Mikes Blog

Storms will come
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Whether you’re careful or careless, rigidly disciplined or loosely organized, here’s something you can expect. Every now and then, storms will come your way.

Sometimes you’ll see them coming a long way off. Other times they’ll pop up out of nowhere.

They will blow, they will disrupt, they may leave some damage behind. And then they will go.

The storms won’t care whether you’re prepared or not. They will not accommodate any prior plans you may have had.

Yet life’s storms will compel you to grow stronger, more capable and resilient. You’ll gain experience, wisdom, confidence, and respect.

Occasionally the storms will come, so do what you must do to get through them. And deepen your appreciation for the clear, beautiful days that arrive after the storms have passed.

— Ralph Marston

Live the beauty
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Feast your soul upon the beauty that’s in each moment. Be drawn into the beauty stretching out in every direction.

Beauty’s purpose is to be experienced, to be appreciated, to be loved. Give beauty its fulfillment by opening yourself to it, by finding joy in its sublime presence.

Listen to the beautiful songs being sung. Watch as stories of new and unique beauty unfold.

Draw energy from the beauty. Let it carry you away from your own tiny assumptions and give you a taste of the infinite.

Stop striving so earnestly to zero in on a clever purpose. Allow beauty to fill you, to move you, inspire you, and authentic purpose will engulf your whole being.

Experience truth in its most compelling and magnificent form. See the beauty, live the beauty, be the beauty.

— Ralph Marston

Letting go
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Some of the actions you take, some of the thoughts you think, have not been helpful to you. Are there any of those thoughts, any actions, you can let go of forever, right now?

Life is a series of choices, and your choices play a major role in the quality of your experience. Are there any choices you can improve upon going forward from this day?

You swim each moment in a vast sea of possibilities. Yet you must swim in a specific, consistent direction or those possibilities have no value.

You must choose a few things over all the other things. Making progress involves letting go of whatever hinders that progress.

Habits and comforts feel good and reassuring, yet they can block you off from a rich and fulfilling life. By selectively letting go of what holds you back you free yourself to move forward.

Don’t burden yourself with anything that has no real meaning or purpose. Let go, lighten your load, and make more space, give more time, to all that truly matters.

— Ralph Marston

Don’t wait until you feel better to take action. Take action, and you will feel better.

Don’t put off living your life until everything in the world is perfect. Go ahead, live fully in this moment, and give ongoing expression to your highest vision of life.

There always have been and always will be plenty of reasons for discouragement. And just as people have done for thousands of years, you can move forward anyway.

Even in the most serious of times, you can laugh, you can enjoy, and you can spread joy to others. That’s not a denial of reality but rather an improvement of it.

Avoiding your options will not improve or expand those options. Instead, take an active role in your own encouragement, enthusiasm, and sense of positive purpose.

Go forward with your life, no matter what may be standing in the way. You have the fortitude to act, to live well, if only you will use it.

— Ralph Marston