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

What you do consistently and repeatedly grows stronger. And that provides you with nearly unlimited opportunity. Success is not a secret that is hidden from you. Success is a habit that is readily available to you. Life is made up of moment after moment. Point all those moments in the same direction, and truly magnificent achievements will come about. There are very few things of value that you can create instantly. Yet when you expand your horizon to a few weeks or months, the possibilities for achievement increase dramatically. The hours and the days will pass whether you make use of them or not. Choose to focus your energy in a specific direction, again and again, and put the power of time to work for you. Keep your thoughts, your words and your actions pointed in the direction you would most like to go. Develop the habit of success, and with it you can create whatever you choose. -- Ralph Marston

How do you keep yourself positive when the people around you are so negative? How can you maintain a positive approach when the situations and events around you are so troublesome? A sincerely positive attitude is not a reaction to the way things are. Rather, it is an expression of the way you choose for things to be. Being positive is not an unrealistic or naive view of a negative world. It provides you with a solid foundation for making real improvements in the world and creating meaningful value. Being positively focused enables you to see, and to make the most of, opportunities that would otherwise be invisible. Being positive gives you the energy to move forward no matter what the obstacles may be. When you focus on the positive aspects of a situation, there will be plenty of people who disagree with you. But that is their problem, not yours. Look beyond those who argue for defeat, and find the path to victory. Whatever the current situation may be, you can always choose a positive way forward. -- Ralph Marston

Your imagination may often seem wispy and nebulous. It is in fact very real and powerful. Look around you and consider all the real, solid, useful and valuable things that began their existence in someone's imagination. What you can imagine, is clearly possible. Most likely, your imagination has far more power than you realize. There are aspects of your reality today that come directly from long-forgotten stirrings of your imagination. What would you dare to imagine if you were certain that it would become real? In fact, most of what you imagine does indeed influence your life and your world in some way or other. Obviously, the things you imagine do not instantly spring into material form. Actually, something even more amazing happens. Your imagination plants a fertile seed in the capable, creative, intelligent, effective person that is you. Take great care with such seeds that you plant, for they will surely grow. -- Ralph Marston

Instead of making promises, deliver value. Instead of fighting for the chance to receive discarded scraps, work diligently to freely give big buckets of nourishing substance. Rather than growing hoarse from shouting, grow wise from listening. When those around you are tripping all over their own arrogance and self-importance, have the confidence to live with genuine humility. Those who so desperately and endlessly brag about themselves quickly fade into a meaningless blur. Those who quietly and consistently perform are the ones who soon stand out from the crowd. If you assume that people are stupid, and look upon them with disrespect, they will look at you in exactly the same way. When you seek to take advantage of others, you become ridiculously easy prey for those who will certainly take advantage of you. The way to stand out is not by pushing others back. The way to stand out is by generously and sincerely leading others forward. Expect the best of others, and respectfully give the best that you have. Choose to stand out, away from the pettiness and shortsighted greed, and you'll find a truly magnificent life. -- Ralph Marston

Do not continue to provide more energy to your fears. Instead, take the energy from your fears and turn it toward positive purpose. There is nothing to be gained by giving additional energy to your anger. Take the energy from your anger, and direct it toward creative, fulfilling action. Whatever you focus upon, whether it is positive or negative, you provide with additional energy. Whether you love it or hate it, whether you long for it or fear it, your focus and attention will make it more powerful in your life. There can be large amounts of energy in your fears, your angers, and your frustrations. The thing to do with all that negative energy is not to add to it, but to apply it toward your most positive purposes and most treasured desires. If you truly wish to avoid something, be careful not to nourish it with your focus and your energy. Find something else to move toward, and keep that positive goal at the center of your awareness. In each moment, you can choose where to focus your attention and your energy. Seek to keep your focus as positive as possible, and you'll move steadily in the direction of your dreams. -- Ralph Marston

Without challenge, there would be no achievement. If you wish to own the achievement, you must be willing to shoulder the challenge. Working through a difficult challenge builds strength. It is a kind of strength that cannot be acquired in any other way. Challenges are messy, uncomfortable, complicated and demanding. And yet, they are among life's greatest blessings. For the challenges will make it perfectly clear what has real meaning in your life and what doesn't. The challenges hold your priorities up to you and will show you the best of who you are. Climbing the mountain of challenge is difficult and treacherous, yet the view from the summit is spectacular. And the experience you gain in the effort will continue to bring value long after the work is done. You are truly fortunate to have challenges in your life. For within every challenge is a clearly defined path for moving vigorously and meaningfully forward. -- Ralph Marston

Let go of your criticisms about how things should have been, and you'll see the magnificent possibilities of now. Let go of your worries about what might be, and you'll be able to focus on all you can do right now. Stop putting your energy into making excuses and use that energy to take action. Quit fretting over getting it perfect and put your focus on being effective. You have now arrived at a unique moment that is filled with countless possibilities. You can make something truly valuable out of it. You have the real and powerful ability to imagine, and then to put that imagination into action. You can call together all you've experienced, and everything that is most meaningful to you, and to create from it all your very own gifts to life. There is abundance all around you, and with a little focused, determined effort that abundance is yours to enjoy. Choose to connect with the best within you, to make that effort, and to live with true richness. Get up, get inspired, get moving and get involved in making a positive difference. This is your moment to come fully to life. -- Ralph Marston