quotes Archives - Adulting: Second- Half

Fresh Start Friday

Good morning and happy Friday! I am currently all alone (except my sweet dogs are with me) in one of my most sacred spaces. It’s one of those places in my life where I have found myself in a state of total exhale and peace of mind. We all have our various sacred spaces, and they are as unique to us, as we are to the world. (Our preferences are what makes us uniquely special and interesting. Make your own choices. You get to decide what YOU like and your appreciation, happiness and peace for loving what you love, leaks out into the atmosphere, on to all of us. Thank you.) I hope that this weekend you can take an exhale in one of your most sacred spaces and that this will sustain you for your next week’s adventures and escapades and experiences. I came back to the blog again today because I found some more quotes which I feel compelled to add to this precious thought museum, which I have named Adulting – Second Half.

+ This is from an interview with Jennifer Aniston (Elle Magazine) Jennifer says this:

“The good news is anybody can do a podcast, and the bad news is anybody can do a podcast.” We all need to listen to both sides. That’s what we’ve lost. We’ve lost communication, we’ve lost sitting across a table and having a discussion that is productive, learning from each other. It feels like everyone is sort of stuck in their positions and it’s my way or the highway, and that’s just not how the world works.“

+ ” You’re zero miles away from Your Truth. But sometimes you have to walk a thousand miles to realize it.” – cbmeditates

+ “Never take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.”

+ “Any good apology has 3 parts: 1. I’m sorry, 2. It’s my fault, 3. What can I do to make it right? ***most people forget the 3rd part”

And because I get feedback that my readers miss my Favorite Things on Favorite Things Friday posts, here are a couple of bonus favorites of mine, for old time’s sake:

I picked up this hilarious postcard book when we were visiting a quaint little bookstore in NYC this fall. It’s called Disappointing Affirmations by Dave Tarnowski. It’s snarky (perhaps a little mean), but hilarious and a reminder to not take things too seriously. There are 30 postcards in the book to send to friends who may share your off-color sense of humor. (or just keep them for yourself when you need a laugh) Here’s one example:

And for a bonus favorite today, I recently discovered Second Chance Bears in a little local gift shop. I’ve scoured the internet to find a website to share, but I can’t find one. I think that this is such a lovely idea! I bought a little bear whose name is Thomas (and according to his story, “Thomas seeks out joy in everything”), and I bought one for dear friends, who finally got their home completely and beautifully restored, after it was damaged terribly in last year’s hurricanes. They’re giving their lovely home a much-deserved second chance. This is the tag that is tied around the necks on all of the little saved teddy bears:

Who, what or where in your own life deserves a second chance? Is it a hobby? Is it a relationship? Is it a vocation? A restaurant? (Just make sure that whatever it is, it truly warrants a “second chance”, see apology exhibit above ^^^) Maybe you deserve to give yourself a second chance. May you deserve to give yourself some grace. Clean yourself up. Fluff yourself up and give yourself some love this weekend.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Friday’s Frolics

+ I was listening to a podcast yesterday that suggested that instead of solving our problems, we have a tendency to “change” our problems. So, we allow ourselves to get distracted with other people’s problems, or with other smaller problems in our own lives, without tackling the biggest problems, which are wreaking havoc in our own lives. It’s a neat little trick that we play on ourselves. It’s the very definition of codependency to focus on taking care of, or “fixing” others, instead of what is ours to take care of and fix – ourselves. What are you avoiding in your own life, with the premise that you are too busy dealing with other problems (and often, other people’s problems)? What are you trying to distract yourself from, instead of facing the problem head on and looking for ways to solve it?

+ My husband was talking to an independently wealthy man at work who said that he thinks that he is a better employee because he chooses to work. He does not have to work, for money. My husband said that he sees that the opposite is true, too. If you have to work to provide for your family, and there is no other way, you will hustle like nobody’s business. So, what I take from this conversation, is that employees from both extremes will make your best employees. Self-motivated workers who are doing the job for the intrinsic qualities that it gives to their lives, and self-motivated workers who are desperate to provide a nice life for themselves and their families. The shared quality is “self-motivated.” And what I have heard from every business owner I have ever met, is that finding good, reliable, steady employees is the hardest part of the business. If I were a business owner, I would suss out what is deeply motivating (or not) to a potential employee.

+ And a quote that struck me from my readings this week: “Sometimes you have to end things before they end you.”

+ Okay, I have heard from many of you that you miss my Favorite Things Friday posts, so I will give you one of my favorites for today. I bought a small Tibetan singing bowl set for around $10 on Amazon and I strike it three times every morning. It soothes me. I love to hear the sound of it. I consider this to be my own personal reset button, to start my day. And even “the less woo-woo than me, i.e. my entire family” have stated that they like the sound of it, too. Enjoy your senses. This is the real meaning of being sensual.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Tuesday’s Tidbits

It’s fascinating to me how the focus in our lives change, even if the circumstances don’t change that much. Something in our life grabs our attention like a project, or a trip, or a goal, or a crisis, or a pain, or a sickness, etc. and that situation takes the spotlight, even though everything else is happening pretty much like it would every other day. Right now, my focus is on my stuffed up head, and so everything else that was either bothering me or interesting me, has gone into the background. But soon this annoying sinus infection will pass, and I will be on to new irritations and intrigues. Such is the way of life. This is what is meant by, “This too shall pass . . .”

Here are some gems that I found in some of my inspiration notebooks that I thought that I would pass on for today (None of these are my own. I’m sorry for those quotes which are lacking credit. I’ve kept these notebooks for years, namely for myself, and shamefully, I was often lapse about writing down the source.):

+ “This is your permission to stop looking to be liked by people who don’t even like themselves.” – Nicole LaPera

+ “The shortest answer to your question: What would someone who loved him or herself do?” – Alan Cohen

+ “What comes at you, comes from you.” – Bert Winn

+ “A toxic situation is more likely to change you than you are to change it. Get out.”

+ “Honesty without kindness is cruelty. But kindness without honesty is manipulation.”

+ “You don’t get to pick the consequences of your actions.”

+ “Sometimes when you are invited, you’re still not welcomed. Know the difference.” – Wise Connector, X

+ “There are four natural sanctuaries: silence, solitude, stillness and simplicity.” – Brianna Wiest

+ “The light heart lives long.”

+ “Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.” – Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2220. Which foreign language did you have to learn at school?

Monday – Funday

Credit: @woofknight, X

Kidding. Kidding. I am about 85% done. But that 15% that’s left is the toughest, and it’s all gifts that I need for men. I think that men are the hardest people to buy presents for, don’t you? Probably the grocery store is my best bet.

At my birthday bequest, my husband, daughter and I hunkered down on the couch (while a tropical storm whirled around outside) and watched Pixar’s Elemental. And of course I found a “keeper quote” in the movie. Here it is:

Wade Ripple: “Sometimes, when I lose my temper, I think it’s just me trying to tell me something I’m not ready to hear.“

The kids’ movies really know how to pack a punch and say it like it is, don’t they? A wise person once told me that during bouts of grief, anger sits right on top of depression. Anger is really a form of sadness with more energy. The next time that you get really angry, explore it for some sadness and for some truths which you may not be wanting to face. Our emotions are always our guideposts to ourselves and our thoughts and beliefs.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

The Next Note

Hi friends. It’s been a crazy morning here. I like this quote. Mistakes happen. We all make them. It’s a matter of learning from them. If you learn from your mistakes, they can be some of your greatest strengths and blessings. Mistakes can create the best next notes you have ever played.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Monday Fun-Day

(credit: Rex Masters, Twitter)

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

The older I get, the harder it is for me to bounce back from trips and vacations. I feel like I am walking around in a perpetual fog. I have spurts of getting things done, but then a lot of downtime of staring into space. It’s amazing how quickly you forget about the particulars of your daily routine, when you skip it for just a week.

I saw a quote from the American author of A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle that I really liked, so naturally I looked her up and I found quite a lot of quotes of hers which completely resonated with me. I think that you will like them, too:

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.”

“We can’t take credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.”

“Just because we don’t understand, doesn’t mean that the explanation doesn’t exist.”

“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all of the other ages you’ve been.”

“Truth is eternal, knowledge is changeable. It is disastrous to confuse them.”

What She Said

Here are some interesting quotes of the week:

“Please scream inside your heart.” – As advised at a Japanese theme park, so people wouldn’t scream out loud which would make it easier for the coronavirus to infect other people

I thought to myself, “Who hasn’t screamed inside of their heart, at least once, throughout this pandemic?!?” I have managed to scream inside of my heart and outside of my heart, on more than a few occasions, during this event-filled year. And I haven’t ridden on one physical roller coaster this entire year, but I have ridden on plenty of “proverbial roller coasters” throughout this pandemic. This has been one hell of a roller coaster year, so far, hasn’t it? I just hope that we are already past the major highs and lows, and are we coming to calmer, slower part of the ride, in order to get us safely back to the station. But who knows? Keep your seat belts fastened.

“We Ride Together. We Die Together. Bad Marriage For Life”. —- Will & Jada Smith, a joint quote they put out, after publicly explaining Jada’s relationship with another man, during a rough patch in their long marriage

Hmmm. I think sometimes people assume that all long marriages are happy marriages. Sadly, I think there are quite a few people who have committed to “Bad Marriage for Life.” Like all things in life, if you are going to commit to it, shouldn’t the goal be to commit to something good? As the wise Maya Angelou once said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

And finally this:

I saw this sign posted on Twitter. Locally, I have seen signs posted in stores, that more so just plead with their patrons, “Please be Kind. Wear a mask.” Why do we have to beg each other to care about each other? It’s not an argument worth getting into, though. On our local Nextdoor social media, I have noticed that the longest thread, with the most messages, is a back and forth argument between the adamant Masks vs. No Masks camps. And all of that fruitless energy, could be much better spent towards personal peace and boosting our own individual immune systems, which is really the best shield against this scourge. I think that quote below says it best. Simple, but not easy. Below is an evolving process that lasts a lifetime, it seems:

40 Quotes for Coping with Things You Can't Control