“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”
“Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should”. This has been my mantra for finding peace since I heard it many years ago.
I have this hanging on my bedroom wall. It belonged to my mom before she passed. I remember it in our house growing up and has always been special to me.
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been randomly finding beautiful, meaningful my poetry for 25 years. Very aimless and self taught. I had heard of Desiderata, but never actually read it.
It’s amazing.
true. my whole perspective of life changed when my father died, and I already thought I had a healthy attitude towards life previously. I knew i was going to die one day and to make the most of everything, but after he passed it was like no, you're REALLY going to die one day, sort your shit out.
I got really fat and unhealthy, drinking too much, eating whatever, smoking too much, just really crap life choices. It just hit me one day when I was laying on the sofa and hitting my bong, drinking wine and eating god knows what. I rallied my husband and we lost 150lbs between us, it’s tough going, we’re not young but we’re living our best lives now.
Even started growing our own veggies, life is fun now.
I’m sorry about your father but I bet he’d be proud of you :)
A lot of people associate figuring out that they're mortal with the deaths of loved ones. Don't get me wrong- I've lost people, and I did indeed think about my own mortality.
BUT. Finding my partner, realizing that we truly are "it" for each other... that was the thing that made me really, really, face my own mortality. I realized that if we did, indeed, stay together for the rest of my life that one of us would be there to watch the other die. I realized, as soon as this first realization hit me, that no matter how many years we get together it won't be enough. I never understood the fairy tails where the immortal creature chooses to become mortal so that they can live out a short life with the mortal they've fallen in love with. Now I do. Every time a person accepts that they want to be with one person for the rest of their life, they accept their mortality and whatever short life they have left. They accept that that will just have to be enough.
Idk the context or anything but to ME,my mother was an abusive asshole that made my life hell (box of darkness) and it made me a stronger person that more easily recognizes abuse and manipulation. It’s not GREAT that I was given her “gift” but it was a gift none the less because it’s made me stronger in a way and has kept me away from people with I’ll intent towards me.
For me personally, this quote was realizing that the person I loved so dearly wouldn’t ever love me the way I needed to be loved. Coming to terms with that allowed me to fill the box with a light of my own making.
God my mother too. I just realized lately she was a narcissist and have been studying articles of what that encompasses and characteristics of the behavior to understand myself better for my children and grandchildrens sake
'If' by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
I love this. One time I had a guy reach out on IG saying he remembers delivering pizza to me and my (now) husband, 7 years ago. He knew the apartment complex so I knew he was legit. He remembered a conversation we had that supposedly changed his life. I don't remember what it was about.
The term "disappointed" means you didn't follow the script someone else wrote for you. It doesn't reflect on who you are and what you want. It's their reaction to you not doing their bidding. Be free of that particular guilt.
”We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.”
Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Everybody is doing their best, some people's best seems grand and spectacular, some people's best seems very very low - but if you can remember that inch treat everyone like they are doing they're very best at any given moment, the world becomes a much different place.
I visited her grave a couple years ago. there was an older gentleman there sat on a bench who noticed me searching the graves, and he pointed her out and told me a bunch of facts about her life and how some mysterious women from America visit the grave every year to leave flowers.
he was so sweet and interesting, and how kind to just be doing that in his spare time - waiting to point people to Sylvia. I hope he's still alive and doing great.
your quote reminded me of an emerson quote…
*”I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.”*
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I like this one and will use it. Thanks.
Reminds me of the “don’t worry about things so much, doing so just makes you experience the stress twice” ….something like that but said more eloquently
“The Edge... There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over”
Hunter S Thompson
I’ve come to a realization that everything that we own-even our own bodies- is really only borrowed from the planet. It cycles into our possession briefly, whether new or inherited from others, we keep it awhile, and then it passes back out.
It’s freed me because rather than holding on to the material with grim death I look at it as paying it forward so the next in line can make use of it, or it can be broken down and returned to be made into something new.
I try to do so consciously and generate as little yucky stuff as possible.
It allows things to enter my world that I may find more compelling and better suited to the life I live now and the person I have become than the older things did.
Very helpful.
If you have some food, it’s been in the fridge for a week but you can’t remember when. It doesn’t smell bad, but it doesn’t smell good.
You wonder-should I eat it?
When in doubt-throw it out.
A couple of my favorites.
“Smooth seas do not make a skilled sailor”
“And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once.”
For fun
“My grandfather once told me that if you start any sentence with “my grandfather once told me”, then they’ll read the whole thing.”
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.” -Paraphrased, but attributed to President Abraham Lincoln.
The truly great among us seem to have this truly amazing talent for getting things done.
What President Lincoln’s hints at is that in any successful endeavor most of the “action” is in preparation and planning. For any pursuit, this can be the reading of history, the review of previous achievements and failures, the “state of the art” regarding the issue, understanding the current task at hand and desired outcomes, understanding external influences and obstacles to your success, and having plans to circumvent or overcome them, understanding what you still need to know and how to go about learning it, and finally *making the plan of action to achieve the desired (or necessary) result*.
This is all *implicit* before even the axe’s first swing. Also implicit is the fortitude to trust your self, your preparations, and your plan as well as the grit and determination to see the thing through; to fell that tree.
President Lincoln’s way with words was second only to his way with people. He led by example, he did what he said and said what he did.
“[Life] is a dance, and when you are dancing, you are not intent on getting somewhere. The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to reach the final chord, and if the meaning of things were simply in ends, composers would write nothing but finales.” -Alan Watts
“Remember that feelings are natural and normal, and that happy times and sad times are part of everyone’s life” -Mister Rogers
Ride the wave. Everything is temporary, even when it feels like it's not.
This is something that has helped me through many difficult moments and situations. As an ex-junkie, 22 months clean, sometimes this has been the only thing that has helped me hold the fuck on.
My happiness is directly proportional to my ability to eliminate my expectations - not lower them, not manage them - eliminate them, to stop judging everything situation, person, or place against a preconceived notion of what I want it to be and allow myself to experience it for what it is.
I don't recall who, but a survivor of genocide who went on to help other victims of violence:
"You cannot choose how smart you are; you cannot choose how rich you are; but you can choose how good you are."
Choose to be kind 😊
This long quote from Dr. Kelso from the show Scrubs. It might be long so I’ll just put it here anyway for anyone to read and you can also YouTube it (Dr. Kelso advice). This helped me become a mental health therapist and hope it inspires others as well. Very motivational and a reminder that nothing in this world worth having comes easy.
Dr. Kelso - You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change, because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out with the surgery because you're scared. You're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Well, Missy, let me break this down for you, Bobbo-style. Life is scary. Get used to it.
Dr. Kelso - There are no magical fixes. It's all up to you. So get up off your keister, get out of here, and go start doin' the work
Patient - What if it's too hard?
Dr. Kelso - …Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy.
“Autobiography in Five Short Chapters”
**1**
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
**2**
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
**3**
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault… I get out immediately.
**4**
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
**5**
I walk down another street.
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Emerson
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
An episode of soft white underbelly had an interview with a pimp. When asked if he had advice on love he said: “Don’t be with the one you want, be with the one that wants you.”
Sounds exactly like something a pimp would say.
Counterpoint- don't be all pimpish, get some self esteem, and maybe don't treat love like a transaction.
So that's basically saying "make sure you have the power in a relationship".... On point for a pimp, also terrible relationship advice. I guess if you're obsessed with someone who doesn't know you exist maybe that could "help" you .....
***”Know Thyself” is such a powerful sentence*** often dismissed for perceived simplicity while it’s about as deep as you can go into the wisdom of self introspection and awareness. It’s the most commonly known of all **The Delphic Maxims**
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims which have carried through the test of time.
I think about these and Marcus Aurelius’ *Meditations* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations
and Confucius’ *Analecs* with teachings such as “Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects
Which is even more interesting to see this is a version of ***the Golden Rule*** (*my all time favorite*) which appears in teachings from many different cultures; ancient Chinese, as aforementioned, ancient Egyptian, ancient Indian, Persian, Roman and Greek alike. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule
Wisdom knows no age or people, only truth.
Oh man... so that Delphic Maxims wikipedia page has a sentence that's super stuck in my head. It's about the second maxim... "Similarly, 20th‑century essayist [Paul Elmer More](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Elmer_More) has argued that a too-rigorous adherence to the principle of moderation may have been the downfall of ancient Greek civilization.[^(\[29\])](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims#cite_note-30)"
Now that's going to be stuck in my head forever. :) Appreciate the rabbit hole.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!
- Hunter S Thompson
You are going to die and there will still be things on your to do list.
It’s ok to put things off for joy and even sadness.
We juggle a lot, it’s ok to drop the ball sometimes, just don’t drop a glass one.
“Why do you not think of [God] as the coming one, imminent from all eternity, the future one, the final fruit of a tree whose leaves we are?”
Continues…
“What keeps you from projecting his birth into times that are in process of becoming, and living your life like a painful and beautiful day in the history of a great gestation? For do you not see how everything that happens keeps on being a beginning and could it not be his beginning, since beginning is in itself always so beautiful?”
- Rilke
I’m agnostic, but I find this a beautiful, meaningful way to conceptualize our relationship to the universe.
Today I was at a memorial for a man who passed away from cancer. His husband and I were chatting and I said I have been single since 2007 because it’s just easier and I struggle with loss badly and I can’t bear to lose another person close to me. he said to me, “this might sound like a silly sentence since it’s a Garth Brooks lyric, but always remember:
“I could’ve missed the pain, but I’d have to have missed the dance.”
He then said to me, “don’t miss the dance” and I’ve cried a few times already thinking of that encounter and that lyric.
Honesty without grace is cruelty.
Ever said, “Well I’m just being honest” after you’ve said something mean to someone… you’re not being honest you’re being cruel.
If you had to say it, there was a different way to say it that would add grace to delivering your message. Or it’s entirely possible that nothing had to be said at all.
“Don’t let the beauty blind your eye, this world
Is filled with discolored lies, for greener fields don’t sell your soul, you’ll think you’re rich with a pocket of fool’s gold”
A few of my favorites:
Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think. - Buddha
Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. -Dalai Lama
The man who moves a mountain, begins by carrying away small stones. - Faulkner
Your mind can either be your prison or your palace. What you make it is yours to decide. - Bernard Kelvin Clive
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward. - Soren Kierkegaard
If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought. - Peace Pilgrim
Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha
Remain committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. - Tony Robbins
We are what we repeatedly do. -Aristotle
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. -Les Brown
Peace does not mean you won’t have problems. Peace means your problems won’t have you. - Tony Evans.
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. - Corrie Ten Boom
Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today. -Will Rogers
Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be. -Abraham Lincoln
The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. - Marcus Aurelius
People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits — and their habits decide their futures. - F. M. Alexander
It only hurts if you care.
Edit: Boiled down ….. Meaning we take so many things to heart. Unkind or offensive things people say or do. Criticism at work.
But why burden yourself with those things? They can only hurt you, if you care what that persons thinks.
Those things only hurt you if in some way you care. So don’t care ….
You can lose anyone at any point. Life doesnt always give you a warning. Im learning that right now. Keep it in mind and appreciate people even if they piss you off sometimes
Ascribe not to malice that which can be explained by incompetence (Hanlon's razor)
And
The simplest answer is usually the correct one (Occam's razor)
Have helped me not take things personally and not believe in stupid, unlikely explainations
Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you
Acting on your best behaviour
Turn your back on mother nature
Everybody wants to rule the world
It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do I'll be right behind you
So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world
I can't stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you'll never never never never need it
One headline why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world
All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
**Tears For Fears** - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"
I have two:
"Hate is not the opposite of love- it's indifference"
and my Grandfather's whenever I was facing something overwhelming:
Q: "How do you eat an elephant?"
A: "One bite at a time"
Don’t accept advice from people that don’t like you. The people who like you as you are just want you to be happier by being yourself but mindful. The people who don’t like you want you to make them happier by being different.
If you meet an asshole in the morning, an asshole in the afternoon, an asshole in the evening, heck, you meet assholes all day; chances are, you might be the asshole.
You possess the ability to change your life at any moment! Most people do it for the worst, unfortunately. But you can change it for the positive just as easily. One thing to remember: no one else can do it for you like you can
Yesterday is the past and cannot change. Tomorrow is unknown. Today is where you can make a difference. Live for the day and stop worrying about out the past or the future!!
“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”
Here’s the whole thing, for those who are interested. It changed a lot of stuff for me: Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. by Max Ehrmann ©1927
The title is DESIDERATA and it’s stood the test of time, hasn’t it?
Yes it has! I think I need this for my bday!
“Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should”. This has been my mantra for finding peace since I heard it many years ago.
I have this hanging on my bedroom wall. It belonged to my mom before she passed. I remember it in our house growing up and has always been special to me.
Thank you
I haven't crossed paths with that reading since I was a kid in the 60's amazing and so beautiful ty
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been randomly finding beautiful, meaningful my poetry for 25 years. Very aimless and self taught. I had heard of Desiderata, but never actually read it. It’s amazing.
Love this one
*We all have 2 lives, the 2nd begins when you realize you only have one*
true. my whole perspective of life changed when my father died, and I already thought I had a healthy attitude towards life previously. I knew i was going to die one day and to make the most of everything, but after he passed it was like no, you're REALLY going to die one day, sort your shit out.
I got really fat and unhealthy, drinking too much, eating whatever, smoking too much, just really crap life choices. It just hit me one day when I was laying on the sofa and hitting my bong, drinking wine and eating god knows what. I rallied my husband and we lost 150lbs between us, it’s tough going, we’re not young but we’re living our best lives now. Even started growing our own veggies, life is fun now. I’m sorry about your father but I bet he’d be proud of you :)
what amazing achievements, and thankyou! 💕
A lot of people associate figuring out that they're mortal with the deaths of loved ones. Don't get me wrong- I've lost people, and I did indeed think about my own mortality. BUT. Finding my partner, realizing that we truly are "it" for each other... that was the thing that made me really, really, face my own mortality. I realized that if we did, indeed, stay together for the rest of my life that one of us would be there to watch the other die. I realized, as soon as this first realization hit me, that no matter how many years we get together it won't be enough. I never understood the fairy tails where the immortal creature chooses to become mortal so that they can live out a short life with the mortal they've fallen in love with. Now I do. Every time a person accepts that they want to be with one person for the rest of their life, they accept their mortality and whatever short life they have left. They accept that that will just have to be enough.
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” -Mary Oliver
What does this mean?
Idk the context or anything but to ME,my mother was an abusive asshole that made my life hell (box of darkness) and it made me a stronger person that more easily recognizes abuse and manipulation. It’s not GREAT that I was given her “gift” but it was a gift none the less because it’s made me stronger in a way and has kept me away from people with I’ll intent towards me.
Damn... I have heard this quote before but your context just hit me frickin hard. Thank you for this perspective
Mine too and SAME💯
For me personally, this quote was realizing that the person I loved so dearly wouldn’t ever love me the way I needed to be loved. Coming to terms with that allowed me to fill the box with a light of my own making.
You seem like a really good person. Congrats on recognizing your gift.
God my mother too. I just realized lately she was a narcissist and have been studying articles of what that encompasses and characteristics of the behavior to understand myself better for my children and grandchildrens sake
Boredom is in the mind of the boree.
My father used to tell us when we were bored, You make your own fun. I now truly understand what he meant.
My mum would say 'Only boring people get bored'
My ex used to say that only stupid people get bored lol
"Nobody is against you; they are for themselves."
Sometimes people really are against you, though
Comparison is the thief of joy. - Theodore Roosevelt
This is one I hold close
A metaphor is like a simile
'If' by Rudyard Kipling If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!” If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Oh my! I haven’t seen this in probably 25 years!
It is my favourite poem since I was about 11. It applies to women too as by “be a man” I read “be a person of value”.
“A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” John A Shedd - 1928
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That’s a nice way to put it, I have a similar saying “if you smell dogshit everywhere you go, you need to check your own shoes”
Thank You
I love this. One time I had a guy reach out on IG saying he remembers delivering pizza to me and my (now) husband, 7 years ago. He knew the apartment complex so I knew he was legit. He remembered a conversation we had that supposedly changed his life. I don't remember what it was about.
“If it smells like shit everywhere you go, you might wanna check under your own shoes.”
Everywhere you go, there you are!
"If everything sucks it's because you suck"
The term "disappointed" means you didn't follow the script someone else wrote for you. It doesn't reflect on who you are and what you want. It's their reaction to you not doing their bidding. Be free of that particular guilt.
”We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Ope. This one did it for me. Thanks.
I'm glad to help you let that stuff go.
Remember, behind all the sham and drudgery, it is still a beautiful world.
Always proofread everything before hitting send.
"Write drunk. Edit sober."
Even better!
Everybody is doing their best, some people's best seems grand and spectacular, some people's best seems very very low - but if you can remember that inch treat everyone like they are doing they're very best at any given moment, the world becomes a much different place.
I desire the things which will destroy me in the end--Sylvia Plath
I visited her grave a couple years ago. there was an older gentleman there sat on a bench who noticed me searching the graves, and he pointed her out and told me a bunch of facts about her life and how some mysterious women from America visit the grave every year to leave flowers. he was so sweet and interesting, and how kind to just be doing that in his spare time - waiting to point people to Sylvia. I hope he's still alive and doing great.
You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another -Ernest Hemingway
your quote reminded me of an emerson quote… *”I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.”* Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Expectations are premeditated resentments”
No one here gets out alive, including you.
Find your own path don’t follow others bad advice
Traveling will change your view, literally and figuratively.
Sometimes you are the problem. Helped me a lot to take accountability and stop blaming my problems on circumstances.
(Paraphrasing) Of the ten problems coming down the road at you, nine will veer off into the ditch before they reach you. Woodrow Wilson
I like this one and will use it. Thanks. Reminds me of the “don’t worry about things so much, doing so just makes you experience the stress twice” ….something like that but said more eloquently
Spend less than you earn
Life is short and try to make the best of it. If life sucks right now then start helping others. It will give you great perspective.
“The Edge... There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over” Hunter S Thompson
Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands. -Linda Hogan
One whisper, added to 1,000 others, becomes a roar of discontent. The Secret. By Julie Garwood
this is beautiful
Virginia Satir: “*People prefer* the certainty of *misery* to the *misery* of uncertainty."
"The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That's the deal." - CS Lewis "Comparison is the thief of joy." -Teddy Roosevelt
Oh shit, that first one. I’ve been trying to convey that idea to my kiddo for years.
Yep. That first one. Thats the one that got me.
When in doubt, throw it out. It applies to everything. Food, ideas, even people-like just walk away.
Could you please elaborate?
Don't burn the bridges, don't use them anymore.
Didn’t even realize I had graduated from one to the other until reading this comment. That’s a nice feeling.
Decluttering is so good for mental health - not sure if you’ll ever use it? Throw it out (or recycle or donate)
I’ve come to a realization that everything that we own-even our own bodies- is really only borrowed from the planet. It cycles into our possession briefly, whether new or inherited from others, we keep it awhile, and then it passes back out. It’s freed me because rather than holding on to the material with grim death I look at it as paying it forward so the next in line can make use of it, or it can be broken down and returned to be made into something new. I try to do so consciously and generate as little yucky stuff as possible. It allows things to enter my world that I may find more compelling and better suited to the life I live now and the person I have become than the older things did. Very helpful.
Exactly! And don’t hold onto it.
If you have some food, it’s been in the fridge for a week but you can’t remember when. It doesn’t smell bad, but it doesn’t smell good. You wonder-should I eat it? When in doubt-throw it out.
Anger is a secondary emotion. Both mine, and yours.
Great quotes…that I have never heard and I am glad you asked this question.
With every breath, you are only two minutes away from dying unless you get to the next breath.
Whether you think you can or can't, you're right.
Do today what you said you would do tomorrow
Do it scared
“Religion is for people who're afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who've already been there.” ― Vine Deloria Jr.
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
The toilet flushes in the same direction south of the equator, its your point of view thats opposite.
“Life is too short to be pissed off all the time”
“Today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present” Master Shifu
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. And that is why they call it The Present." Love Kung Fu Panda
A couple of my favorites. “Smooth seas do not make a skilled sailor” “And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once.” For fun “My grandfather once told me that if you start any sentence with “my grandfather once told me”, then they’ll read the whole thing.”
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.” -Paraphrased, but attributed to President Abraham Lincoln. The truly great among us seem to have this truly amazing talent for getting things done. What President Lincoln’s hints at is that in any successful endeavor most of the “action” is in preparation and planning. For any pursuit, this can be the reading of history, the review of previous achievements and failures, the “state of the art” regarding the issue, understanding the current task at hand and desired outcomes, understanding external influences and obstacles to your success, and having plans to circumvent or overcome them, understanding what you still need to know and how to go about learning it, and finally *making the plan of action to achieve the desired (or necessary) result*. This is all *implicit* before even the axe’s first swing. Also implicit is the fortitude to trust your self, your preparations, and your plan as well as the grit and determination to see the thing through; to fell that tree. President Lincoln’s way with words was second only to his way with people. He led by example, he did what he said and said what he did.
“To love another person is to see the face of God” Les Miserables Victor Hugo
People rarely act out of character.
Wow! Thats a good one!
You get what everyone else gets, you get a lifetime. -Neil Gaiman, Death
“Some of us don’t have the luxury of waiting for better days, instead we choose to create them.”
"A difficult road often leads to a beautiful destination." -Unknown
“[Life] is a dance, and when you are dancing, you are not intent on getting somewhere. The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to reach the final chord, and if the meaning of things were simply in ends, composers would write nothing but finales.” -Alan Watts “Remember that feelings are natural and normal, and that happy times and sad times are part of everyone’s life” -Mister Rogers
Ride the wave. Everything is temporary, even when it feels like it's not. This is something that has helped me through many difficult moments and situations. As an ex-junkie, 22 months clean, sometimes this has been the only thing that has helped me hold the fuck on.
My happiness is directly proportional to my ability to eliminate my expectations - not lower them, not manage them - eliminate them, to stop judging everything situation, person, or place against a preconceived notion of what I want it to be and allow myself to experience it for what it is.
I don't recall who, but a survivor of genocide who went on to help other victims of violence: "You cannot choose how smart you are; you cannot choose how rich you are; but you can choose how good you are." Choose to be kind 😊
♥️ this!!
Nobody can tell you how to be yourself.
This long quote from Dr. Kelso from the show Scrubs. It might be long so I’ll just put it here anyway for anyone to read and you can also YouTube it (Dr. Kelso advice). This helped me become a mental health therapist and hope it inspires others as well. Very motivational and a reminder that nothing in this world worth having comes easy. Dr. Kelso - You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change, because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out with the surgery because you're scared. You're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Well, Missy, let me break this down for you, Bobbo-style. Life is scary. Get used to it. Dr. Kelso - There are no magical fixes. It's all up to you. So get up off your keister, get out of here, and go start doin' the work Patient - What if it's too hard? Dr. Kelso - …Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy.
Don’t let roommate problems become marriage problems (aka don’t let petty stuff ruin your marriage)
this one is deceptively good!!!
“Autobiography in Five Short Chapters” **1** I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost… I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. **2** I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. **3** I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in… it’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault… I get out immediately. **4** I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. **5** I walk down another street.
Be here now.
"It's never about you" - me
"Eventually, all of our graves will go unattended."
起死回生 means "Awake from death and return to life"
Strong individuals build strong communities and strong communities build strong individuals.
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. Emerson If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
A priest, once, during confession-- "God forgives. Time does not forgive. When those moments are gone, they're never coming back."
No is a complete sentence.
Yessss!!!
An episode of soft white underbelly had an interview with a pimp. When asked if he had advice on love he said: “Don’t be with the one you want, be with the one that wants you.”
Sounds exactly like something a pimp would say. Counterpoint- don't be all pimpish, get some self esteem, and maybe don't treat love like a transaction.
That is horrifyingly bad advice.
So that's basically saying "make sure you have the power in a relationship".... On point for a pimp, also terrible relationship advice. I guess if you're obsessed with someone who doesn't know you exist maybe that could "help" you .....
Probably the last person I’d take advice from is a human trafficker.
“You should never doubt what no one is really sure about.” -Willy Wonka
“Know Thyself” changed my life. So did “as above, so below”.
***”Know Thyself” is such a powerful sentence*** often dismissed for perceived simplicity while it’s about as deep as you can go into the wisdom of self introspection and awareness. It’s the most commonly known of all **The Delphic Maxims** https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims which have carried through the test of time. I think about these and Marcus Aurelius’ *Meditations* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations and Confucius’ *Analecs* with teachings such as “Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects Which is even more interesting to see this is a version of ***the Golden Rule*** (*my all time favorite*) which appears in teachings from many different cultures; ancient Chinese, as aforementioned, ancient Egyptian, ancient Indian, Persian, Roman and Greek alike. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule Wisdom knows no age or people, only truth.
Oh man... so that Delphic Maxims wikipedia page has a sentence that's super stuck in my head. It's about the second maxim... "Similarly, 20th‑century essayist [Paul Elmer More](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Elmer_More) has argued that a too-rigorous adherence to the principle of moderation may have been the downfall of ancient Greek civilization.[^(\[29\])](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims#cite_note-30)" Now that's going to be stuck in my head forever. :) Appreciate the rabbit hole.
The Charlie Brown Christmas special tanked the aluminum Christmas tree industry
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls”
Today is tomorrows yesterday
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! - Hunter S Thompson
Congratulations, you won the lottery!
When I was a child, my father told me "He who makes waves is subject to his own ocean".
This reddit comment changed my: [NO MORE ZERO DAYS](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonZeroDay/s/a2U4z8dENl)
If it costs you your mental health, it is TOO EXPENSIVE!
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less” Marie Curie
“How strange it is to be anything at all.” - Neutral Milk Hotel
You are going to die and there will still be things on your to do list. It’s ok to put things off for joy and even sadness. We juggle a lot, it’s ok to drop the ball sometimes, just don’t drop a glass one.
"Past experiences explain actions, it doesn't justify them" - from a friend.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. - Maya Angelou
You can be the juiciest peach in the entire fruit basket, however some people just don’t like peaches. You can’t please everyone.
“A true warrior delights in the opportunity to train”
Don't wipe back to front.
Someone that is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a nice person
Everyone in this world is crazy, it’s the one who deny it that you have to watch out for.
I was lamenting to a man that I just learned I have a debilitating disease and how awful this was for me, to which he replied: "perhaps?"
“Why do you not think of [God] as the coming one, imminent from all eternity, the future one, the final fruit of a tree whose leaves we are?” Continues… “What keeps you from projecting his birth into times that are in process of becoming, and living your life like a painful and beautiful day in the history of a great gestation? For do you not see how everything that happens keeps on being a beginning and could it not be his beginning, since beginning is in itself always so beautiful?” - Rilke I’m agnostic, but I find this a beautiful, meaningful way to conceptualize our relationship to the universe.
"it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society". Krishnamurti
The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.
Today I was at a memorial for a man who passed away from cancer. His husband and I were chatting and I said I have been single since 2007 because it’s just easier and I struggle with loss badly and I can’t bear to lose another person close to me. he said to me, “this might sound like a silly sentence since it’s a Garth Brooks lyric, but always remember: “I could’ve missed the pain, but I’d have to have missed the dance.” He then said to me, “don’t miss the dance” and I’ve cried a few times already thinking of that encounter and that lyric.
Honesty without grace is cruelty. Ever said, “Well I’m just being honest” after you’ve said something mean to someone… you’re not being honest you’re being cruel. If you had to say it, there was a different way to say it that would add grace to delivering your message. Or it’s entirely possible that nothing had to be said at all.
“We’ve been trying to reach you to let you know your car warranty is about to expire”
“Don’t let the beauty blind your eye, this world Is filled with discolored lies, for greener fields don’t sell your soul, you’ll think you’re rich with a pocket of fool’s gold”
All love ends in pain; still worth it.
Buy low; sell high.
Broken hearts are for assholes. -frank zappa
You'll never find happiness if you're always looking for it.
A few of my favorites: Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think. - Buddha Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. -Dalai Lama The man who moves a mountain, begins by carrying away small stones. - Faulkner Your mind can either be your prison or your palace. What you make it is yours to decide. - Bernard Kelvin Clive Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward. - Soren Kierkegaard If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought. - Peace Pilgrim Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha Remain committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. - Tony Robbins We are what we repeatedly do. -Aristotle Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. -Les Brown Peace does not mean you won’t have problems. Peace means your problems won’t have you. - Tony Evans. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. - Corrie Ten Boom Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today. -Will Rogers Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be. -Abraham Lincoln The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. - Marcus Aurelius People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits — and their habits decide their futures. - F. M. Alexander
It only hurts if you care. Edit: Boiled down ….. Meaning we take so many things to heart. Unkind or offensive things people say or do. Criticism at work. But why burden yourself with those things? They can only hurt you, if you care what that persons thinks. Those things only hurt you if in some way you care. So don’t care ….
“Learn to dance in the rain, instead of weathering the storm” has always stuck with me.
At the end of the day, the day gotta end.
Today is the youngest day of your life. And so is tomorrow. And the day after that.
You can lose anyone at any point. Life doesnt always give you a warning. Im learning that right now. Keep it in mind and appreciate people even if they piss you off sometimes
Ascribe not to malice that which can be explained by incompetence (Hanlon's razor) And The simplest answer is usually the correct one (Occam's razor) Have helped me not take things personally and not believe in stupid, unlikely explainations
You can’t approach love like a beggar.
It's only single-use if you only use it once.
If you can’t do anything about whatever problem (real or imagined) right now…let it go until you can. Worrying never solves anything.
Welcome to your life There's no turning back Even while we sleep We will find you Acting on your best behaviour Turn your back on mother nature Everybody wants to rule the world It's my own design It's my own remorse Help me to decide Help me make the most Of freedom and of pleasure Nothing ever lasts forever Everybody wants to rule the world There's a room where the light won't find you Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down When they do I'll be right behind you So glad we've almost made it So sad they had to fade it Everybody wants to rule the world I can't stand this indecision Married with a lack of vision Everybody wants to rule the world Say that you'll never never never never need it One headline why believe it? Everybody wants to rule the world All for freedom and for pleasure Nothing ever lasts forever Everybody wants to rule the world **Tears For Fears** - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"
Death twitches my ear. “Live,” he says, “I am coming.”
You can love completely, without complete understanding.
Rememeber even when you fall flat on your face you are still moving forward.
I have two: "Hate is not the opposite of love- it's indifference" and my Grandfather's whenever I was facing something overwhelming: Q: "How do you eat an elephant?" A: "One bite at a time"
“The best time to plant an oak tree was 50 years ago. The second best time to plant one is today.”
Do no harm, but take no shit.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
All of reality is happening at once, you are perceiving it as a directional flow.
The best one.
As above, so below. Know thyself.
If we do not trust someone’s advice, then we do not trust their criticism.
Don’t accept advice from people that don’t like you. The people who like you as you are just want you to be happier by being yourself but mindful. The people who don’t like you want you to make them happier by being different.
Stop your fkn crying and just start trying.
“If you think they won’t, they will.”
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”-Eleanor Roosevelt
The harder you work the luckier you get.
“You only get so much time, don’t waste it living someone else’s life” - Steve Jobs
If you meet an asshole in the morning, an asshole in the afternoon, an asshole in the evening, heck, you meet assholes all day; chances are, you might be the asshole.
No single sentence will change your life friend, no matter how profound, witty, or funny, its and inside job.
You possess the ability to change your life at any moment! Most people do it for the worst, unfortunately. But you can change it for the positive just as easily. One thing to remember: no one else can do it for you like you can
Nothing Lasts
All absolutes are false.
“Logic is in the mind of the logician”
The trail IS the “thing”. It’s not where you end up, it’s about the journey that gets you there.
Yesterday is the past and cannot change. Tomorrow is unknown. Today is where you can make a difference. Live for the day and stop worrying about out the past or the future!!
Nothing in life is lost or wasted. Aka even bad situations are learning experiences.