must be doing what truly matters to you.

Instead of finding new excuses for your failures, look for new reasons to succeed. Truly put your heart in what you do, and what you do will do great.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Your greatest opportunity

Don't wait for later to do what you love and to love what you're doing. Life is made richer in increments of now, and this very moment is your moment to fully live.

Keep reminding yourself how much of a privilege it is to be where you are right now. Keep working to make the most of that unique privilege, and use it to lift all of life ever higher.

Stop making excuses about why you can't. Start making grand fulfillment out of the goodness you have.

Discover how immensely thankful you can be that this moment is here. Enjoy how enthusiastic you can be about fulfilling this day's most glorious possibilities.

Now is when you can get the most out of life by putting the most into life. Now is when you can find maximum enjoyment in being authentically you.

Do what you love and love what you're doing. Your greatest opportunity is now.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Act on it

Even the best idea is only an idea. To give it value, act on it.

Even the most ambitious intention is only an intention until you begin to act on it. Once you take action and put some commitment behind it, then you begin to transform that intention into real value.

Most of the world doesn't really care about what you think you'll do or what you plan to do. To make the world take notice, take action.

Very few people care about what you think or how you feel. What will give you credibility and influence is what you actually do.

By all means, think and plan and dream. Then stand up, step forward, follow through and do.

Zero in on an intention that has real meaning for you. Then act on it, persistently and enthusiastically, and bring it fully to life.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Give the value

You can't fully enjoy life if you're always expecting someone else to live it for you. The value of each experience is directly related to the value you are willing to put into it.

Instead of seeing your efforts, your obligations and your responsibilities as burdens, see them as opportunities. When you feel resentment or frustration brewing, choose to replace those feelings with gratitude and enthusiasm.

The way to truly enjoy life is to continually give your own unique beauty and value to it. The way to truly enjoy life is through your efforts, your commitments, and your authentic creativity.

Every day puts you in a position to give of yourself, so make the most of the opportunity. In every moment there are real, beneficial things you can do to lift your whole world.

To the extent that you do so, life becomes more meaningful, more fulfilling and much more enjoyable. Even the complicated, frustrating, and uncomfortable tasks add immensely to the enjoyment when you remind yourself of the purpose behind them.

Make the effort, do the work, and give the unique value that's yours to give. Enjoy the matchless satisfaction of living each moment to truly make a difference.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Your own best possibilities

You are worthy of the best, so act like it. You can do great, positive, and valuable things, so do them.

Live up to your outstanding potential. Think and act and live like the successful person you know you truly are.

Don't cheat yourself or your world out of the best of yourself. Give everything you have to this moment, and the next, and the next.

It may be difficult and inconvenient and even painful to do what you know is best. Yet the regret of turning your back on your outstanding possibilities would be even more painful.

You know you can bring great richness to life, so do it. You have unique and meaningful value to give, so give it.

Feel the awesome power of your own best possibilities, and step forward to take responsibility for them. Do what you must to live at your best, because in your best is the truth of who you are.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Go ahead and feel like it

Is there something you must do but you don't feel like doing it? The best way to feel like doing something is to go ahead and get started on it.

Sure, you may not feel like it, but don't let that stop you. In fact, you can choose to let that prompt you to get started.

You don't have to make your feelings into an excuse. You can feel however you wish to feel.

So choose the feeling that will move your life positively forward. Choose the feeling that will get you going.

There may indeed be many factors working against you. Don't add to that list by working against yourself.

Go ahead, feel like it, and get busy working on it. Soon, you'll be genuinely feeling very glad you did.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Next step

Whether the road ahead of you is long or whether it is short, what you can do in this moment is the same. What you can do now is take the next step.

The important issue right now is not what has already happened or who is to blame for it. The important thing is to take the next step.

Achievement comes from continually taking the next step, whatever that step must be. Dreams of all shapes and sizes are reached by continuing to take the next step for as long as necessary.

The next step is always within your reach. The next step is as near as your willingness to take it.

The next step involves real work on your part. In exchange for that real work, you create real value.

Right now, you can choose to take the next step, or you can let this moment's uniquely valuable opportunities pass you by. Take the next step, and keep yourself solidly on the road to fulfillment.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Embrace your efforts

You can choose to do it or you can choose not to do it. Once you choose to do it, however, give your very best to the effort.

A halfhearted attempt can often be worse than no attempt at all. If you cannot be authentically enthusiastic about what you're doing, consider doing something else.

Your life and your time are precious. Spend them on what truly matters.

Don't put yourself in a position where you are complaining constantly about what you're doing. Either find a way to get fully behind your efforts, or change what those efforts are.

If you're tempted to feel resentment for what you must do, remember this. Resentment only makes it worse, and serves no useful purpose.

Embrace your efforts, and you make them highly effective. Embrace your efforts, and those efforts will bring the fulfillment you seek.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Your world is a mirror

Your judgments about other people say more about you than they do about the people you're judging. The reason you can detect the weaknesses and insecurities of others is because you have experienced those same weaknesses and insecurities.

Similarly, the reason you're able to see beauty in others is because that beauty lives in you as well. The positive possibilities you see for others are, in many ways, your possibilities too.

It's very helpful to think of the world outside of you as a mirror. Whatever you see beyond you in some way reflects what is inside you.

The most powerful and effective way to improve the world around you, is to improve yourself. The best way to bring real value into your life, is to create real value for others.

What you admire and appreciate and support in others, grows stronger within you as well. When you seek to understand, you will be understood, and when you listen thoughtfully, you will be heard.

Your world is a mirror, so choose each day to show it your best, most loving and supportive face. And you'll be delighted with the face you see looking back at you.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

How truly fortunate

Don't just sit and wait for good fortune to come to you. Good fortune is something that comes from you.

Good fortune unfolds when you truly believe, with no doubt, that you have it. Good fortune comes to be when you give it a compelling reason to be.

Good fortune is not merely something your mind constructs. It is something your essential spirit expresses and incorporates into your life.

How thankful can you be? That's what will determine how fortunate you are.

How much can you appreciate what you have? That will determine the value of what you have, and the good fortune that you are able to make with it.

Allow life's abundance to become your good fortune. Be thankful for every little thing, and discover how truly fortunate you are.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.

Choose goodness

The time you spend living in fear is time you cannot spend living in love. The time you spend hiding and retreating from life is time you cannot spend growing and advancing and achieving.

The hours and days you spend being annoyed or frustrated are times when you deny yourself access to life's best possibilities. When you live in anger and resentment, you cut yourself off from life's goodness.

Sure, there are many bad things that can happen. Yet you can be aware of them, and realistic about them, without being obsessed and consumed by them.

You may very well have good reasons for resentment, frustration and anger. But that doesn't mean those negative responses are good for you, or that you must choose them.

You can choose instead to live in the enriching, empowering light of your own highest visions. You can always choose to grow, to achieve, and to fulfill by immersing your awareness in life's ever-present goodness.

Every aspect of your life is greatly influenced, day in and day out, by the way you imagine life to be. Imagine the best, choose the goodness, and be a source of love and light for all to see.

-- Ralph Marston

Copyright (c) 2011 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. From The Daily Motivator at http://greatday.com where you will find an archive of more than 4,500 positive messages plus books, CDs, motivational videos and more. Permission is given to post online only if this entire notice is included.