Mikes Blog

Value in every direction
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You can find value in every direction, in every place and time. Let yourself be inspired by the value, and in that state of inspiration, expand it.

Perhaps what you once dismissed, you can consider now with thoughts more nuanced and a spirit more generous. Maybe what you’ve always ignored, you could offer a few moments of attention.

Life is often what you expect, but not always. Refresh your soul by being pleasantly surprised.

In some forgotten corner there’s a little bit of treasure for you to enjoy. Buried in what you thought you already knew is a discovery so wonderful it can take your breath away.

Possibilities hide in the limitations. Challenges give birth to opportunities.

Open yourself a little wider and let in some more of life’s value. Where you’ve neglected to look you might uncover exactly what you need to see.

— Ralph Marston

Think, do, learn
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Pretty much nothing unfolds in exactly the way you imagine it. You can speculate, re-consider, plan, and anticipate, yet once you start to take action, everything changes.

Action transforms thoughts into reality. Although thought and action each have value, they are decidedly distinct creatures and cannot be substituted one for the other.

Give thought to your actions, then give action to your thoughts. Use the results you get to improve and to better focus your subsequent thoughts and actions.

In the initial stage of any endeavor, be prepared to, at best, stumble forward. On the next iteration you’ll do better, and even better after that.

If you fail to win the gold medal on your first outing, or you’re twenty-fifth, you’re normal. If you let that discourage you and stop you from making the effort, you’re foolish.

Because over time, with persistence, humility, an innovative spirit, and more persistence, you make real progress. Think, do, learn, then think, do, learn, and your tenacity with doing so will bring whatever you seek within reach.

— Ralph Marston

It is Christmas
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Regardless of what you believe or what you don’t, this day is special. It is Christmas.

Out of the darkness, light shines forth. In the coldest season, as has never failed for centuries, warmth ensues.

Some will sing, others will feast, many will gather, a few will avoid, but no one can ignore that this day is different. It makes you wonder, and that’s the point.

Wonder is something children do well, especially today. And today is a day you can permit yourself to see, to understand, that they’re on to something.

Different people profess different perspectives, yet some truths today feel universal and undeniable. We long to connect, to give, to care, to believe, to wonder.

Today is Christmas and one way or another you feel its joy, even if you can’t explain why. Today is Christmas, and there’s a reason.

— Ralph Marston

Pushing the possibilities
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You are right now situated at the center of your own unique universe of possibilities. Those possibilities can assemble to oppress you into oblivion or lift you to unimaginable heights, depending largely on how and to what purpose you interact with them.

You perceive only a few of the most adjacent possibilities, and can imagine a little of what extends out beyond them. But you simply cannot fully conceive of all that’s possible across time, space, function, and thought.

What you can do, and indeed cannot avoid, is to seed those possibilities with purpose, with meaning. To yield desirable results you must move through that infinitely complex universe of possibilities with truth and sincerity of purpose.

When it comes to your most immediate options, you can sometimes succeed in deceiving yourself and others. But one possibility quickly leads to another and then another, far beyond what you could ever anticipate, and the deception inevitably breaks down.

Your universe of possibilities is so complex and dynamic, and extends so far beyond your comprehension, you cannot hope to manipulate it. Yet with an honest and beneficial purpose, what you can do is traverse that immense field of possibilities into a life of greatness and fulfillment.

Love, beauty, truth, and purpose all exist for good reason. They constantly enable you to push life’s possibilities in the best direction.

— Ralph Marston