February 14

Dedication to truth

Speak up, and speak the truth. Be honest, and give others the opportunity to be honest with you.

Make no apologies for recognizing and acknowledging what is true, what is real. Your dedication to truth not only improves your own life, but is ultimately beneficial to everyone.

It can be convenient in the short term to pretend that what’s obvious is not really there. But all that does is create more problems down the road.

The sooner you get the truth out in the open, the better. The longer you wait to deal with a painful truth, the more painful it will be.

Being truthful is an act of love, of confidence, of trust and understanding and kindness. Even when truth hurts, it helps.

Speak and act and live on the side of what is real. As challenging as life certainly can be, it is always best when aligned with truth.

— Ralph Marston

February 15

Incremental progress

You can’t learn a new language overnight. But you can learn two or three new words each day.

You can’t jump instantly over a 300-foot hill. Yet you can walk up one side and down the other without too much trouble.

Everything you seek to do is going to require some effort over time. When you take the necessary time, and make the appropriate effort, just about anything is possible.

It’s not usually going to be quick or easy, maybe not particularly simple. Still, with sufficient persistence, you can work your way from where you are to where you wish to be.

In doing so, you’re likely to face more challenges than some people would face, and probably less than others. Rather than wasting your time obsessing over the unfairness of that reality, put your energy into the achievement itself, every chance you get.

Each moment is an opportunity for incremental progress. Make wise use of all those opportunities that continually arrive.

— Ralph Marston

February 16

Dialing down your desire

A certain amount of ambition is healthy and beneficial. But don’t let your ambition blind you to the value of what’s already yours.

Yes, you can always desire more, always think of ways to improve your life, your situation, and the lives of those around you. Yet it’s also good to enjoy, appreciate, and fulfill the potential of what you already have.

Perhaps today is not perfect, not completely ideal. Nonetheless, it is here right now, here for you to live.

Instead of obsessing over what would make it better, you could focus on what makes it good. You could dial down your desire and simply enjoy your reality.

Maybe you could simply let yourself be happy and content for a while. After all, you’ve put much time and effort into getting here, and you deserve a little enjoyment.

The challenges will continue to arrive, and it’s good that you’ll continue to have plenty of ambition to deal with them. Yet it’s also good, every now and then, to give that ambition a rest, and to enjoy being the beautiful person you are.

— Ralph Marston

February 17

Simple miracle

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you apply yourself with sincere purpose. It’s shocking how empty life can become when you don’t.

Fulfillment is not a matter of merely getting what you want. Fulfillment comes from giving what you can, to your own life, to the lives of others.

Pleasure feels good while you’re experiencing it. Then the good feeling quickly fades.

Making a difference also can be rewarding while you’re doing it, yet that is only the beginning. For the rewards of contributing positively to the world will endure far beyond the moment, far beyond you.

There’s a simple miracle you can perform today, and every day. With your intention, with your discipline, with your actions, you can transform potential value into existing value.

It’s a formula for success that’s already created enormous goodness in your life and in your world. Today you have the opportunity to keep that good trend going.

— Ralph Marston

February 18

Engage with existence

Possibilities dance around you, tempting, warning, inviting. Pick the one that best serves your purpose right now, and go with it.

Don’t settle for merely wondering what might have been. Engage with this magnificent existence you’re part of, and discover what can be.

Is the weather cloudy, sunny, stormy, hot or cold? Are the people around you disagreeable, helpful, distant, or kind?

Whatever the situation, there’s something good you can do with it. A few short steps away is a new experience ready to be lived.

In the next few hours you can transform potential into concrete value. You can pull some particular and meaningful form of richness from your imagination and bring it into reality.

Give yourself a big, healthy dose of the satisfaction that comes from participating fully in life. See what great things happen when you embrace the good fortune of being here right now.

— Ralph Marston

February 19

What you can when you can

You don’t have enough time to get it all done. But you always have enough time to do what you can.

The clock is ticking. But then, it always is.

You can fret and complain about your limited amount of time. But that will drain even more time away.

Instead, go ahead and do just a little bit of what needs doing. And although it might only be a fraction, it’s a whole lot better than nothing.

Then eventually you’ll have a little more time. With that time you can do a little more, and even more with the time that will surely come later.

And you’ll discover that by doing what you can when you can, something amazing will happen. You’ll get it all done.

— Ralph Marston

February 20

Positive, purposeful direction

Not every attempt brings the results you intend. Yet every desired result you are able to achieve comes from making an attempt.

The odds won’t be completely in your favor when you move forward. But the odds are entirely against you when you decline to take any positive action at all.

No matter what has happened in the past, no matter where you are in the present, one fact remains true. There’s always something you can learn, some new effort you can make, a particular path you can pursue toward a desirable result.

Today in a small way, or a more ambitious way, or perhaps even in a big way, you can attempt more. You can make the decision to move higher, and you can put that decision into action.

If today’s effort doesn’t work out, that’s okay. Because you can learn from it and make a more informed and experienced effort tomorrow.

Keep pushing yourself consistently in a positive, purposeful direction. Eventually you’ll work yourself to your intended destination.

— Ralph Marston

February 21

Life in all its richness

You are here today to experience life in all its richness. Embrace every opportunity to do so.

Succumb to the pleadings of your curiosity. Exercise the power of your courage.

Offer healthy challenges to your mind, your body, and your assumptions. Grow stronger in all dimensions by working honestly through those challenges.

Share who you are, what you know, how you feel with the other people who inhabit your life. With your words and especially your actions, fortify existing bonds and seek to build new ones.

Though it can be all too easy to repose endlessly in your habitual comforts, you know you deserve much more. Ignite your sense of adventure by intentionally stepping away from what’s comfortable and expected.

There are specific pathways today that will show you how intensely alive you can be. Choose one, follow where it leads, then keep the richness going.

— Ralph Marston

February 22

Desire and purpose

It’s all too easy to get locked into a pattern of chasing one desire after another. Though you often end up getting what you want, it never seems to be enough, and is quickly replaced by more desires.

To get beyond that dilemma, turn your focus toward purpose. Each time a desire arises, stop and consider whether what you want in the moment aligns with a more enduring purpose.

Desire drives you to achieve. Its energy can push you into action and sustain your efforts.

Make sure all that energy is pointed in a meaningful direction. Rather than merely satisfying a fleeting desire, you can use the energy in the service of a fulfilling purpose.

Though you certainly must address immediate needs, seek to do so without compromising your long-term goals. You’re actually very skilled and experienced at achieving what you choose to achieve, and it’s in your best interest to use that power thoughtfully.

Before jumping and striving for what you desire, ask if it will matter a year from now, and if not, then what will? Turn your energy and awareness toward deeper purpose, and create the fulfillment of which you’re capable.

— Ralph Marston

February 23

Let the minor things go

A minor aggravation is just a minor aggravation. Don’t fall into the trap of magnifying it into something bigger than it is.

Most likely you can simply forget all about it and everything will be fine. Plus, you’ll free your time, energy, and awareness for more meaningful pursuits.

But it gets much better than that. Because the more you’re able to let the minor things go, the stronger, more purposeful, more resilient you become.

That doesn’t mean you don’t care. It means you choose to invest your attention and your effort in what truly matters, in what will make a difference.

By being less easily annoyed, less easily offended, you become much more effective. By letting go of your seething and frustration, you’re able to engage in real, transformative action.

The next time you’re tempted to obsess over some minor issue, remind yourself of the option and the benefits of simply letting it go. Enjoy the freedom, the power, and the intentional energy that gives you.

— Ralph Marston

February 24

This day that’s here

This is the day that’s here. This is the day you now have.

You won’t gain anything today by wishing for what might have been. You’re not going to create any value by filling your thoughts with resentment for whatever brought you to this point.

What matters now is what actions you take to fill today with the best you have. What matters now is making positive, meaningful use of the day that is.

This day has the very real potential of being a turning point in your life. Years from now, you could be looking back on today with an overflowing sense of satisfaction and gratitude.

What can you do, right now, to bring that about? What can you put into this day that will grow ever more precious as time goes on?

Today provides the time and the place for you to carry your life forward. So where do you choose today, right now, to go?

— Ralph Marston

February 25

Yours today

Whatever you are, however you are, own it. Whatever you do, engage in it fully.

Live every moment with authentic intensity born of gratitude, wonder, kindness, love. Marvel at all that’s available to you, at all you can do with it, and transform that feeling into action.

When you don’t know, admit that, and then you can learn. When you do know, make good use of that knowledge, apply it toward positive and meaningful purposes.

Begin each day early, ready and willing to make a positive impact. Persist in your effort, long after you’ve worked on through the initial impulse to give up.

Recognize the unique position you occupy. Understand the richness of time and opportunity with which you’re endowed, right now.

Do, think, dream, feel, with everything you are. Life is yours today, and well worth all you can give.

— Ralph Marston

February 26

Meaningful experience

There’s something you can do today that you’ll treasure later. Consider what it might be.

Many of your day’s activities will rush quickly into awareness and then recede just as quickly. Yet with the right amount of attention and caring, you can always make any particular experience meaningful and memorable.

Shared experiences are often the ones that have the best chance for enduring significance. Authentic experiences that demand the best from you can be similarly meaningful.

It can be easy to convince yourself you’re too busy to connect with someone special, or to trouble yourself with authentic, enriching activities. Most of the time, though, that’s not really true.

You have the ability, you can find the time. The opportunity exists for rich and meaningful experience, if you’ll make it a priority.

Your life is precious, all of life is precious. Remember to give it the care and attention it deserves.

— Ralph Marston

February 27

Reasonable, commonsense middle

When one perspective is opposed to another, that doesn’t necessarily mean one is totally right and the other completely wrong. You’re likely to find truth, wisdom, and utility in each one.

The same forces that are empowering and beneficial in some ways can also be oppressive and destructive in other ways. Life as we know it would be impossible without water, yet in certain contexts water can be deadly.

Just because a concept, person, organization, or process has certain negative aspects, doesn’t make it all bad. Just because something is useful and has positive qualities, doesn’t make it worthy of unquestioned worship.

You have to be willing to accept the bad with the good. Otherwise your choices narrow to almost no choice at all.

In the world of computers and logic, binary choices can be configured to be highly useful. Yet to successfully navigate the messy, imperfect world at large, you have to be more nuanced.

Be careful of accepting or rejecting anything based on just one or two factors. Give yourself access to all the value that’s found in the reasonable, commonsense middle.

— Ralph Marston

February 28

Dare to achieve

Go ahead and dream. Go ahead and act on your dream.

Dare to desire improvement, progress, achievement, fulfillment. Do the work to make it happen.

Embrace the challenges as they point the way to your goal. Learn, adapt, inquire, wonder, and most of all, act.

Your life today is greatly enhanced by the ambition, competence, and achievement of countless individuals going back for centuries. Keep the goodness of their achievements going with your own positive focus and dedication.

Seek to better understand and experience the reality of existence. Work to improve upon what you discover.

The possibilities have no limit. Do your part to bring the best ones into being.

— Ralph Marston