Universal Border Solutions

10/30/2024

10/30/2024

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Good work you can do

What to do when the pressure is on? Focus on the work, not the pressure.

Your thoughts go in the direction you aim them. Practice aiming them away from matters you can’t do anything about.

Make all the bandwidth of your awareness available for productive effort. Start by choosing to do so, put it immediately into practice in a small way, then expand on it from there.

Let the noise and confusion bear down upon you. And rather than fighting it or getting dismayed about it, target your awareness tightly on the good work you can do.

The world is as it is, and time moves relentlessly forward. You can be equally relentless in making use of it.

Decide what you will get done and put all of yourself into doing it. Rise above whatever else may be going on, and follow your intentions toward the success you know you can create.

— Ralph Marston

10/28/2024

Monday, October 28, 2024

Rely on yourself

Whatever you intend to do, the world will push back in ways you cannot fully anticipate. Things go wrong, and it’s essential for you to figure out how to right them again.

No, that’s not possible every single time. But in most cases you have options, provided you’re well enough prepared.

That means equipping yourself with discipline and fortitude. That means a willingness to be tough, not in a spiteful or malevolent way, but in a way that enables you to move forward.

Those qualities are not just empty platitudes. They serve to advance your own life, the lives of those around you, and everything you care about.

It’s wonderful when you can collaborate and cooperate with others, making contributions and receiving benefits from a larger community. Yet in order to do so, at the end of the day you must be able to rely on yourself.

Embrace the opportunities to strengthen and improve yourself, from your inner constitution to your outer fitness. The best thing you can do for all of life is to continue getting better at living your own.

— Ralph Marston

10/26/2024

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Let life be good

Let life be good today. The quality of what you experience is greatly influenced by the way you expect your experience to be.

So expect goodness, offer kindness, and make gratitude your default position. Be eager to tolerate, reluctant to condemn, and mindful of the best possibilities.

Challenge yourself to see the beauty that might otherwise be hidden. Allow even the ordinary moments to fill you with a sense of wonder.

Consider that the problems are so evident because they are so unusual. Recognize that every difficulty offers even greater opportunity.

Your perspective is a powerful filter through which you interpret and experience everything. And your perspective is yours to control.

So choose to see every moment in a way that’s beneficial and fulfilling for you, and for the world around you. Do all of life a big favor, and let it be good today.

— Ralph Marston

10/25/2024

Friday, October 25, 2024

Fruitful connections

To the degree you’re trying to impress someone else, you won’t. Certainly people can be genuinely impressed by various things you do, but no one is really impressed by attempts to appear impressive.

Rather than striving to impress, seek to connect. Interact in ways that are authentic, meaningful, interesting and beneficial to the other person, and to you as well.

That often comes from talking less and listening more. It comes from direct questions and honest answers.

To forge a successful connection, avoid making too many assumptions. Accept that the other person’s perspective may very well differ significantly from yours.

Your goal is not to change anyone else, but to identify common ground and build a productive interaction on it. Proceed with respect and with a sincere desire to bring about new value for everyone concerned.

No one will be impressed by how impressive you hold yourself out to be. Yet there’s a world full of people who are eager to join you in real, honest, and fruitful connections.

— Ralph Marston

10/24/2024

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Treasures remain

Various circumstances and experiences come and go. Yet the treasures you gain in living through them remain with you always.

Every day is your chance to accumulate more such treasures. With each encounter and experience you can add lasting richness to your life.

Though the moments and even the memories fade, that richness remains. And on top of it you can add even more.

As such, your days, your hours, and your choices all carry great consequence. For they are loaded with potential treasures.

Each bit of life has value not only when you live it, but long afterward. Remind yourself to give every moment the respect, consideration, love, and care it deserves.

Right now there are new treasures you can bring into your life that will stay with you always. Imagine what they can be, and act to make them real.

— Ralph Marston

10/23/2024

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Minor inconvenience

Your troubles seem big and ugly whenever they arrive. But nearly every one ends up being a minor inconvenience in the context of your whole life.

Storms will rage around you and can sometimes destroy much of what you’ve built. Yet nothing outside you can take away the truth, goodness and integrity with which you live.

Consider what would happen if you declared your biggest problem today to be a minor inconvenience. Though you would not be trivializing it, you would gain great power over it, and over your own attitude.

Provide yourself with some reasonable perspective. And in place of feeling overwhelmed you suddenly feel empowered.

Life is often arbitrary and not particularly fair. Yet you can respond to its ups and downs with creativity, innovation, purpose and determination.

By so doing you regularly transform what would otherwise be major disruptions into minor inconveniences. Right now you likely have the opportunity to do that once again.

— Ralph Marston