It isn't enough to sit on the sidelines and hope for things
to get better.  You've got to ask yourself, "What steps am
I going to take to get the things in life I want?"  Achieving
great goals takes planning and your life is no different.

 

Take charge!  Make plans to bridge the distance between
where you are now and the future you can see so clearly.
Define, clarify and implement your plans.  If you need help,
don't be shy.  Ask someone for it.  You will be surprised
how willing others are to help you succeed.

 

Remember, your plan is your path.  It's unlikely
that with a plan like this you will get lost
reaching your goals.

 

 

 

We all experience days when we feel spiritually
depleted-we feel down, un cared for, unloved.  The
world is not our oyster today.  Yet, like many of our
impressions, this too, is an illusion.  We are the same
yesterday, today, and tomorrow, even though
circumstances may try to persuade us otherwise.

 

This is when we need the comfort of a "Happy Box."
Take the time to make one for yourself and you will
reap the benefits over and over.  Fill your box with
items that you collect over a time; a special card from
a favorite aunt, your child's first attempt to write
"I love you,"  a photo of you and your best friend,  That
pretty stone you found on vacation, your child's first tooth,
the ribbon off a bunch of flowers from a caring friend;
all help you to re-align yourself and see the world
as the wonder that it is.

 

Your "Happy Box" represents tangible items of the
love and joy that are present in your world each and
every day.  It's like money in the bank of happiness.
Start your happiness account today.

 

 

 

Fear is often much more destructive than that which is feared. Anxiety can often be far more harmful than those things about which you are anxious.

Avoiding effort can be more difficult and time-consuming than the effort itself. Worrying about a negative situation is usually more prolonged and painful than experiencing the situation itself.

Life is best when you face it directly. Your efforts are far more effective when they don't have to push through layers of denial, avoidance and anxiety.

When something must be said, stand up and say it. When something needs to be done, get busy and do it.

It can be tempting to put tasks off until later, or to think that problems will just go away, or to hope that some magical occurrence will fulfill your desires. Yet the truth is that the real fulfillment in life comes from putting all of yourself into the living of it.

So go ahead and face that fear, make that effort, move forward into new territory and fully live the grand possibilities with which you're blessed. Boldly face life, and you'll find it to be better than you ever imagined.

Ralph Marston