January 14

The work of right now

One step, then another, then another. That’s all you have to do to get wherever you wish to go.

Work through one challenge, and the next, then the one after that. You’ll be able to work your way in a positive, fulfilling direction.

Answer one question, write one sentence, make one phone call. Clean out one drawer, reply to one email, finish one workout.

The entire undertaking need not be overwhelming. Because you can choose to focus on as small a portion of it as necessary.

So give your attention to the task immediately at hand, to the work of right now, to the step you’re currently taking. Find joy in the process, and fulfillment in the experience of making a difference.

Do the work of right now. And you’ll be getting it done, one step at a time.

— Ralph Marston

January 15

Living your values

Your purposeful living has brought you far. Keep up the good work.

Your discipline, effort, and commitment have created much value. Continue to offer the best of yourself.

Your integrity and honesty provide fertile ground for meaningful achievement. Do all you can to keep those achievements coming.

Your curiosity and sense of wonder throw off creative sparks in all directions. Again and again, enable and allow yourself to be genuinely amazed.

Sometimes it feels that the progress is slow, the challenges oppressively overwhelming. But to be sure, you’re getting somewhere good, living the values you know to be true.

Your courage has made a difference. And you have a whole lot more.

— Ralph Marston

January 16

Do what you envision

Dream, and then do. Envision, and work toward your vision.

You have an idea of what would add value to life. Begin with that idea and then build upon it.

On its own an idea is nice to contemplate, but without action it is not much else. Go ahead, contemplate, and if the idea has merit, move forward with bringing it to life.

Allow inspiration to flow from your vision into the rest of you, and into the world. Let that inspiration empower real, focused, effective action.

Invest time and effort in what you envision. Use the experience and wisdom you gain to refine your vision, to make it resonate well with reality, and finally to fully implement that vision in the real world.

Look lovingly and respectfully at life, and envision new goodness that can be. Then utilize your skills, your time, your available resources to make it happen.

— Ralph Marston

January 17

Live with yourself

In every choice you make, remember this. You always have to be able to live with yourself.

Much of your activity you can successfully disguise, distort, and completely hide from others. But you cannot escape your own knowledge of your thoughts and actions.

What you do, what you decline to do, what you offer, what you compromise, what you withhold, all of it you live with. Every decision is a chance to make a decision that can sit well with you for the entirety of your life.

That can seem ominous and threatening to ponder. Yet in reality and in practice it is highly empowering.

Because holding yourself to your own highest standards pays off not just in the moment. It delivers a positive impact into the whole of your life that compounds in value with every subsequent good choice.

Follow the course that most enduringly enables you to live with yourself. For you and all those whose lives you touch, do your sincere best to make life well worth living.

— Ralph Marston

January 18

Background goodness

Consider all that’s good with the world, all that’s good about life. Though you immediately notice the problems and difficulties, the reason you’re able to do so is because there’s so much goodness in the background.

The news of the day announces troubles on top of troubles. Yet the newsworthiness of all those things is due to them being relatively rare.

Pull a little of today’s goodness out of the background and onto the surface of your awareness. Remind yourself of the positive possibilities that are always present.

Better yet, imagine what you could do to bring about some of those possibilities. Focus your energy in a direction that builds, encourages, appreciates, nurtures, invigorates and refreshes.

Reflect on the unfathomable power and depth of goodness that have brought you to where you are. It would indeed be foolish not to put that immense legacy to use right here and now.

Honor and utilize the background goodness by putting it squarely in the foreground of your thoughts, your priorities, your actions. See what you can do to make today one of the good times.

— Ralph Marston

January 19

Light the way ahead

Even on the most challenging days, there’s something to be thankful for. Find it, focus on it, and give yourself added energy to get through the challenges.

Gratitude might feel weird while in the midst of trouble and difficulty. Yet that gratitude will shine a positive, empowering light on the situation.

From a perspective that’s overwhelmed with negativity, all you can see are the problems. Choose instead to find something for which to be thankful, and open your awareness to all the many good, positive resources available to you.

The most valuable opportunities often appear within the most difficult situations. Gratitude helps you to see and understand those opportunities.

Somewhere, somehow, a positive aspect can be found. Always, something exists for which you can be genuinely thankful.

The more challenging the situation, the more valuable it is to have something positive you can hold on to. Identify what you can be thankful for, and light the way ahead.

— Ralph Marston

January 20

The best you have

Shake off the doubts. Wake up to the possibilities.

Step decisively away from the complacency of your comfort. You have beautiful experiences to be lived, amazing work to be done.

Feel the pulsing energy of your own existence. Channel that energy in good and useful directions as it pushes you forward.

Realize that your love for what can be is greater than any fear about what might happen. Appreciate the power, creativity, and flexibility you can wield to handle whatever challenges arise.

Muster the entirety of your strength into action. Carry the beauty of your vision into reality.

This is a time, a situation, an opportunity for courage, for action, for fulfillment of your highest potential. Give it the best you have.

— Ralph Marston

January 21

Following through

Following through distinguishes a spectacular adventure from a temporary dalliance. Following through means you’re serious, and enables you to achieve serious, significant results.

It’s fun to start something new, and plenty of opportunities for fun exist along the way. But fun is a pleasant result, not a reason.

A meaningful reason is what builds an endeavor of consequence and value. Because that reason pushes you to follow through.

When the going gets challenging and you keep going, you’re headed toward a rich reward. That reward won’t come quickly, yet you’ll eventually reach it by following through.

What have you started and where has it gone or failed to go, and why, or why not? More importantly, what could you start now, or continue now, in which you could find the motivation to persistently follow through?

Put yourself in position to follow through. It’s a major factor in achievements of every kind.

— Ralph Marston

January 22

Here and now

Here and now you can forgive, laugh, appreciate, enjoy. Life’s goodness is really not so distant or difficult.

From pain to healing, it’s not that far. From conflict to cooperation, you can jump in an instant.

Stop caring so much about proving you were right. What makes life worth living is who you can be, the love you can give.

Here and now is one little slice of time for you to fill with simple goodness. Offer a small kindness, a bit of understanding, a little effort that adds to life’s beauty.

Encourage and you’ll find encouragement. Act in the direction of your highest hopes and bring them steadily into reality.

There’s always space for improvement, and your beneficial actions can fill that space. Here and now, add to the value and meaning of life.

— Ralph Marston

January 23

The long haul

Quick progress is possible but it’s usually not sustainable. Real improvement comes when you’re in it for the long haul.

Every action takes place in the short term, in the moment. Be prepared to take those immediate actions and to keep doing so well into the future.

If a problem can be resolved quickly, that’s great. But if immediate gratification is your default expectation, you’ll be disappointed more often than not.

Instead, embrace opportunities to make investments in your life that are ongoing, consistent, disciplined. Not only do such investments bring valuable results, they also build in you powerful character and resilience.

Putting forth a spectacular effort today is outstanding. But don’t deceive yourself into thinking it will spare you from doing work tomorrow.

Those aspects of life that bring meaning and fulfillment, you’re in for the long haul. Continue to discover for yourself what a good thing that can be.

— Ralph Marston

January 24

Available to you

Your most treasured dreams come to life when you do whatever is necessary to follow them. Success is yours to the extent you work at achieving it.

Life’s beauty becomes available to you when you appreciate and enjoy it. Love fills your life when you allow yourself to give it.

This moment is here for you because you can make good and valuable use of it. The challenges exist in your life because you can transform them into achievements, and grow stronger in the process.

The ups and downs, the joys, distractions, setbacks, opportunities, pleasures, pains and delights come your way to ultimately enrich your life. That’s because you’re able to experience them and give your own special meaning to them.

This day, this moment, this world, and this life are yours to see, to live, and to express in your own special way. Feel the magnificent opportunity of it all.

Astounding possibilities surround you. And there’s a big, uplifting, fulfilling possibility that’s just perfect for you right now.

Big time Amen to the reading today.
I love the Lord, He keeps giving the gift
that keep on giving. The gift of recovery
and sobriety. Can I get a Amen?

Amen brother!

January 25

Forego something easy

Want to help yourself grow stronger, more purposeful, more capable? Choose to forego something easy each day.

Easy activities entice you into wasting time, losing focus, and setting aside purpose. They lull you into carelessness and complacency.

Those are not ideal states in which to experience and fulfill the potential of your life. You deserve more richness and depth than what is found in the easiest choices.

Just because an easy option is available doesn’t automatically make it the best option. That’s especially true when you extend your consideration beyond the fleeting moment and into the whole of your life.

Certainly it’s foolish to impose unnecessary burdens on yourself. Yet it’s also shortsighted when you deny yourself the opportunity for challenging, meaningful and satisfying effort.

What is easy, what is empty, cannot fill you with value, no matter how much of it you get. Look for opportunities to replace it with experiences and activities that are not so easy, yet much more enriching.

— Ralph Marston

January 26

Life well lived

You have the time. Do the work.

You have the opportunity. Fulfill its promise.

You have the knowledge, the skills, the resources. Bring about the achievement.

You have the understanding, the sense of purpose, love, kindness. Create new, life-enhancing value.

You have the potential. Transform it into richness, into beauty.

With your time, make meaning. With your actions, speak the truth of life well lived.

— Ralph Marston