LIVE TO SPREAD GOODNESS

Live To Spread Goodness

Live each moment with integrity, and you’ll find value and goodness in every experience. Make truth your priority and let your life gain from its great power.

Fully benefit from life’s goodness by fully committing yourself to uphold it. As tempting as it can be to cheat others, you cannot do so without cheating yourself more.

The way you treat people is a major part of the way you treat yourself. Act always with respect toward others, and you’ll live with great respect for yourself.

The most loving, compassionate, generous activities are the most enriching activities. Live to spread goodness, and you’ll spend your moments immersed in goodness.

Being truthful feels right because it is right. Being genuinely helpful feels good because it is good.

Align yourself with the power of life’s highest values. And live at your highest, most fulfilling level.

— Ralph Marston

KEEP YOUR THOUGHTS REAL

Keep Your Thoughts Real

If you let your mind wander too much, it can wander into some very dark places. Your thoughts can get so far away from reality that your life is impaired.

Yes, keep your mind open, let it run full throttle. But keep it on the pavement of reality.

You can literally think anything you choose to think, and those thoughts build upon one another. There is great power in your thinking, so use that power wisely.

One effective way to keep your thoughts focused where you want them to be focused is to write them down. That forces you to think about your thoughts rather than letting them build into obsessions.

Another useful tactic is to seek the feedback of others. If you have trouble explaining what you’re thinking, perhaps those thoughts are getting outside the bounds of reality.

Your thoughts have great power and influence over your life. Let them soar to the highest heights while also keeping them real.

— Ralph Marston

STOP WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO RESCUE YOU

Do not stop now!! Continue to work on yourself and your dream. Do not look for others to hold your heart, take your hand or have your back. You are responsible for your own life and for creating your own path. Commit to move out of your own way. Stop procrastinating or waiting for someone to rescue you.

Be clear about who you can count on and who you must count out. Make adjustments and surround yourself with positive energy, people and thoughts. Great things take time, effort and sacrifice!! Keep looking up and moving forward with the end in mind. You have something special. You have GREATNESS within you!!

LES BROWN

CONFLICT OR AMBIVALENCE

Conflict or Ambivalence

To push for a decision in the face of conflict or ambivalence
is a way of punishing yourself or others.
Don’t try to force a decision
when you aren’t ready to make one.

Instead, embrace both sides of the conflict.
Acknowledge all the things you want
about the job or the relationship
and all of the things that make you want to run away.

Get your psychic arms around all of it.
Relax and breathe through your anxiety and fear.
Take the pressure off.
Be with it all of it in a compassionate way.

This brings a peaceful acceptance,
from which clarity springs when it is time.

From Everyday Wisdom by Paul Ferrini
www.paulferrini.com

THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

The Road to Nowhere

There is a road going by,
but you don’t know where it is going.
You don’t know whether to go right or left,
or whether to stay where you are.

You don’t know.

Sooner or later, out of boredom no doubt,
you will make a choice.

You will go right or left.
And you will get excited thinking
that you have made the right decision
until you come to difficult terrain,
and then you will be convinced
that you went the wrong way.

This will happen whether you go right or left.
It makes no difference.

On the Road to Nowhere,
it does not matter which way you go,
because the road is circular
and eventually returns to the same place.

On the Road to Nowhere, the question is not
“where are you going?”
because you aren’t going anywhere in particular.

The question is “how are you going?.
Are you enjoying the journey?”
Are you going happily or sadly?
Are you going blessing or cursing
the people you pass along the way?

On the Road to Nowhere
the destination is not so important.
The only thing that is important
is your state of consciousness.

From Everyday Wisdom by Paul Ferrini
www.paulferrini.com

A POSITIVE PLACE

A Positive Place

Where is there a positive place? Anywhere you want to make it.

In a dark tunnel, on a sunny beach, in a large group or alone, you can be in a positive place. Whether there is confusion or clarity, drama or stillness, you can be in a positive place.

No matter what has happened, or failed to happen, you can make it a positive place. Whether you’re comfortable or not, surrounded by challenge, or immersed in beauty, you can be in a positive place.

What makes any place a positive place is the way you choose to see it. External circumstances matter, but they do not have to determine your perspective.

A positive place is a powerful place. Because you’re more aware of, and more inspired to act on, the best possibilities.

So wherever you are, whatever is going on, give yourself a decided advantage. Put yourself in a positive place.

— Ralph Marston

LAUGH OUT LOUD AT LIFE

Laugh out loud at life. It is good medicine for your heart and spirit. It is a way for you to say "Life ~ I am still standing with my head up high." Laughter strengthens the immune system and increases your capacity to cope. It has the power to heal you at the cellular level. Sometimes all you can do is laugh, even through your tears and pain.

When you are overwhelmed, laugh at your bills, your body, your kids, or at any unexpected challenge of life. This is not denying what is in your life. It is defying it! One minute of anger weakens the immune system for 4-5 hours, while one minute of laughter boosts it for over 24 hours. So try this...make silly faces in the mirror, laugh from down deep and bring out the child in you! Find some popcorn, get a few family, friends together and allow yourself to really laugh. Interrupt your worries and choose to make yourself feel good in spite of it all. You Deserve!

LES BROWN

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

Active Participation

Don’t let this be a time you look back on with regret for not doing more. Make this a day you recall with satisfaction for all you were able to do.

Even if you don’t particularly feel like making the effort, you can make the effort nonetheless. Even if a dozen obstacles stand in your way, you can step forward and make progress.

Fill the moments with effective action, not lame excuses. Today will only be available to you today, so use it while you can.

Demonstrate your gratitude for the life you treasure by doing something valuable with it. Express your love for all you care about by offering your active support.

You are here right now with knowledge, skills, resources, energy, and a desire to matter. Give yourself and your world something to show for it all.

Your future begins in this moment. Fill it with meaningful richness through your active participation.

— Ralph Marston

THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND

Leap and grow your wings on the way down. Put all your bets on you and on your ability to achieve your goals. Throw caution to the wind!

If you have a catastrophic set-back, know that you have the power to over come it. If you lose a job, you will find another, or create one. If you make some mistakes, learn from them and come back again.

This is a time to use your talents, skills and resourcefulness to make a fundamental change and take your life to the next level. Remind yourself everyday that you are in it to win it. You are your most valuable asset. Do what you need to do to make it happen! You have GREATNESS within you!


LES BROWN

DO YOU SIT IN THE SIDELINES OF YOUR LIFE?

Are you a spectator in your own life? Do you sit on the sidelines planning, thinking, trying, but never fully doing? How many days have been paved with good intentions but no follow-through?

Today, choose to believe in and explore the power of your own engagement. This means to fully connect to your calling and passion in life. Lean into it. Pursue it every day ~ despite the distractions in your life, or in spite of any perceived limitations. Decide to live far beyond any past regrets or future excuses. DETERMINE to find a way or make a way. GO FOR IT!! Choose to be unstoppable in pursuit of your GREATEST life!


LES BROWN

WAITING FOR DIRECTION

Waiting for Direction

The best results occur when we stop trying
to force things to be the way
we think they should be.

When we try to force something to be different,
we often overcompensate
and create a new problem.

Sometimes it is better to just stop doing
what we know is not working
and take some time to re-center
and reconnect with the core truth within us.

Then the course of action we set
will be more organic, congruent, and meaningful.

We all need time to breathe and to be.
It’s a sacred time, a time when we gather
our power and our direction.

If we don’t take this time,
we may act prematurely or impulsively.
Our actions may lack creative power
or they may result in unfortunate consequences
we did not anticipate.


From Everyday Wisdom by Paul Ferrini
www.paulferrini.com

OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Obligations and Responsibilities

The obligation to do something is not the problem. The problem is your anxiety about it.

The responsibility you have is not the problem. The problem is your resentment of it.

Instead of trying to avoid obligations and responsibilities, focus on their benefits. They burden you only to the degree you see them as burdens.

Following through on your obligations will earn you respect. Upholding your responsibilities will give you influence with others.

Every person has a desire to matter, to make a difference. Obligations and responsibilities enable you to make a difference in a meaningful, positive way.

Choose to stop fighting, stop worrying, stop complaining about obligations and responsibilities. Embrace the great richness they can bring.

— Ralph Marston

EXPRESS YOUR GREATNESS WITHIN YOU

Express yourself. There is something in you the world needs now! Don't allow your own self-doubt, fear, and the negative opinions of others to stifle your gifts. Express yourself! If you know what your passion is, use it in every way you can to be of service to others.

If you don't, experiment with a variety of things until you find out what resonates with your mind, your heart, and your spirit. The world needs people who are on fire about their dream...who are hungry to make their mark....who are determined to leave a legacy. EXPRESS the GREATNESS within you!


LES BROWN

"THIS IS A PROBLEM I WANT TO HAVE."

“We’re all seeking that special person who is right for us. But if you’ve been through enough relationships, you begin to suspect there’s no right person, just different flavors of wrong. 

Why is this? 

Because you yourself are wrong in some way, and you seek out partners who are wrong in some complementary way. 

But it takes a lot of living to grow fully into your own wrongness. 

And it isn’t until you finally run up against your deepest demons, your unsolvable problems—the ones that make you truly who you are—that we’re ready to find a lifelong mate. 

Only then do you finally know what you’re looking for. You’re looking for the wrong person. But not just any wrong person: it's got to be the right wrong person—someone you lovingly gaze upon and think, “This is the problem I want to have.”

"I will find that special person who is wrong for me in just the right way.” 

― Andrew Boyd, Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe

POSITIVE INFLUENCE

Positive Influence

The actions you take do not stop with you. They travel far beyond you, to people and places you may never know about.

Any time you create new value, that value does not merely benefit you. It takes on a life of its own, setting the stage for more positive value throughout the world.

Some positive action you took in the past has made someone’s life better today. The world just became a better place because you made the choice to do the right thing, weeks, months or even years ago.

Once you take action it begins to have an influence, and you cannot control how far that influence extends. What you can do is to make your action a meaningful and beneficial one.

Each time you act, you have one chance to make sure your action has a positive influence as its consequences spread throughout life. Put the best of yourself into your actions, so they filter through the world in a beneficial way.

The consequences of your actions go far beyond you. Put goodness, truth and integrity into all you do, and you’ll lift up life in more ways than you’ll ever know.


— Ralph Marston

SEEING WHERE IT IS

Seeing Where It Is

Persist, and you will find what you seek. But don’t expect it to be where you thought it would be.

There is a way to reach your goal, a way to get past your troubles. To see it, you must move beyond old assumptions.

If you keep looking where you’ve always looked, you’ll find only what you’ve already found. To create new, improved results, embrace a new, improved perspective.

Your past assumptions may have served you well, or not so well. In any case, on this new day, you have the opportunity to look at life in a new, more positive and empowering way.

Be thankful you don’t already know everything there is to know. That opens you to learn what you need to learn, to discover an effective way forward.

The rewarding path you seek is absolutely there. Stop thinking you know where it might be, and you’ll start seeing where it actually is.


— Ralph Marston

10 THINGS I'VE LEARNED IN 40 YEARS

LES BROWN_10 THINGS I'VE LEARNED IN 40 YEARS

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SHAME ABOUT SEXUALITY

Shame about Sexuality

Lovemaking can and should be a joyful act,
an act of surrender to the divine
in yourself and your partner.

Physical love is no less beautiful
than other forms of love,
nor can it be separated from them.
If you view physical love as unholy,
you will probably experience it that way,
not because it is, but because you perceive it that way.


From Everyday Wisdom by Paul Ferrini
www.paulferrini.com

WASH IT AWAY

Wash It Away

Remember how it feels to feel great? Your own intention enables you to feel that way right now, and anytime.

Think of those times when you’ve had a burst of creativity. Today can be one of those times.

Have layer upon layer of negativity hidden your best self from your awareness? Let those layers fall away, and bring your highest values to the surface once again.

Though you live in a world ripe with challenge and confusion, a part of you exists beyond it, and can always rise above it. Connect with that part and feel the true joy of living.

Pay attention to everything going on around you, and stay engaged with the world. All the time, keep in touch with your ability to bring forth joy and fulfillment.

At any moment, in any circumstance, your joyful, positive presence can improve your world. Instead of giving in to the negativity, wash it away with the way you are.

— Ralph Marston

AHEAD THE DEADLINES

Ahead of the Deadlines

You have the opportunity right now to avoid having to rush to get the job done at the last minute. Go ahead and do it now.

You can eliminate long stretches of resentful, hurried, ineffective efforts from your life. Simply get your work done sooner rather than later.

You can earn yourself time to think, to relax, to be free of deadlines. Just get out far ahead of those deadlines.

It’s better being in control of your time than to be striving to catch up with your obligations. Begin taking care of those obligations as soon as you have them and get them quickly out of the way.

This is your chance to make much more time in your life for doing what you want to do. The sooner you finish what you have to do, the more of that priceless, flexible time you’ll have.

Give your time first to what you have to do. You’ll be giving yourself a whole lot more quality moments to do whatever you love to do.

— Ralph Marston