I had a bad day. Really, it was more like a bad week. I won’t get into details, but it was just one of those weeks that felt like a storm cloud followed me around everywhere I went.
You know those weeks? I hate them, and not just for the usual reasons, but because I really despise feeling sorry for myself. I always feel like I need to be tougher, thicker-skinned, stronger and more grateful. So when I’m feeling down my self-flagellation only adds to the mix of all that negativity.
And as much as I wish someone could magically appear with all the right things to say and do to help me feel better, it usually doesn’t work out that way. No one can read my mind, many times even I cannot!
So, when I find myself flat on the ground, with that nasty storm cloud raining down on my head, I crawl to the nearest motivational source: strangers and dead people.
Say what?????
Yes, it is true. Some of the people who have changed my life the most, offered the most amount of comfort, and been there for me in my darkest hours have been people I’ve never met, many of whom are dead.
I’m talking about the likes of Mother Teresa, Audrey Hepburn, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Dahl, C.S. Lewis, etc. etc.
The words of some of this worlds’ greatest minds have become some of my greatest treasures. I many times will just scroll through pages and pages of great people’s quotes, while I sit in my gloom, fighting to get out of my pajamas.
Their words do not tell me to sit and stew and brood, but to love, forgive, believe, hope and truly live. They remind me that while my perspective may be small for a moment, there is such a bigger picture to see.
I don’t know what your life looks like right now, whether everything is going your way, or whether it’s a total poo poo storm. But I wanted to share some of these quotes that have blessed my soul throughout many seasons of my life. I hope you enjoy!
“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” – Audrey
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” – Ronald Dahl
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Adventures are never fun while you’re having them.” – C.S. Lewis
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” – Albert Einstein
“Defeat is a state of mind; No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.” – Bruce Lee
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” – Aristotle
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown
What are some of your favorite quotes that inspire you, comfort you, or get you up off the ground?