Lady Victoria Eclectic Pagan's blog: "Ralph Marston"

There's a simple, easy step you can take that will exert a positive, powerful influence in a variety of situations. That simple act is a genuine smile from the heart. Smile, and not only does it improve your appearance, it improves all of you. Smile, and you cannot avoid being more positive toward life. Smile as you speak, and your voice will be more confident, enthusiastic and convincing. Even when you're talking over the phone and the person at the other end can't see you, a smile adds noticeable value to the conversation. Give a smile to others, and you instantly improve the quality of each encounter. Smile to yourself, and new positive possibilities come clearly into view. A smile costs you nothing, and yet it can bring so very much. Take a look around, and you'll see that the most successful and fulfilled people are those who smile the most. Even when you can't think of a reason to smile, smile anyway. Smile, and you'll surely create plenty of good reasons. -- Ralph Marston

Even the most pleasurable experience can become dull and unpleasant if it continues on and on with no end. Even the most magnificent surroundings can feel like a prison if you're unable to take a break from them. Life thrives on variety and change. When you keep yourself stuck in a rut, no matter how satisfying that rut may be, it gets old and can be very draining. When you're constantly fighting against change, even if you succeed in keeping things the same you render yourself unable to enjoy them. Because you're always worried that they will not last. When, on the other hand, you accept that change is part of life, you will enable yourself to enjoy and to fully live every moment you're in. You'll also be able to look more confidently and enthusiastically toward the future instead of dreading it. Yes, with change there is risk, yet there is also enormous opportunity. Change gives life richness and meaning, and makes possible all sorts of achievements that no one has yet even considered. Embrace and celebrate the dynamic, changing nature of life. And you'll find each day to be a unique and joyful blessing. -- Ralph Marston

There's no need for you to strive to be somebody. You are somebody already, with your own unique gifts to offer life. What a waste it would be to spend your whole life seeking to be someone you're not. What a true joy it is to spend your moments expressing and fulfilling the authentic person you are. Today is a day to dance your own dance, to sing your own song. Live the joy that is yours to live, and create the beauty that is yours to give. Pay no attention to the fleeting, superficial vision of success that the world seeks to sell you. Build a success that has real meaning for you by being true to who you are. Most of the disappointments you've experienced have been the result of striving to follow someone else's dream. Let go of the need to do that, and feel the freedom, the amazing effectiveness, and the exhilaration of living a purpose that is truly you. You are somebody unique, valuable, beautiful and worthy of the best life has to offer. Now is the time to fully live that truth. -- Ralph Marston

Abundance is all around you. At any given moment, you are immersed in it. Through the living of your life, you focus that abundance. And it becomes specific experiences, creations and accomplishments. There is never any shortage of positive possibilities. Whatever your circumstance, life's abundance is available to be transformed by the guiding power of your intentions. There is always plenty of raw energy available to you. Your challenge is to consistently and persistently direct that energy into a life that is rich and meaningful. Consider carefully what you choose to allow and what you choose to block. Every choice you make is amplified many times over by the constant flow of abundance that is always present in your world. Visualize a life that is the best you can possibly imagine. Hold steady to that vision, and you will make it so. -- Ralph Marston

Whatever your troubles may be, you can always find something or someone else to blame. But there's nothing of real value to be gained by doing so. Certainly there are many factors that influence the events and outcomes in your life. The best things to focus on, however, are the things you can control. Sure, the weather or the economy or the government or your next-door neighbor may have inflicted some difficulties upon your life. So what is the best way to move forward? Resentment and anger will do little more than waste your time and could likely make you ill. Building an elaborate case of blame for what has happened will drain your energy and leave you no further ahead than when you started. Instead, consider forgiveness. Even though someone else may be to blame, consider the freedom and power and control of taking full responsibility for your own situation. When you focus on blame, you position yourself as a helpless victim. Choose instead to take responsibility, and you'll live life on your own terms. -- Ralph Marston

When you experience a setback, it may seem natural to respond by lowering your expectations. Yet that is not the only choice you have. Just imagine what would happen if you did exactly the opposite. Just imagine what would happen if you decided to raise your expectations in response to each setback. With such a strategy, negative momentum never has a chance to take hold. For even the disappointments serve to push you forward. Your current expectations have much more power and influence than anything that has occurred in your past. For it is your current expectations that give direction to your energy and your actions. Choose to make that direction a positive, valuable, creative one. From even the most burdensome difficulty, you can begin to move forward immediately. Base your expectations on your most treasured dreams and your most profound purpose, rather than on life's random events or circumstances. And nothing will be able to hold you back for long. -- Ralph Marston

The good things in your life are infinitely more enjoyable when you avoid becoming dependent on them. If you see yourself as desperately needing something, the fear of losing it prevents you from getting full benefit from it. Many of life's frustrations come from being unable to fully enjoy the good things that are already right in front of you. The desire to hold on tightly to the things you have can make those things virtually worthless. Security is not attained by hiding away from life. The most enduring form of security is found in knowing that you can deal successfully and positively with whatever may happen. Life's treasures become useless when they remain locked inside a vault of your own making. What good is it to have anything of value if you must live in fear of losing it? Instead, take the treasure that is your life out into the world and enjoy it. Focus on the possibilities and not on the fears. The more you think you need, the more those needs will hold you back. The more you choose to give and to live, the more good things you'll find coming your way. -- Ralph Marston

Whatever space you're in, seek to fill it with positive energy and light. Whatever task you're doing, approach it as if it is the most important and fulfilling job you've ever done. Treat each person with whom you interact as the most highly respected person in the world. Look upon every experience as the most valuable experience you've ever had. Those who find the most meaning and fulfillment in life are those who give the most to each moment, to each person and each activity. The world in which you live is the world that your choices create. The most valuable opportunities are those to which you give the best of your attention, effort and commitment. The luckiest people are those who choose to create their own good luck. Every situation is a situation to which you can add value. Every moment is a moment to which you can offer love, beauty and positive purpose. Do you wish to get the most out of life? Then choose to be the most positively alive.

There is enormous power in peace. Seek to let your mind be filled with peace, and your life will benefit greatly. Worry wastes your precious time, resentment destroys your effectiveness and anxiety drains your energy. A peaceful mind, on the other hand, puts you firmly in control and out of the reach of the world's negative distractions. Peace comes easily and naturally when you stop fighting against what is. Accept the reality of this moment, let go of the need to need, and experience the peace that is already here. Peace is what you find when you let go of everything else. Peace requires no real effort other than the realization that you already have it. Beneath the noise, beneath the chatter, there is beauty, and there is peace. Visualize your concerns as moving quickly away from you, until they disappear into nothingness. Empty your mind of the stressful thoughts, and peace will fill the space left behind. Be at peace, and every thought, every action, every moment will move you toward real richness and fulfillment.

The main thing that keeps an objective out of reach is your assumption that you cannot reach it. You're able to do precisely what you expect to be able to do. Are there dreams that you dare not to dream because you've decided that you cannot attain them? If so, then your negative expectation has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Before you abandon or downgrade your most treasured dreams, consider this. When your goal is personally meaningful and compelling, you can achieve it, whatever it may be. You are never too old or too young, too rich or too poor, to direct the energy of your life toward a compelling objective. Life is about making a difference, and that's something you can do no matter what your circumstances may be. There is somewhere you truly wish to go, something you sincerely desire to achieve, right this very moment. Take the time to find it, commit yourself to it, and make the effort to make it happen. Your dreams represent some of the most valuable gifts you have to give to life. Dare to dream, and allow the best of who you are to be fully expressed.