Mikes Blog

Sleep on it
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Ask yourself a question before you go to bed, and then set the subject aside. In the morning you will have an answer.

Your mind is always eager to answer questions. But if you try too hard, you diminish its power.

You self edit, you overthink, you introduce needless doubts. But there’s a simple way to avoid those things, and that’s to sleep on it.

Your mind is still working while you are sleeping. The big difference is you’re not interfering so much with that thinking.

The answer you wake up with may not be what you wanted to hear. Yet it will be authentic, well-considered, and something you’ll benefit from knowing.

When something in particular has you perplexed, give your mind a chance to do its best work. Sleep on it, and wake up with a valuable new perspective.

— Ralph Marston

Adventure
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Adventure is a story that never gets old. When you make your way out beyond where you belong, you discover a whole new dimension to life.

Whether you experience it directly or vicariously, adventure puts you in touch with your vulnerability. That’s actually a very good thing.

The experience of vulnerability brought on by adventure brings a renewed sense of humility. That opens you up to gain new wisdom, to develop new capabilities, to grow stronger in the truth of who you are.

Adventure is rich in risk and reward, and that’s precisely its point. When you crave adventure what you are craving is life in its most meaningful state.

You have the power of purpose, the power to prevail through challenge in service of that purpose. Adventure makes that abundantly clear.

Adventure is when you know how it feels to be fully alive. And that’s an essential thing to know.

— Ralph Marston

Miracle of meaning
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In a universe with infinite potential for chaos, there is order, there is beauty, there is love. It cannot be anything less than a miracle, and that miracle lives deeply within who you are.

The miracle has become so thoroughly ingrained, so widely expressed, that you rarely even think about it. But you wouldn’t want to be and you couldn’t stand to be without it.

In a realm that seems random there is meaning. You can see its light shine through the deepest darkness.

When you stray too far from the miracle of meaning, life quickly falls apart. What once worked flawlessly no longer functions, what you once understood becomes mired in confusion.

Yet the moment you immerse yourself in the truth of who you are, you reclaim the power that was there before the beginning. Love asserts its infinite generosity, hope emerges, and life rises to an even higher level of excellence.

What you seek will never be found in any scheme or place or thing. For what you seek is who you are, the miracle of meaning that is always there.

— Ralph Marston

Don’t get angry at those who oppose you. Get smart, get creative, get energetic, get busy.

When you fight against a person, an idea, an institution, you’re not fighting on your own terms. You’re fighting on their terms, putting yourself at a severe disadvantage.

Instead, dig deeper and connect with the positive vision behind what you support. Craft an authentic, compelling story that inspires you and attracts others to join you.

Be for what you are for, in full and passionate support of what you love and care about. Rather than getting drawn into fighting, put your time and effort into building, maintaining, strengthening.

Raise yourself to a higher level than those who would go against you. Create so much enrichment and affirmation that their negativity is rendered irrelevant.

If all you can think to do is complain and oppose, think some more. Zero in on what makes you care so much, on what you seek to lift up, and aim yourself solidly in that direction.

— Ralph Marston