Mikes Blog

Loving benefactor
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By all means keenly observe the world and make note of the things that can be improved. But take care not to internalize the entire deficit between life as it is and life as it could be.

You are a part of all that is. But the good you can do, as extensive as it may be, does not depend on you absorbing every burden that exists.

Your best hope of repairing what is broken is to operate from a perspective that’s apart from what is broken. Healing flows not from sickness, but from health.

Feel that healthy part of you, focus on it, celebrate it, and expand upon it. Rather than letting the problems of the world pull you down, live with so much goodness as to overwhelm them.

You have a great responsibility to yourself and to all of life. Yet that does not oblige you to agonize endlessly over every last one of life’s imperfections.

Every day, in every situation, you can make a meaningful positive difference. Seek to do so not as a grieving victim, but as a joyful, confident, and loving benefactor.

— Ralph Marston

Tend your own garden
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As enticing as the prospect may be, there’s not much you can do to control or influence the behavior of others. Yet there are plenty of improvements you can make to your own thoughts, choices, and actions.

It’s great to keep yourself informed about what the rest of the people in the world are doing. But it’s best to keep the majority of your focus and energy on the good and useful things you can do.

Tend to your own garden with care, discipline, persistence and high expectations. That will accomplish infinitely more than scrutinizing and complaining about the weeds in your neighbor’s garden.

A modest positive change in your choices can often lead to a massive improvement in the quality of your life. By contrast, fighting to control the choices of others will likely just lead to more and more fighting.

Even if you could somehow get everyone in the world to do as you wish, that would not come close to solving your problems. And then where would you turn?

The most powerful, positive, and far-reaching way to influence your world is by example. Work toward excellence in the living of your life, and let your success inspire others to do the same.

— Ralph Marston

Embracing the truth
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Dealing with an unpleasant truth is difficult. However, what’s far worse is to avoid that truth.

Reality is what it is, whether you acknowledge it or not. And it’s only when you do acknowledge what is real, what is true, that you provide yourself some ability to cope with it.

It’s understandable that you would want to avoid what frightens you. Yet as frightening as the truth can be, there’s no question that the suppression of truth is much more frightening.

When you’re unwilling or unable to know what’s really going on, you render yourself powerless. Retreating into lies, illusions, and self-deception only makes the situation worse.

Embracing the truth is not going to magically make everything okay. But it will provide real hope and real possibilities for moving forward.

There is no alternative to the truth that you would want to maintain for the entirety of your life. Keep that in mind and you will find the courage to speak what is true, and to successfully deal with it.

— Ralph Marston

Power in the little things
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Little things done often can be more effective than big things done occasionally. Make a little positive difference enough times and you’ll soon discover you’ve made a big difference.

A small kindness is a little thing you always have the opportunity to offer. Do it a hundred times, or a thousand, and you’ll change your life, as well as the lives of others, for the better.

Little things are simple, easy, accessible, repeatable. Little things give you a continuing way to invest in the goodness of life.

Little things provide a way to take action without the need for elaborate planning or scarce resources. And the more action you take, the more value you create, the more fulfillment you experience.

Look around eagerly with kindness, respect, understanding and good cheer. Notice all the little things you can do today.

Remind yourself often to avail yourself of the little things. And watch as life grows in richness and meaning by the minute.

— Ralph Marston