Serendipity

Good things will come to you in ways you could never anticipate or expect. Yet if you're constantly placing judgments, conditions and restrictions on your life, you'll miss out on most of those good things.

Being open to the abundance of life means being open to the unknown and unexpected. If you hide away from what you do not know, you'll never discover anything new.

The world is constantly changing, and many of those changes can seem frightening. Yet within each and every change there is opportunity.

When the world changes, legions of positive possibilities are born. When the unexpected happens, there is much new value to be created.

Choose to welcome the constant newness that is essential to life. For it brings new ways to more fully express and fulfill your own unique purpose.

In every unexpected turn of events is a pleasant surprise waiting to be discovered. Open yourself to the freshness of each dawning moment, and find those magnificent treasures that have just been born.

-- Ralph Marston

The future is bright

The future is bright. Because the future is created by positive people.

Those who are negative make a lot of noise about how bad things are. Those who are positive quietly and steadily make a lot of real improvements and contributions to life.

There are always problems and there are always challenges. And there are always people willing to transform those challenges into great opportunities.

Those who have the courage, commitment and discipline to follow their own best dreams, bring the rest of the world along with them. Those who choose to do the best they can with what they have, create a better life for everyone.

For every high-profile guru of doom who wails about how hopeless and unfair life is, there are millions of others working tirelessly to make life better than ever. For every frightening crisis that is breathlessly reported, there are millions of real, meaningful success stories that don't get noticed, but that do have enormous positive influence.

Negative people obsess over the past while positive people work their way eagerly toward the future. Life gets better and better when you choose to make it so, and the future is bright indeed.

-- Ralph Marston

Make something beautiful

The victories bring joy, and new opportunities. The defeats bring wisdom, strength, determination, and new opportunities.

In this way, life moves continually forward. In each moment, you can build upon whatever has come before.

Sometimes things happen just as you expected they would, and then there are times when nothing goes the way you had it planned. In any event, there is a way to respond triumphantly.

Learn to see the value no matter what outer conditions and circumstances may be concealing it. Know that there is value, and you will find it.

Right now, you are where you are supposed to be. For right now, you are where you can truly make a difference.

The ups and downs and ins and outs of life have brought you to this day. And on this day, you can make something beautiful out of it all.

-- Ralph Marston

Live with joy

Find joy in doing nothing and you can find it in everything. Experience happiness without a reason and you can create happiness for any reason.

Realize that happiness is not the result of good things, but is indeed the cause of good things.

There is nothing you need in order to be happy

other than the choice to be.

Imagine living this day filled with joy, happiness and positive purpose. Imagine it, then take one more step and actually do it.

Let go of any concern you may have for what does or does not come your way. Focus instead on the good and valuable things that you can give, create, inspire and choose to experience.

Don't allow the world to pull you down with its negativity. Choose to transform the world around you with your own positive outlook.

Real joy is always a choice you can make. Live with joy, let happiness flow out from you, and life becomes more radiant with each passing moment.

-- Ralph Marston

No worry

Here's a simple, easy way to make an immediate and profound improvement in the quality of your life. Stop worrying.

The next time you catch yourself wrapping your mind around a worry, choose to let that worry fall completely away. Notice how much more positive and effective you suddenly are.

Worry poisons your thoughts and keeps life's best opportunities hidden from you. Worry actually increases the power and influence of those undesirable things you worry about.

Certainly it's important to look clearly and realistically at life's dangers, problems and challenges. Yet there is nothing to be gained by worrying about them.

Choose to replace each negative worry with positive action. Instead of looking down, pick yourself up and move forward.

Every moment is filled with countless opportunities to create lasting value. Stop worrying, and start living with richness, purpose and real joy.

-- Ralph Marston

Relax and enjoy

The world will wind you up into a tight little ball if you let it. Don't let it.

Relax and enjoy the ever-changing flow of being alive. There's no point in working yourself into a frenzy about anything.

The more uptight you are, the more mistakes you make. Relax, stop taking everything so seriously, and you'll find that you're vastly more effective.

Put a big, authentic and friendly smile on your face. Put some delightful positive thoughts in your mind.

The worst that could happen will almost certainly not happen. And even if it does, you'll find a way to handle it.

Live with passion and purpose while letting go of the tension and anxiety. Relax and enjoy every moment as it comes, and you'll be giving the world your very best.

-- Ralph Marston

Positive experience

The best response to a negative experience is to create a positive experience. Instead of fighting against life's misfortunes, transform them into useful and worthwhile value.

When things go wrong, you have a choice. You can wallow in self pity or you can seize the opportunity for self improvement.

In every disappointment there is the seed of fulfillment. In every weakness there is the seed of strength.

Problems and difficulties provide reliable pathways to achievement. There is value to be gained from every experience when you choose to see that value and to bring it about.

You never have to be the victim of random circumstance, or of any other circumstance for that matter. For instead of choosing to be the victim, you can always choose to make a positive difference.

Life is often unfair, and comes to you in ups and downs, but that doesn't really matter. For you are free to make of it whatever you choose

-- Ralph Marston

Beyond the pain

Resentment is a useless pursuit. It does not help you, it does not help the situation, and it does not help the people you resent.

Resentment expands the damage that has been done and prolongs the pain that has been inflicted. And resentment often leads to new instances of hurtful behavior on the part of everyone involved.

The way to end the downward spiral of resentment is with forgiveness.

Forgiveness frees you to move forward, unfettered by the burden of past wrongdoing.

Forgiveness does not mean that what happened was acceptable. Forgiveness simply enables you to completely, once and for all, let it go.

In every life, there are numerous and continuing opportunities for deep, abiding and destructive resentment. But there is nothing at all to be gained by spending your life filling up a mental warehouse with those painful resentments.

Choose instead to quickly forgive, and to move forward, beyond the pain and into a world filled with positive possibilities. Don't waste your life on resentment when there is so very much beauty, life and love to experience.

-- Ralph Marston

GOD UNDERSTANDS

Job 4:1-6 (NRSV)

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
"If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
    But who can keep from speaking?
See, you have instructed many;
    you have strengthened the weak hands.
Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
    and you have made firm the feeble knees.
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
    it touches you, and you are dismayed.
Is not your fear of God your confidence,
    and the integrity of your ways your hope?

Jesus said to the disciples, "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
- Matthew 28:20 (NRSV)

I woke up one morning with many concerns on my mind.  I had lost my job; my relationship with my mother was tense.  My purse containing cards and other documents had been stolen, so I couldn't even drive my car.

What did God want me to do?  I didn't understand.  My feelings ranged from anger to helplessness.  I needed to talk to someone, but all I could do was cry.  Had God forgotten me?  Was God annoyed or angry with me?

My prayer that morning was simple but sincere.  At the end of my prayer time I felt that God was with me, and I was filled with inner peace.

Then the telephone rang.  It was my pastor, and God spoke to me through him.  A second phone call came from a friend who reminded me that he was there for me, that he would pick me up and drive me to my classes at the university.  Again, I wanted to cry -- this time for joy.

God knows our innermost feelings and offers hope and help.  We are not alone.  God surrounds us with special people who help us to meet the challenges we encounter.

Prayer:  Thank you, God, for your Holy Spirit, who knows our true feelings and offers strength and hope, and thank you for all those who show us that you care for us.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
What Christian friends offer me support in difficult times?

-- Monica Balvin Diaz (Valle del Cauca, Colombia)

Start with joy

There's a reason why the sunrise is so beautiful and magnificent. It sets the stage for a positive, fulfilling day.

When you start the day by choosing to be joyful, you put yourself in a creative, effective state of mind. You'll make yourself better able to handle whatever may come your way during the day.

A relationship that gets off to a positive start at the very beginning will quickly flourish and build great value. You can forge a positive relationship with each day when you begin it in a joyful way.

Even if the day is gray and gloomy you can choose to start it with a positive experience of your own making. Fulfillment comes to those who make it happen, and there's no better time than the beginning of your day to start moving forward.

There's an endless list of ways in which you can begin the day on a positive note.

And the days that start well have the best chance of going well.

A new day arrives, ready to be lived. Choose to start it with joy.

-- Ralph Marston

Yes you can do it

Yes, you can do it. And you can begin right now.

Sure, you've run into problems in the past. Yet there is a way to get past every one of them.

When it is important enough to you and meaningful enough for you, you will find a way. There is a positive, effective step that you can take this very moment.

It will require effort on your part, as well as commitment and persistence. Fortunately, you are fully capable of all those things.

Yes, you can do it, and in the process you will more fully become the beautiful, unique person you are meant to be. You will grow more capable, more confident, more knowledgeable and experienced.

When your objective is connected with the purpose that drives every other purpose, there is no doubt that you can do it. Begin now to work your way there.

-- Ralph Marston

A higher perspective

What troubles you is mostly trivial when viewed from the great perspective of all that is.

Yet those troubles can feel much bigger when you look at them from the viewpoint of your self-imposed limitations.

Your ego will seek to convince you that nothing beyond you matters. Such thinking will keep you trapped in a prison of your own making.

Let go of the need to prove what you're worth. And you'll realize how uniquely valuable you already and always are.

As long as you remain on the same level as the obstacles in your life, those obstacles will prevent you from making progress.

Yet from a higher perspective you'll discover many ways to get beyond them.

If you're confounded by some particular situation, step back and remind yourself, in your own way, of how truly beautiful and magnificent life can be. Feel yourself rising above the limitations that your ego has constructed.

Instead of being troubled by your troubles, let them be a catalyst for your own growth and for truly meaningful inspiration. Climb up to a higher perspective and find a path to the greatness that is within you.

-- Ralph Marston

Truly impressive

Always know that what other people think of you is their own concern, not yours. Do what you know is right, and fully accept that others will think what they will think.

Certainly it is valuable to make a good impression. Keep in mind, though, that the best way to make a good impression is not to worry endlessly about what others think.

The way to make the best impression is to be authentic. Allow the goodness that is within you to shine through your genuine courtesy, kindness, respect and consideration.

By caring so much about receiving validation from others, you prevent yourself from getting it. Instead, share your real value with those around you and that value will be clear for all to see.

Don't waste your time and effort keeping up appearances. Put your attention and energy into real solid substance, and your appearance will take care of itself.

The more you strive to make a good impression, the less successful you'll be at doing so. Just relax and be yourself, and you'll be truly and authentically impressive.

-- Ralph Marston

The newness of life

In order to learn something new you must first accept that you do not know it. To fully understand another person, you must let go of your desire to make blind assumptions and judgments about that person.

Turn down the volume and intensity of your own chattering thoughts, and you can hear the music of life. Stop expecting to see what you've always seen before, and new and wondrous beauty will appear in front of your eyes.

When you continue to perform a task the exact same way you've always done it, your effectiveness cannot improve very much. Be open to new ideas and techniques, and you can vastly accelerate your performance.

If you cynically think you've experienced it all, you'll close yourself off from much of life's richness. If you consider yourself smarter than everyone else, you'll be supporting and advancing your own growing ignorance.

Open your mind and your heart to the newness of life that comes with each moment. There is always more to learn, more to experience, more to appreciate and enjoy, no matter how much you've already done.

With each dawning day, a whole new world of possibilities is born. Allow yourself to know and acknowledge their newness, and bring the best of those possibilities to life. 

-- Ralph Marston

The best day you have ever known

Instead of waiting and looking back on your life and realizing how great it was, realize how great it is while you're living it. These are the good old days.

This is the time to treasure right now. Don't put off your appreciation for today until some time when all you have of it is a faded memory and a photograph.

You are swimming in a thick sea of overwhelming richness that is this moment.

Wake up to how truly blessed you are to be right where you happen to be.

Sure there are frustrations and annoyances, challenges, pains and disappointments. And you have the good fortune of being in a position to transcend every one of them.

Stop wondering what life is all about and start choosing what you are going to make it become. Stop waiting for someone else to make it all better and start taking your own steps to make it uniquely great.

This can be the best day you have ever known. All it takes is for you to decide to make it so.  

- Ralph Marston

The future is bright

The future is bright. Because the future is created by positive people.

Those who are negative make a lot of noise about how bad things are. Those who are positive quietly and steadily make a lot of real improvements and contributions to life.

There are always problems and there are always challenges. And there are always people willing to transform those challenges into great opportunities.

Those who have the courage, commitment and discipline to follow their own best dreams, bring the rest of the world along with them. Those who choose to do the best they can with what they have, create a better life for everyone.

For every high-profile guru of doom who wails about how hopeless and unfair life is, there are millions of others working tirelessly to make life better than ever. For every frightening crisis that is breathlessly reported, there are millions of real, meaningful success stories that don't get noticed, but that do have enormous positive influence.

Negative people obsess over the past while positive people work their way eagerly toward the future. Life gets better and better when you choose to make it so, and the future is bright indeed.

-- Ralph Marston

Be success

Only when you're able to accept the possibility of getting it wrong will you have the persistence to get it right. Meaningful success rarely comes from a single transaction.

Success is a consistent pattern more than it is an isolated event. It is the way you live rather than some object or experience you acquire.

In fact, the way to truly have success is to be success. Success is yours when you persistently embody the discipline, the integrity, the positive attitude, the respect and all the other attributes of which it is made.

Visualize yourself today as a living, breathing, active and dynamic manifestation of success. In what way does such a vision compel you to think, to speak, to act and to live?

If you consider success to be something outside of you, that's where it will always remain -- outside of you and apart from you. Instead, choose to not merely be successful, but to be success itself.

In your thoughts, your words, your actions and your expectations, be the living embodiment of success. And whatever you envision will surely be within your reach.

-- Ralph Marston

Live life as it comes

Life has a beautiful rhythm and pace. Live it as it comes.

If you try to outrun life, you miss much of its beauty. Instead of racing ahead to cover more ground, see the treasures that are right here and now.

Rather than resenting or regretting what has already happened, focus your thoughts on the good you can do in this moment. There are plenty of opportunities when you choose to see them.

If you're constantly chasing life, the best of it eludes you. Decide to do a little less pursuing and a lot more enjoying.

You cannot do all of this week's breathing, or eating, or sleeping in just one day. There's plenty of time to get everything done if you'll just stop wasting so much effort on jumping ahead.

Seek to live in harmony with the rhythm and flow of life. Live life as it comes, and it will come to you in great abundance.

-- Ralph Marston

Truly live

Think of the best possible thing that you could accomplish today, and then ask yourself this. What would be even better?

Instead of lowering your expectations to be more in line with reality, raise those expectations and then improve your reality so it matches them. That's a much better choice and yes, you can most certainly do it.

Realize that the best is yet to come. Then get busy and make it happen.

What has happened before may be interesting and useful to know about. Yet all of that is in the past, and right now the world is filled with brand new possibilities.

The quality of your life right now depends on how you live it right now. What will you choose to do with such a magnificent opportunity?

This is the moment when you can mold life into whatever you would like it to be. Take a deep breath, stand up, walk forward and truly live all the wonder that is here.

-- Ralph Marston

A burden you don't deserve

It's easy to blame someone else for your troubles. Yet when you're truly honest with yourself, it's clear that blaming someone else will not add the slightest bit of value to your life.

It seems fair and reasonable to expect your problems to be solved by the people who caused them, but stop and think about it. Do you really wish to give those people who caused your problems any additional control over your life and your future?

To move your life in the direction you choose to go, you must be willing to take full responsibility for it. That means moving past what's easy and accepting that things are not always going to be fair.

Perhaps life has given you a burden you don't deserve. Instead of seeing that as an excuse to give up, see it as an opportunity to give more.

Though you may not have brought the troubles upon yourself, you can nevertheless make positive use of them. Choose to take full responsibility for your own situation, and you'll begin to see how you can rise from it to a level that's higher than ever before.

Real success does not result from everything going perfectly. Real success comes when you're willing to move forward no matter what may happen.

-- Ralph Marston

What begins in your mind

Your worries create their own fulfillment. But you don't have to worry about that, because you can let those worries go.

Your fears bring you closer toward whatever you fear. But do not fear such a scenario, because you have the ability to let those fears go.

Your thoughts do not end when you finish thinking them. They continue to echo through your life in ways you may not even realize.

So fill your mind with thoughts of gratitude for the abundance you already enjoy. That abundance will most certainly grow as a result.

When you feel doubt, or fear, or anger, or frustration, know that you can let it go just as surely as you can pull your hand away from a painful sensation. Keep your life focused on the goodness, on the positive possibilities and on your most treasured dreams.

What begins in your mind ends up in your life. Think continually of the way you most would like to be, and your reality will reliably fall in line.

-- Ralph Marston

Conquer doubt

Are your doubts holding you back? The way to conquer your doubts is with action.

Wondering about whether you can do it will not get it done. The only way to know for sure is to jump right in and get started.

Avoiding the challenges will only make those challenges grow bigger. Instead, walk right up to each challenge, and the closer you get, the more ways you'll discover to get beyond it.

If you wait until conditions are perfect, all you'll ever do is wait. Great accomplishments are given birth by starting from where you are with what you have.

As soon as you start to take action, you'll begin to replace your doubts with courage and confidence. The more you do, the more insignificant and powerless those doubts will become.

Stop wondering and start doing. Once you've done it you'll always know, without the slightest doubt, that you can.

-- Ralph Marston