Mikes Blog

Genuine understanding
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You have your own perspective, and it is well-informed and valuable. Yet you do not know it all, and it’s a good idea to avoid the assumption that you do.

Other people may often frustrate and annoy you, and you may wonder how they could be so ignorant, immature, misinformed or whatever. But you only see a very small part of their perspective, and cannot possibly know everything that goes into their decisions.

Being overly judgmental rarely does anyone any good. Look for opportunities to replace judgment with empathy and understanding.

Do all you can to live and act with excellence, and expect excellence from others. When people fail to live up to your expectations, find ways to offer help rather than to cause hurt.

Seek to understand, and to encourage genuine understanding in others. Let go of the need to lecture and to rant, so you can spend more of your precious life in a positive state.

Make connections instead of judgments. And make the best of every situation and of every person you encounter.

— Ralph Marston

What life brings
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When you notice particular weakness in another person, let that prompt you to correct any similar weakness in yourself. When you perceive certain strength in someone else, be inspired to increase that same strength in your own life.

Learn from the triumphs and mistakes you observe in the people around you. Attune yourself to what causes life to be good, fulfilling, and impactful in a positive way.

Your will can wake up valuable abilities and bring them to the surface. Feed that will with experience, purpose and intention.

Allow your spirit to be nurtured and encouraged by all you know, whatever the source, whatever the flavor. Choose to find within every occurrence inducements to grow in strength.

Take in the entirety of what life brings. Gather and direct the diverse energy, then point it in a meaningful and consistent direction.

In quiet times and loud, in struggle and comfort, embrace the moment you’ve been accorded. Then proceed to give new value to life in your own unique way.

— Ralph Marston

Go to work
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Some occurrences you pretty much expect, or even intentionally work to make happen. Others take you completely by surprise.

Yet whether today’s turn of events was intentional or not, there’s something good and useful you can do in response. Rather than smugly celebrating what’s happened or retreating in fear from it, go to work.

What’s happened has happened, reality is what it is. And the situation has changed from what it was just a little while ago.

Possibilities have popped freshly into existence. What you wisely assumed yesterday to be true, may not be the case at all today.

Open your eyes, open your mind, observe, consider. Look at what has changed, what has not, and why.

See the very real potential for value that’s just been exposed to the light of day. Envision specific, beneficial, meaningful progress you can create with it, and go to work.

— Ralph Marston

Act on faith
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Do you want to be motivated to take action? Then take action.

It’s a mistake to think that motivation alone initiates action. You initiate the action, and then motivation comes forth to continue it.

So once you start actually doing what you intend to do, then you’ll be motivated. Thoughts and words from yourself and others can prompt you to act, yet true, sustained motivation arises only after you begin.

If you’re waiting for sufficient motivation, wait no longer. Get going and create that motivation.

Every initial step forward is an act of faith. But once you’re in motion, you quickly develop momentum and motivation to sustain that motion.

Go ahead, feel that faith in your own ability and in the rightness of your intention. Then act on your faith, and all sorts of good and powerful things begin to happen.

— Ralph Marston