When you give more than you expect to receive, you'll end up receiving more than you ever expected. That which you give, comes back to you many times over, while that which you withhold never goes anywhere or accomplishes anything.

Nothing makes you feel more positive about yourself than giving of yourself to others. And when you truly, sincerely feel positive about yourself, you can achieve magnificent things.

If all you're ever concerned with is what's in it for you, there will never be very much in it for you. Yet when you expand your focus and give the best you have, in return you'll experience the best there is.

If you wait to receive something first before you ever begin to give, you'll miss out on ninety percent of life's best opportunities. Unfortunately, that's an approach that all too many people adopt.

But there's no need to be held back by the shortsightedness of others. Take the first step, give of yourself, with enthusiasm, with positive energy, and with the best of expectations. Keep it up, and you'll find that those expectations, high as they may be, will always, in time, be greatly exceeded by the positive and valuable difference you make.

You can do more than just think about what you would like to achieve. You can take the focused, persistent actions that will make those achievements happen.

You can do more than just wish for a better life. You can decide precisely what would define a better life for you and then work your way steadily toward it.

You can do more than just wait for your problems to go away. You can have the courage to look straight into those problems, and find a way to transform them into opportunities.

You can do so much more than simply waiting and hoping, wishing and wondering. You can gather whatever resources you may have, combine them with your time, your energy, your commitment, and make things happen.

Ever since you were a child, you have been making things happen. It's an ability that everyone has, yet far too many people make too little use of it.

If you just wait for life to happen to you, you're probably not going to be very pleased with what comes your way. So get up, get going, take control of the great and wonderful possibilities that are indeed yours, and make the most of every moment.

Marilyn L. Ali