Mikes Blog

Be with it
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You could endlessly analyze what’s going on, or resist it, or find someone to blame for it, or fantasize that it’s something else entirely. Or you could simply be with it.

You could deny the uncomfortable, inconvenient aspects of who you are, of what you desire and care about, of how you feel. Or you could allow your authentic self to be.

You could resent, avoid, and complain about what you have to do. Or you could just go ahead and get it done, and apply yourself toward progress rather than toward resistance.

Your time, your energy, your awareness, your care and your passion are powerful and precious. Point them all toward peaceful, purposeful living and not toward wasteful, destructive fighting.

Every place, every person, every situation, every challenge, every moment has some kind of unique value to add to your life. Accept it, embrace it, give your best to it as it plays out, and be with it.

Life brings problems, opportunities, frustrations, joys, pleasure, discomfort, struggle and beauty. As each new adventure arrives, be with it.

— Ralph Marston

What you look for
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What you look for determines what you find. What you look for has a major influence on what comes into your life.

Look for reasons to connect and cooperate rather than for reasons to argue and accuse. Look for possibilities instead of excuses.

Look for ways to solve the problems. Look for what you can do to improve the situation.

Look for ideas, activities and resources that can be of benefit to yourself and others. Look for opportunities to create new value.

Look for what works, and give your support to those who facilitate it. Look for people who are competent, resourceful, generous and insightful, and emulate what they do.

Look for joy, look for goodness, look for truth and kindness and fulfillment. Look for the best you can imagine, and bring it abundantly to life.

— Ralph Marston

Tell yourself
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Tell yourself why you must do it, and why you can do it. Tell yourself you will.

Tell yourself you are starting now. And then do as you have told yourself.

In the past, you’ve told yourself about all the excuses you have for not taking action. And indeed those excuses have been effective at preventing your actions.

Going forward, tell yourself why, tell yourself you must, tell yourself you are doing it. You’ll be just as effective at getting yourself into action.

You might pay attention to others and you might not. Yet you always pay attention to yourself.

So give yourself some positive direction and give yourself the confidence, along with a little push, to move in that direction. Tell yourself you’re doing it, and you’ll realize that you are.

— Ralph Marston

Avoiding effort is itself an effort and a burden on you. Perhaps you’re better off just going ahead and doing what must be done.

Putting off an unpleasant task until later does not make it any more pleasant. What will make your life more pleasant is to put forth the necessary effort and get the work finished.

You cannot get around the fact that life places certain demands on you. What you can do is meet those demands in ways that create value and fulfillment.

Look from the perspective of opportunity, of possibility. See what the situation offers you alongside what it demands of you.

After all, the necessity of meeting life’s demands is what it is. Your thoughts are what can make it into a burden, yet you’re entirely able to choose different thoughts.

When life’s demands arise, promptly acknowledge them and go about dealing with them. Life demands much of you, so activate your beautiful ability to transform those demands into value.

— Ralph Marston