Terry The Bayou Man's blog: "Positive Motivation"

Thou shalt not 'should' thyself. --Anonymous When someone tells us we should do something, do we want to do it, or do we feel mad that someone else is telling us what we want to do? Sometimes we forget that these messages are not our own, but are the desires of others. It's important to listen to what we tell ourselves, to be aware of which messages we're giving ourselves and which come from others. We can make a list of all our shoulds and identify where they came from: parent, boss, friend, self. Then we can decide which shoulds are want to's, and throw out the rest. Doing what we want to is very different from doing what we should, and we can usually do a better job of it. Have I freed myself of shoulds today?

When momentum is on your side, use it. When you're going strong, keep going and become even stronger. Don't let your success stop you from continuing to succeed. Before the goal is accomplished, have another goal ready and waiting to take its place. Each accomplishment opens the door to many more opportunities. Each success paves the way for even greater success. When the job is done, celebrate the victory by setting your sights even higher. You've firmly established a positive pattern, so keep it going and improve upon it. The value you've just created can now be put to productive use. Just imagine what is now possible. Great accomplishments are built from small successes. Keep the momentum going, and there's no limit to what you can achieve. -- Ralph Marston http://greatday.com/

Everyone has his own fingerprints. The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that. --Charles R. Brown We are often amazed at how different members of the same family seem to be. Contrasts are often great: one child might be loud and funny, one might be timid and quiet, and yet neither seems to take after the parents. A family is like a vegetable garden. The vegetables respond to outside influences. The one exposed to more sunlight will grow differently than the one growing in a damp, shady place. Vegetables growing in crowded areas of the garden may not be as developed as those around them, but they might be tastier. Although we may have common roots, outside experiences and friends mold us too, making each of us unique. We sometimes lose ourselves by comparisons and feel as if we don't belong, but the variety of our family garden is what makes the world so interesting. How can I honor another person's uniqueness today?

Feel like it Those mornings when you're reluctant to get out of bed are the very days when you'll gain the most by going ahead, getting up and getting started. The challenges you've been avoiding are the very ones that will compel you to make the most progress. Step eagerly forward and do the hard stuff. Jump in and tackle the difficult challenges. Life is about making a difference. The bigger the challenge is, the more of a positive difference you can make. Don't focus on the discomfort you may have to endure. Instead, go ahead and feel the extreme sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that come from moving forward and doing what must be done. Instead of forever regretting the missed opportunities, wake up and seize those opportunities. Make full and productive use of the priceless moment that is right here in front of you. If you don't feel like it, choose to make yourself feel like it. By the time the day is done, you'll truly be glad you did. -- Ralph Marston

Nothing is more difficult than competing with a myth. -- Francoise Giroud Sometimes we think we need to try and be something we're not. Maybe we feel pressure from friends to behave or dress like someone else. All we need to do is remember when we were younger and dressed in our parents' clothes and shoes. We pretended to be grownups, and it was fun for a while. Then the huge shoes on our feet grew clumsy and uncomfortable and the mountain of rolled-up sleeves kept falling down and getting in the way. Soon we grew tired of the game and stopped pretending. Today when we start feeling the pressure to be someone else, let's remember how hard it is to play a role that doesn't fit us.

One day a man saw an old lady stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill, which only fear can put in you. He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.' Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me.' He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan. After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be then she noticed something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.' Under the napkin were four more $100 bills. Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.... She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.' There is an old saying 'What goes around comes around.' Today I sent you this story and I'm asking you to pass it on. Let this light shine. God works in mysteries ways and sometimes puts people in our lives for a reason. Don't delete it, don't return it. Simply pass this on to a friend. I did!

Over and over The actions, thoughts and words that become a permanent part of you are the ones you choose to repeat over and over again. Doing something once will certainly bring some kind of result, and doing it repeatedly will multiply its power many times over. You cannot lift a thousand pounds all at once. Yet you can lift one pound a thousand times. In the repetition of your thoughts and actions, there is great power. Choose to make complete and purposeful use of that power. Add immense leverage to what you do by doing it again and again. Give great strength to your actions by persistently repeating them. Nothing of value is ever accomplished in an instant. No skill is ever fully developed in a single day. Take the time to make the effort over and over again. That time and those efforts will bring great rewards. -- Ralph Marston

Courage It takes courage to push yourself to places that you’ve never been before, to test your limits, to break through barriers. And the day comes when the risk it takes to remain tight inside the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to bloom. Anon Nin

You feel the way you do right now because of the thoughts you are thinking at this moment. --David D. Burns Good thoughts are like bright colors in a painting. Negative thoughts are dark and dreary and drab. Each day we paint pictures of our own lives with our thoughts. If we step back and look at the canvas, we will see whether the picture is alive with bright colors or dreary and lifeless like a dark cloud. Our thoughts have the power to bring joy or sadness our way, depending on what we expect or look for in our surroundings. The choice of how we want our lives to be is ours. Since we paint a new picture each day, we are always free to change things when they don't please us. What better time than the present?

To affect the quality of the day - that is the highest of the arts. --Henry David Thoreau We are the sculptors of our day. We can mold it creatively into a wonderful masterpiece. We control the amount of moisture we mix into our clay. We pound it, shape it, stroke it, and love it. Others can offer suggestions, and we gain new perspectives from their advice, but it is finally our own creation. Our knife may occasionally slip, or our mixture of earth may be too dry. Any great artist suffers temporary setbacks. Besides, imperfections in art often make it all the more interesting. How creative can I be in my life today?