QUOTATIONS that Motivate & Inspire Me

First, before I delve into the subject of quotations, let me say that I am so grateful. I realized this afternoon that I have 905 followers. That is a huge increase from the last time I wrote. I am bamboozled, pleased, and so thankful. To show my appreciation, I will endeavour to write more consistently. Thank you and please drop a line, share your thoughts.   

Today would have been my mother’s 99th birthday. She was my biggest fan and my inspiration. I miss you Mom.

Evelyn King Robertson, August 27, 1918 – February 13, 2007.

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QUOTATIONS

That Motivate & Inspire Me

I am a compulsive quote recorder. Words spoken in a documentary, movie, book or anywhere, suddenly stop me in my tracks & a little light flickers in my consciousness & I have to pause and jot them down. Some inspire. Some justify a belief system I have developed over the decades of my life. Some simply make me feel good. Whatever the feeling they evoke, I now record them in my Mac ‘Notes’, but in the previous millennium, I filled notebooks with other peoples’ ruminations.

“Choose to be happy. ” That bit of advice was groundbreaking for me in the 1970’s. The thought that happiness is a choice was mind blowing to me! This altered my way of dealing with the bad bits. Everyone’s life is filled with every possible emotion – with sadness, tragedy, success, failure, but it is how we choose to live our lives, despite any and all of those, that defines us.

I think most everyone wrestles with thoughts on religion, spirituality, the meaning of life. I know I have gone through massive and meaningful changes in my belief systems over the years, resulting in an about turn from the religious teachings of my youth. I have not thrown out the proverbial baby with the bath water, in that I still believe in love, the golden rule and so on, however, my views on many issues, including afterlife, have altered dramatically. (Many of my posts touch on this subject, but specifically see, “An Oak Tree and I”)

Following are some quotes I have recorded. They make me think, make me laugh, inspire, encourage, illuminate:

“Who sets my course,
Determines my values, my right, my wrong,
Gives me strength, or succumbs to weakness,
Judges me,
… the Person in the Mirror”

– unknown

“If we are all alone, we are all together in that too. Realizing that helps me sometimes.”
– Kathy Bates’ character in the movie, ‘P.S. I Love You’

“Don’t Believe everything you think.”
– Jan Arden

“Above all, do not loose your desire to walk. I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
– Kierkegaard

“I have decided on a destination; the path is but a detail. I have begun my walk.”
– Richard Paul Evans, ‘The Walk’  – Alan Christofferson’s Diary

“She’s not really gone. She’s still a part of you. What part of you is your choice. She can be a spring of gratitude and joy, or she can be a fountain of bitterness and pain. It is entirely up to you.”
– Richard Paul Evans, ‘TheWalk’

“Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There’s a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in.”
– Leonard Cohen

“I’m FINE:
Fucked-up,
Insecure,
Neurotic,
Egotistical”
– Louise Penny, ‘Dead Cold’

Buddhist Quotes

“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

ZEN-BUDDHISM – a wee primer ….

. ‘Buddha’ is a title, ‘one who is awake’ — in the sense of having ‘woken up to reality’.
. Buddha has great compassion which is completely impartial, embracing all living beings without discrimination.
. Buddha developed a practice and way of life that he called “The Middle Way,” a path of moderation – away from the extremes in every aspect of life. By “middle”, Buddha essentially meant that we need to embrace both spiritualism as well as materialism, just like the front and back sides of a sheet of paper. . Zen embraces the two opposites and integrates the two to bring about a condition which can help an individual reach the highest dimension, mushotoku.

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Re-Blog: LETTER TO MY 20 YEAR OLD SELF by Garance Dore . Exquisite, Intuitive, Inspirational Diary .

LETTER TO MY 20 YEAR OLD SELF

by GARANCE DORE

Garance Dore’s beautiful, insightful, inspiring “Letter to My 20 Year Old Self” -inspiration for all ages

“ One day, my dear, you’ll be 40.

It will happen on May 1st in the year 2015 — a date so far away, it almost seems unreal to you, right?
On that day, you’ll remember how your mother told you that when she turned forty, she sat down on her bed and cried. For hours. Cried, not out of sadness, but out of intensity.

As for you, you will have seen your forties coming for a long time. You, the forever teenager, solidly rooted in reality, but a total vagabond at the same time, never really staying in one place, never really satisfied, and eternally curious, you will have taken turning 38 as a shock. That was when you finally realized what was happening to you.

Life, your life was here! Not in the future like you’d always imagined it, preparing yourself for “later”. But right here. In the present. Everything you do today, every minute, that’s your life.
That kiss you give, that place where you live, that work you do, that’s your life.

Readjusting to the present is something that will have happened to you kind of late, but it will finish the work of liberating you from your fears. After that, for you, turning 40 will be a gift.

First of all, my dear, because you’re alive.
It sounds silly said like that, right? When you’re 20 you never really think about it, and that’s a good thing. But, by the time you’re 40, you’ll have lived a life. You’ll have seen the world lose wonderful people much too soon. And you will think of aging as a serious privilege.

You’ll see, being 40 will be cool…

For one thing, when you say how old you are, people will stare at you in disbelief and say: “But you don’t look 40 at all!!!” and you won’t be able to keep from blushing – you’ll still be just as sensitive to flattery at 40, in case you’re wondering, but you’ll answer with a big smile, because you really believe it when you say:
“No, it’s not that I don’t look 40, it’s just that this is what it looks like to be 40 now!”

When you’re 40, you’ll still be coming up with theories about life. You might as well accept that right away, because it’s not going to stop. You’ll have a few completely dumb theories, but I really like the one you’ll have about aging physically.
You won’t think of it as a kind of defeat, but rather as a chance to really learn to take care of yourself.

Today, you’re 20, and your body can take all those excesses with no problem at all (Don’t try to look innocent, the truth is you won’t have changed very much when you’re 40, in terms of excess. Well, you will, but not really, I mean – you’ll see, let’s keep a little bit of the mystery, right?) but when you’re 40, you’ll immediately be able to see and feel what’s good for you.

Is it because you’ll know yourself better or because your body will be more sensitive?
Probably a little bit of both. Use it as a guide for staying well.

When you’re 40, you’ll have friends of all ages, and they’ll add just as much to your life as you will to theirs. You’ll often wonder how your 20-year-old friends can be so mature, since it took you 40 years to get there, but you will have beautiful, balanced friendships with them. You’ll help each other, you’ll give each other advice, and you’ll laugh like crazy.

A good girl is a good girl. Whether she’s 5 years old or 95, you want to have her in your life.
You’ll have lots of good girls around you.

When you’re 40, you’ll be someone that people listen to. Weird, right? You’ll be perfectly certain that that’s the real treasure of your life. People will read what you write. A lot of women, like sisters, or best friends, will give you the opportunity to be heard. And they’ll respond. They’ll be incredibly generous, and sometimes hard on you. Deep down, they’ll be like you.

It’s pretty funny – there will be a few people in your life that see you as a mentor. I know, it seems ridiculous, since right now you can’t even find your way to class C, and you wonder why you ever enrolled in this stupid university, but one day, people will seek out your advice. And you will be really happy to give it – you’ll try to be for others what some people, either by accident or intentionally, have been for you in your life.

And you’ll know that it’s important to say that you’re 40 and that you want to celebrate your age, and that you’re proud of it, and that age definitely isn’t something we should hide, especially not as women.
In 2015,I know it’s hard to believe for you, but we’ll still have a long way to go. One of the rights we’ll need to reclaim is the right to age peacefully.

My dear 20-year-old self, I know you so well, so here’s the most important thing I want to say to you. What I want is to send you a little perspective.
No, seriously. Stop freaking out.

The truth is, everything you’re afraid of is going to happen to you.
You’ll be poor. You’ll get dumped. You’ll lose someone you love. You’ll be ridiculous. You’ll make mistakes. Oh yes, you’ll make mistakes. You’ll make so many mistakes!!! Sometimes you’ll feel completely lost.

But whatever happens, you’ll always have yourself.

Your sense of humor, your crazy theories, your love for life, your curiosity about others. Your ever-changing vision of the world — all of these things will stay intact.

And you’ll realize that right when you think you’re going to fall into pieces and crash on the floor, that there will be loving arms there to catch you, and whether that support comes from close friends or strangers, they will be there. Learn to recognize it, and give yourself over to those loving arms.
Learn to let go and give yourself over to loving arms. Learn to see the magic of existence.

Learn to follow all those invisible threads that you’ll weave together just by being yourself, always progressing toward more light, more acceptance, and more truth.

You also need to know that you will be loved, and you will be successful. And all those difficult moments that came before will protect you from being afraid. Stop worrying. You’re going to see the world, and meet people, and learn to love them. You’ll learn tenderness. Toward others, and toward yourself.
You won’t be so afraid anymore. Don’t be so afraid, sweetheart.

And don’t worry, you who loves nothing more than having a good time. You’ll have just as much fun at 40 as you did at 20, maybe even more. Life won’t become this gray, serious, full of responsibilities thing you imagine.

Life won’t be at all like you imagined, so stop guessing and go experience.

The more you’ll go, the more your life will take on richer, more vibrant, deeper colors. You won’t regret all the silly things you’ve done, not even for a second. You’ll always be here, the same person, with the same hunger, the same thirst, the same dreams of new adventures. And there will never be a second to waste on feeling sorry for yourself. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you’re annoying.

Work on becoming a good person, and hope that one day, if you have the privilege to get very old and wrinkled, you’ll be able to look back and feel that you brought a little light into the lives of the people around you.

Put this letter down, grab your keys, and get out there and discover the world.
Everything will be fine, sweetheart. It will all be okay.

On the day you turn 40, maybe you will sit down on your bed and cry too. But I have a feeling they’ll be tears of joy, gratitude, and an immense love for life.“

Translated by Andrea Perdue

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Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass …💛 . A Re-Blog .

A re-blog from Red Carpet Nursing

We all tend to accept the easy route most days. Here are some wise thoughts to waken your emotions and brain cells as you enjoy your morning coffee or tea …

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.. It’s about learning to dance in the rain💛...

This quote sounds nice, and it bugs rather more every time I see it, which of course is rather often these days. It irritates and, frankly, offends me.

When we let others box us into such either-or decisions like this one, we ignore and surrender a multitude of other possibilities. Why would anyone want to surrender almost every option available like that, abandon imagination and intelligent thought, simply because someone dares restrict them to just two paltry choices?

I find lots of nice, useful things to do when it’s raining, inside or outside. Whoever came up with this romantic-sounding pap offers both awful practical advice and a metaphor for intellectual sloth, passively letting others grant you your narrow slice of options. Fake freedom, in fact. You can idle in the cage we offer or you can sing instead: isn’t it wonderful, they imply, that you can choose to sing?

Why on earth would anyone feel a need to settle for a choice between standing around idle or dancing wet? What makes such a choice any sort of inspirational lesson on life? Life is about seeing, interpreting, imagining, adapting, learning, creating, growing, building. It’s about freedom, not subservience. It’s about refusing to settle so easily as others suggest. It’s about paying attention to meaning and consequences – why THESE choices? Why not others? – not just heedlessly letting pretty words wash over.

This is a quote asking us to live like sheep and to feel thankful for it. Humans can do far, far better.

I choose to do far, far better. I demand it! Do you?”

Posted on October 26, 2014 by gregmercer601

http://bigredcarpetnursing.com

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ABOVE GROUND . Quotations .

 

“Never loose sight of the fact that 

JUST BEING

is fun.”

KATHERINE HEPBURN

I loved the fabulous Katherine Hepburn – an intelligent, classy, strong woman who spoke her mind ruthlessly, laughed easily, lived daringly.

~

I have lost (or misplaced) my new Midori paraphernalia. As a result I have spent the past two hours searching my desk area, every nook and cranny, and I scrounged through the garbage inside, and in the garage where wet coffee grounds, orange peels covered the paper garbage. But no sight of the small, zip-locked bag with my new Midori elastics and treasures. My notebook is so new, I can’t even remember what was in the bag.

I have a lovely wooden, cedar-lined, humidor ready to store Midori stuff, but alas, no stuff to store. Hopefully it will turn up (It sure is not the first time I tucked something away for safe-keeping, only to be ‘lost’ for more than a year). Not  a catastrophic event, but a good day to remember …

“Any day above ground is a good one.”

UNKNOWN

“You’re a long time dead. “

…  so make the most of your life.

Patricia Leaton Austin

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IT’s A GIRL, HAPPY TIMES . Journal . Quotations .

IT’S A GIRL! 

 

Tiff, Greg & ‘our’ new baby girl

I have a new granddaughter in utero. A sweet wee baby girl developing and growing so as to be ready to come into this wondrous world full of dichotomies – joy / sadness; ups / downs; highs / lows; you know, clouds – with a silver lining; every day is a new day.

Sometimes it helps to remember the old sayings that contain proven truisms. Over the years, I have been fascinated with quotations that have meaning for me. I am recording them so they may help others, including my nine grandchildren and the tenth who will make an appearance in a few months. We can all benefit from others who have found words to help navigate life’s journey.

 

“You and I live on a minor planet attached to a minor star, at the far end of a minor galaxy. We live here briefly, and when we’re gone, we’re forgotten. The only mortality that makes sense is to do something useful  with the brief time we’re allotted.”

JAMES A. MITCHENER: “Space” 

“Living is practice. You have to practice living all the time.”

ADRIENNE CLARKSON:  former Canadian Governor General, T-V host

“We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.”

ANAIS NIN

“Show up in your life as yourself and not as an imitation of someone else.”

MARIA SCHRIVER

To our newest grandchild,

You have a large family waiting to welcome you.

We are here to share some of your journey in this world and offer love and support.

Have a wonderful life.

Love, Nana xoxoxo

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QUOTATIONS inspiration & Reality Check . Memoir .

Home

 

“Wasn’t that the definition of home? Not where you are from, but where you are wanted?”

ABRAHAM VERGHESE:   ‘Cutting For Stone’

Being

 

“You are the result of your own decisions. You are your own creation.”

CMDR CHRIS HADFIELD: on George Stroumboulopoulos 2013

“Nothing exists outside of the now. Nothing”

ECKHART TOLLE

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QUOTATIONS – a passion . Quotations .

Quotations – a Passion

Inspiration & Reality Check

I love grasping for meaningful quotations, whenever and wherever I am able. When I read a novel, words will spring off the page and make me stop. My heart, or soul, or my reason, fills with familiarity, as though that thought is exactly what I think, or feel, about that particular subject.

That recognition speaks to me of the universality in us all (well, perhaps not everyone).  Over the months of posting my blogs, I have often included quotations I felt were appropriate to the message in the post.

My favourite quotes are scattered on random pieces of paper; in my iPhone & iPad ‘notes’; in the introductions to my four genealogy volumes; in a ‘quotation’ file in ‘my documents’ – everywhere and anywhere. So I am beginning a new blog category, one that will be home for quotations meaningful to me. Subject matter will include life and death and everything in-between.

I hope others of you will find a moment of recognition or familiarity in common in some of them. If not, enjoy, just because.

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“And because I love this life

I know I shall love death as well.

The child cries out when

From the right breast the mother

Takes it away, in the very next moment

To find in the left one

It’s consolation.”

RABINDRANATH TAGORE:  from Gitanjali

I love this idea … that I can choose to love my death, as well as my life. So much preferable to fearing it – make it simply one more life experience. Others have. I intend to make this part of my positive thinking from here on.

Note to my children:    Read this to me when the time comes. My memory is pitiful, so I may have forgotten.

 

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” … the tragedy of death had to do with what was left unfulfilled.”

ABRAHAM VERGHESE:  ‘Cutting For Stone’

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