ABLE TO GIVE

Able To Give

If you don’t give value in return for value, your life gets out of balance. If all you do is take, that takes a big toll on you.

Getting something for nothing is not something you want. It may seem good on the outside, but it will tear you up on the inside.

Tokens of achievement are a poor substitute for being a person who does the achieving. The goodies alone will not fulfill your deep-seated desire to make a difference.

Take a continuing, active role in your own fulfillment. Anything less is not true fulfillment at all.

Jump at the opportunities to create value. Get away from people who promise or who seek something for nothing.

Your heart wants to be able to give. Do yourself a favor, and let it.

— Ralph Marston

IN CHARGE

In Charge

Your situation will never make you happy unless you choose to be happy. All the money in the world cannot change the way you feel until you change the way you feel.

No, your feelings do not alter the circumstances. Yet they radically change what you do with the circumstances.

If you feel optimistic, you will see the opportunities and seize them. If you feel despair, you will find plenty of reasons to confirm your feelings.

So which will it be? How will you choose to see the world, your life, your situation today?

For every person, crafting a life of quality and fulfillment is difficult work. Your attitude determines whether that work results in reward or punishment.

You’re in charge of the one factor that decides how to handle all the other factors. Choose the most beneficial outcome by choosing the most positive perspective.

— Ralph Marston

MAKE THE VISION REAL

Make The Vision Real

Are the things you’re doing today moving you in the direction you intend to go? Are your actions drawing you closer to the fulfillment of your dreams?

If so, be thankful for the choices you’ve made, and add the extra energy of that gratitude to the efforts you’re already making. If not, stop whatever you’re doing and turn yourself instead, right now, in the direction you wish to go.

Look honestly at where your current actions are taking you. Make sure it is where you want to go.

Vision is crucial, yet fulfillment is more than just having a vision. Fulfillment means working that vision into reality, day after day, task after task, without fail, without letting up.

The life you desire can be yours, but it won’t just come to you. That’s because the value of that life is not in having it, but in creating it.

Right now is when you make it happen. Right now is when you make the vision real.

— Ralph Marston

ENTHUSIASTIC ENERGY

Enthusiastic Energy

Activity creates energy. Involvement generates enthusiasm.

If you feel stuck, get up, get yourself moving, and create a change of scenery. If you feel bored or indifferent, make a commitment to make a positive difference for others.

Those who get the most out of life are those who put the most into it. Around every corner are situations where you can make meaningful contributions.

If you expect genuine fulfillment to be served to you on a silver platter, you’ll be sadly disappointed. If you’re cynical or dismayed, there’s much you can do to change your impression.

If you care about life enough to criticize it, then you can care enough to actively improve it. You can transform the power of your dismay and disappointment into energy that will make a positive difference.

Get yourself more active and get yourself more involved. Feel the joy and fulfillment of pointing enthusiastic energy in a positive direction.

— Ralph Marston

WHEN FIGHTING STOPS

When Fighting Stops

Progress happens when fighting stops. Accept this moment, these conditions, the people around you, and move forward.

Change is essential, unavoidable, and positive change is the result of a positive perspective. Rather than fighting against what is, work to transform it into something more beneficial for everyone.

Life is not perfect, and will never be. Yet within the imperfection is great beauty, much power, value and fulfillment.

You won’t find a perfect solution to every problem, yet you can successfully address each problem. Get good things done not by striving to make everything perfect, but by working around the imperfections.

Enjoy the moment without trying to force the joy. Let it be what it is, and feel the immense power of not having to fight it.

It is by gracefully joining in life’s flow that you can offer your own positive influence. Practice acceptance, and point all your power in a good and useful direction.


— Ralph Marston

LIVE WITH INTENTION

Live With Intention

The distractions distract you not because of their power, but because of your weakness to resist. Intention eliminates that weakness.

When you’re clear about what’s important, you don’t have to be bothered by what’s not. When you’re committed to a specific result, distractions bounce right off you.

Ask yourself this and insist on a detailed answer. What do you intend to do today?

Your life is too important to let it be controlled by people you don’t even know. Your time is too precious to waste on things that have no meaning.

Today is filled with opportunities to create value, satisfaction, fulfillment. Instead of getting pulled in a hundred meaningless directions, choose your path and stay on it.

Live this day with respect and appreciation for the beautiful, unique life that’s yours. Live this day with intention.

— Ralph Marston

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” 

― George Eliot

WHAT ABOUT THE UNTOLD STORY INSIDE YOU?

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”


― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

YOUR HIGHEST GOODNESS

Your Highest Goodness

You cannot take more than you give. It is impossible to sustain for longer than the blink of an eye.

You can, however, give more than you take. And that is what makes your experience of living so beautiful.

Value exists for you to the extent you invest yourself in it. Fulfillment is generated by what you do with what you have, not by what you seize or possess.

You cannot sneak past the necessity of providing a contribution to each day. The desire to make a difference is part of you, and the more readily you embrace it, the better.

Don’t spin your wheels in a futile attempt to gain something for nothing. See that the gain is in the doing, and do.

Let go of what frustrates you and let in what empowers and fulfills you. Give your highest goodness and effort to life, and know how good life can be.


— Ralph Marston

HEARING YOUR OWN TRUTH

Hearing Your Own Truth

You alone know what course of action
is best for the fulfillment of your purpose here.

But that knowledge
is sometimes buried deeply in your heart
and it takes a lot of listening to connect
with your inner wisdom and clarity.

In some cases, hearing your own truth
is not possible until you stop listening
to what other people think you should do.


From Everyday Wisdom by Paul Ferrini
www.paulferrini.com