“Just when you feel you have no time to relax, know that this is the moment you most need to make time to relax.”
Sometimes, we have so much going on that it feels like we have no time at all to relax. This quote, from the book Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, is about what we should do in those moments we don’t seem to have time to relax. It’s at those very moments we should, by all means, make time to relax. Because if we have no time to rest, it means we haven’t been getting much of it. Therefore, that is when we need it most. It’s usually when we feel like we have no time to relax that our energy is most depleted.
“When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.”
When there’s chaos and stress around us, it’s only natural that we begin to internalize it. In a way, the stressors enter our bloodstream, affecting our mental and physical health. But what if we can create an impenetrable barrier between the stresses around us and our inner selves? What if we can tap into an inner sense of peace that can ride any storm? That’s what this quote, by Stephen Richards, is about–Finding inner peace. Moreover, when we can find and hold on to our inner peace, the chaos around us begins to make more sense.
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
This quote, by Jack Kornfield, reminds us to make peace with the fact that everything that has a beginning has an ending. Remembering this helps us accept when good things come to an end. Meanwhile, it helps us cope when bad things, or unfortunate events, present themselves. This simple fact of life is key to having a steady sense of peace and happiness.
“Anything that makes you weak–physically, intellectually and spiritually–reject it as poison.”
A poison is anything that can cause illness or death to a living thing. This quote, by Swami Vivekananda, helps us recognize that toxic people, environments, and situations are poisonous. They make us weak physically, intellectually, and spiritually. We would undoubtably reject poison in its tangible form. However, we don’t always reject it in the other ways it can appear in our lives. So, let us remember to reject the things that cause similar harm–The things that ill or deaden our body, mind, and soul.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
To truly apply this quote by Mahatma Gandhi, you first have to reflect on what it means for a person to live as if they were to die tomorrow and what it means for them to learn as if they were to live forever. Unfortunately, many people switch the words “tomorrow” and “forever”. As a result, they do the exact opposite of this quote. They live as if they were to live forever (not appreciating each day) and learn as if they were to die tomorrow (finding no need to learn anything new). However, this quote is about not taking a single day for granted and living life to the…
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”
So you’ve resolved to be “happier,” but it seems like a daunting task. This quote, by Omar Khayyam, reminds us that our life is composed of moments in time. We move from one moment to another; and together, those moments make up our life. Therefore, if we can concentrate on being happier for each moment, we’ll find that being happier, in general, is achievable. We’ll find that the more we practice this with each moment, the easier it gets. Moreover, the more moments of happiness we can find, the happier our life can become overall. Consider the following questions: Are you living in the moment? How can you make the…
Living Life Poetically: It Takes Time
The poem, “It Takes Time,” is for those moments when our grief, pain, hopelessness, or efforts toward a certain goal seem to persist with no change or little progress. It Takes Time It may take timeTo heal all wound. It may take timeFor flowers to bloom. It’s tempting to assumeThat good things will always happen soon. But sometimes, it takes longer than we presume.And the longer it takes, the greater our gloom—The kind that can consume. So, in our hearts we must make room,And in our minds we must groom,To understand that— It may take time.
“Whatever you do, never run back to what broke you.”
Overcoming challenges is a great accomplishment, especially the ones that bring us to a breaking point. But after some time has passed, we tend to forget or minimize the challenges we’ve overcome and the effect they had on us. Even worse, we put on rose-colored glasses and look back on a difficult situation we’ve been through and see only the good parts. As a result, we actually look back at these experiences with fond memories. This quote, by Frank Ocean, is about not forgetting the things that broke us–the people, environments, situations, etc. Once we’ve overcome and learned from them, why go backwards to relive them again ? Why be…
“Don’t go back to less, just because you’re too impatient to wait for more.”
There are times when we find ourselves stuck in such a rut that we’d do just about anything to get out of it. We’d do anything for a change. Unfortunately, this desperation can make us blindly run toward things that make us worse off than we already are. This anonymous quote reminds us to not go back to less just because we’re too impatient to wait for more. However, sometimes our mental health is at stake due to our current situation. As a result, we welcome any change, even if it means going back to less. While it may be best to do so for the sake of our mental…
“No exact recipe for today. Gather all available ingredients and whip yourself up something delicious.”
Sometimes our days can be so laid out and scripted that they leave no room for us to just be. This quote, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, reminds us that some days don’t need to follow a strict plan or schedule. Some days need “no exact recipe.” We can use what we already have in our pantry–the ingredients our lives have been blessed with–and create something delicious. Therefore, we need such unplanned days. Without them, we eventually lose steam. We may, eventually, begin to ask ourselves, “what’s the point?” But days without exact recipes keep us grounded, re-energized, and focused on the essential. So once in a while, put down those measuring…