Mikes Blog

Amid the imperfections
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Expect the best, but don’t wallow in discouragement when events don’t unfold as you expected. Push toward perfection, but don’t let yourself be immobilized by imperfect results.

The fact is, difficult, unexpected, disappointing things will happen. Even with the best plans, the most diligent preparation, reality will often fall short of expectations.

When your efforts earn favorable results, let that inspire you to do even more. And when your results don’t meet your expectations, let that inspire you just as much.

Being disappointed is useful in the short term, but make sure it doesn’t morph into long-term discouragement. As soon as you feel disappointment, use that as a cue to begin a new, positive push forward.

Do all you can do, and then accept the reality of all that happens. Exercise diligent control over the things you can control, and refuse to be frustrated or demoralized by all the rest.

Life is not going to perfectly align with the way you envision it to be, but that’s okay. Because you can always do your best, always make things better, and continue to live very well amid all the imperfections.

— Ralph Marston

Authentically you
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Be honest about being you. Pretense is stressful, expensive, difficult to maintain, and offers no real value.

Take a deep, satisfying, genuine breath of fresh air. Feel how good it feels to be at peace with who you are, with how you are, with all you love and care about.

There will always be those who don’t accept you, or don’t respect you. Let that be their problem, not yours.

Your purpose is not to impress anyone, or to get anyone to like you. Let yourself live and experience each moment in a way that is authentically you.

Go forward, do what you do, unburdened by worries about what others might or might not think. Focus on creating value, on making a difference, in the best way you know how.

Give your love and assistance to others, but don’t let the need to please others compromise who you are. Be authentically you, for that’s what’s in the best interest of everyone.

— Ralph Marston

Magic of persistence
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You’re not likely to find a simple, brilliant answer that will instantly make everything better. But that’s okay, because you have persistence.

Step after difficult, imperfect step, you can make progress, with persistence. You can learn, you can adjust, you can improve, and you can steadily push your way through each task.

There’s nothing you can do to stop the passage of time. What you can do, however, is harness the power in every moment of time, with persistent effort.

With persistence, you can do the work that others consider to be beneath them. And by so doing, you will rise far above your present circumstances.

There is no magic bullet at your disposal. Yet you do have the living magic of persistence.

There’s nothing stopping you from putting persistence to work right now. Keep going, keep going, keep going, and you will get yourself wherever you want to be.

— Ralph Marston

Dreams cannot die
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Fulfilling your dream is good, and arriving at your goal is important. But a successful result is not necessary for the dream, for the goal, to have value.

The beauty of purpose arises in the living of that purpose. And the achievement that occurs along the way is icing on the cake.

That’s not to say achievement is a trivial thing, for achievement is essential if life is to continue. Yet even more essential is the hope for achievement, the desire to achieve.

Dreams cannot die after they’ve already been lived, no matter what the final result may be. You exist at your highest level when you live in the service of a worthy objective.

Even when you end up falling short of the goal, the goal has added value to your life. That value begins to be realized the instant you commit your actions to the goal.

Do all you can to achieve the results you desire. Feel the richness as it accrues in your life, every step of the way.

— Ralph Marston