“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”
This quote, by Gilda Radner, gives us a great summary of life. It’s about change, enjoying each moment, and seeing the silver lining, all the while not knowing what’s around the corner. In a nutshell, it’s about change, mindfulness, and gratitude in the midst of uncertainty. But the part of this quote that stands as the foundation for everything else is making the best of things. It’s making the best of the change, the moments, and the uncertainty.
“A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.”
Life is full of twists and turns, which can make it difficult to stay on course when you have a one-track mind. Having a one-track mind is like constantly going straight and never bending the wheel. This quote, by Helen Keller, reminds us that without making the turn–being willing to embrace change–we’ll inevitably crash. So what if we embrace change? What if we choose to round the corner? Who knows where we might find ourselves and what new direction the road will lead.
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”
This quote, by Ameilia Earhart, reminds us that when we’re faced with something scary, the hardest part of it is usually deciding to face it. To act. So often, we avoid facing this decision altogether. Unfortunately, the longer we don’t decide to act, the further that action drifts away from happening. We must be reminded that the actual act (outside of a decision) may not be easy. It will take tenacity. However, once we do make up our mind, it has an effect. It can give us a dose of strength and courage amid fear and uncertainty, which we won’t discover until our decision to act is made.
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”
In 2005, Steve Jobs delivered a commencement speech at Stanford University. It’s a very thoughtful and inspiring speech. To watch or read it in full, click here. This quote is lifted from that speech, stating: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” In the speech, Jobs talks about his journey. He…
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
This quote, by James Baldwin, serves as a reminder that we cannot expect something to change if we’re not willing to face it. We may not be successful. “Not everything that is faced can be changed.” However, without endeavoring to make the change, nothing can be changed. Therefore, it’s much better to be unsuccessful after having faced change than to not face it at all.
“Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”
Many authors start to write a chapter without knowing what it’s going to be called. They decide that later. The same can be said of life. We don’t know what each chapter of our life will become as we’re writing (i.e. living) it. We can only look back at the pages later and define each time period. However, we often try to define our life chapters before they’re even written. But this quote, by Bob Goff, reminds us to embrace the uncertainty. We don’t have to know what our life chapters will become or what they’ll be called. And that uncertainty doesn’t necessarily forebode a terrible ending. It is actually…
“To make a change, you need to be aware and acknowledge that something isn’t working first.”
When it comes to changing something that’s not working, you first have to see that it’s not working. It seems like a no-brainer. But sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. And a much needed change may not be so evident. This quote, by Justin Kan, reminds us of the importance of being aware of and acknowledging that something isn’t working. How do you become aware and acknowledge something isn’t working when you just don’t know? Where do you begin in order to develop that awareness? Here are some things to reflect on. Ask yourself if you’ve put on some rose-colored glasses. There might be some denial happening–Ignoring red…
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
This quote is often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. However, it seems to have actually appeared in a 90’s Nike ad by Janet Champ and Charlotte Moore. It’s partly based on the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy. This is the notion that we will try to make our beliefs come true in order to make our perceptions match with reality. This can and often does happen–Sometimes subconsciously. The worst part is when our subconscious belief about who we are and who we want to be is negative. This results in a negative affect on who we are and who we become. This quote also goes beyond the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy.…
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“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
“God has perfect timing; never early, never late. It takes a little patience and it takes a lot of faith, but it’s worth the wait.”
“You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground.”
In this anonymous quote, we’re reminded that with climbing, or taking action, we risk falling–i.e. failing. On the contrary, without climbing and without taking action we significantly reduce our chances of ever falling or failing. No one wants to get hurt. So it would seem living our life on the ground and not climbing at all is our best option. Sometimes, this is the wisest decision we can make. But it can’t be the decision we make all the time. Occasionally, we have to step out of our comfort zone where it’s possible we might fall in order to see and experience the possibility of something greater that we’ll only…
“Let your past make you better, not bitter.”
Sometimes the would have, could have, and should haves of our past can seem like a constantly growing and endless list. And each regret or unfortunate event can make us feel bitter. But what if we take every past regret and bad incident and use them to fuel our drive to make things better? This anonymous quote is a great reminder to not get bogged down by our negative past but to use the wisdom we’ve gathered from it to inspire positive change.
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“How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most.”
Step 1: Motivation. Step 2: Climb
“Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”
