Thank you for continuing. Let's commence...
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"What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain."
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Lord help me. This quote takes me back to my early twenties when I was out of high school and realizing life wasn't what I dreamed it would be--so a part of me wanted to go back to high school. That's not to say that as I approach 31 I have escaped my need to lay down and whine into the earth.
It's safe to say that much of that whining has tapered down due to growth. However, I can recall days where I screamed for life to open up to me. From 18-21 I worked a fast food job where every day I ached over life, and how I didn't want to be at that job. I still do it a little these days--or maybe more than I should. The difference is that I now acknowledge that I have a switch in my mind. It's ready for me to hit it, turning off my need to complain. It takes some practice, but many times I just wish I would shut the hell up about a situation. So I do it. I hit the switch and revert to singing instead. It's the easiest way to shut me up and vibrate something a lot less negative.
It's safe to say that much of that whining has tapered down due to growth. However, I can recall days where I screamed for life to open up to me. From 18-21 I worked a fast food job where every day I ached over life, and how I didn't want to be at that job. I still do it a little these days--or maybe more than I should. The difference is that I now acknowledge that I have a switch in my mind. It's ready for me to hit it, turning off my need to complain. It takes some practice, but many times I just wish I would shut the hell up about a situation. So I do it. I hit the switch and revert to singing instead. It's the easiest way to shut me up and vibrate something a lot less negative.
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"Too many times for comfort I have expected to reap good when I know I have sown evil. My lame excuse is that I have not always known that actions can only reproduce themselves, or rather, I have not always allowed myself to be aware of that knowledge. Now, after years of observation and enough courage to admit what I have observed, I try to plant peace if I do not want discord; to plant loyalty and honesty if I want to avoid betrayal and lies."
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I think I learned this somewhere in my childhood, in the form of how lies bring ugly inner and outer consequences. I say this both from my experience telling lies, and watching a friend compulsively bask in them. They never really lead to a good place inside of you, especially when they draw bad things to the outer you.
Nonetheless, the phrase/idiom "you reap what you sow" is probably this quote at its barest. It really goes without saying that what you put out you get back. How you live life is how you'll see it. Such expressions go on and on.
Nonetheless, the phrase/idiom "you reap what you sow" is probably this quote at its barest. It really goes without saying that what you put out you get back. How you live life is how you'll see it. Such expressions go on and on.
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"Many adults show impatience with the young. They want them not only to grow up, but to grow old, and that immediately. They are quick to chide, criticize, and admonish..."
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My mom tried to make me as responsible-oriented the minute she could. I was a baby warming up baby bottles for my sister. I was a toddler fixing "innovative" sandwiches for our lunch. I was always "watching" and "tending". But nobody was really asking me about me. If I was being my naturally silly self (which I learned early on to keep in low profile), I was told to stop it. I couldn't have the haircut I wanted, so I hated getting haircuts. When I wanted a pair of boots that I liked, I was quickly asked what for. As if those boots were going to interrupt an image someone plastered on me, instead of unleashing the image I wanted to build of myself.
I once asked my mom could I borrow her hoodie zip-up, because lots of kids wore them. It was simple and dark blue. Nothing bedazzled or sparkling. Fitted me just fine. Instead, I received an attitude for asking. Without an issue, my sister did the same thing and wore the same hoodie frequently compared to my single time.
I couldn't even have graphic tees to even feel marginally cool in school. And from there the list goes on. So growing up I was in a shell. There was me, books, games, ideas, and drawings. And a tremendous amount of developing self-respect. Nevertheless, nobody asked me about my interest or desires. I believe everyone always assumed that I was too level-headed and complacent to even be asked. Everyone figured because I was quiet that I was smart and mature and had so much figured out. However, I was also hopelessly doubtful about my future because nobody was taking part in blossoming my ideas and creativity as a kid.
I once asked my mom could I borrow her hoodie zip-up, because lots of kids wore them. It was simple and dark blue. Nothing bedazzled or sparkling. Fitted me just fine. Instead, I received an attitude for asking. Without an issue, my sister did the same thing and wore the same hoodie frequently compared to my single time.
I couldn't even have graphic tees to even feel marginally cool in school. And from there the list goes on. So growing up I was in a shell. There was me, books, games, ideas, and drawings. And a tremendous amount of developing self-respect. Nevertheless, nobody asked me about my interest or desires. I believe everyone always assumed that I was too level-headed and complacent to even be asked. Everyone figured because I was quiet that I was smart and mature and had so much figured out. However, I was also hopelessly doubtful about my future because nobody was taking part in blossoming my ideas and creativity as a kid.
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"We must re-create an attractive and caring attitude in our homes and in our worlds. If our children are to approve of themselves, they must see that we approve of ourselves. If we persist in self-disrespect and then ask our children to respect themselves, it is as if we break all their bones and then insist that they win Olympic gold medals for the hundred-yard dash."
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Ever heard of that Whitney Houston song "Greatest Love of All"? Of course you have. Now think about it lyrically. I think this quote ties into that song, as well as the previous quote. Soak on that for a minute and tell me if you gather the connection?
Did you every grow up looking up to someone with a hint of distaste in areas you saw didn't fulfill your vision of them, as well as what you wanted to be from them? I have. As a child, it wasn't enough for me to look up to the adults around me. I learned their sassy ways of back-talking each other to get their point across. As well as their strength, willpower, and determination as striking characteristics over adverse times. But I also grew up seeing limits in those individuals. So no. I still needed someone who dreamed and succeeded in manifesting what I wanted to do, or at least obtained the aura of limitlessness concerning success. I wanted someone to show me how to earn a college degree. Someone to show me how to be a singer and actor. A writer and artist. No one showed me how to do those things. No one showed me how to believe in things. So I had to learned to show myself, driven by this fragile ambition that those who put limits on life insisted that mine was limitless without ever expressing that to me through their own mouths.
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"I arrived at the conclusion that if a man came along who seemed to me to be honest and sincere, who wanted to make me laugh and succeeded in doing so, a man who had a lilting spirit--if such a man came along who had a respect for other human beings, then if he was Swedish, African, or a Japanese sumo wrestler, I would certainly give him my attention, and I would not struggle too hard if he caught me in a web of charm."
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The sex in this quotes irrelevant. Nevertheless, the quote translates to me that you'll never know how love arrives in your life only when it has. I was never good with romantic kind of love, but I've seen friends and family members go to war to make something that isn't right--right. Eventually it explodes with all the pressure put into it, and the real emotional war begins. But I think we all pray that love comes effortlessly. Even if we have to tweak it with effort. Something about "tweak" implies changing an individual, though. So I don't know...
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"I am never proud to participate in violence, yet I know that each of us must care enough for ourselves to be ready and able to come to our own self-defense."
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Now a quote like this certainly describes what I learned directly and indirectly from those around me growing up. As well as what I learned cherishing myself in those times I felt that was all I had. I get sad when I see someone beat over the head concerning their lack of self-esteem. And I get mad when I see bullies who think they can take it from someone. People will try to take it from you and it's your job to make a stance on containing it. Even if you have to knock somebody out to make that clear.
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"Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, lovers, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence.
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A great closing quote. I think I've shared so much between these two post and hope to hear your stories and what quotes you identify with and in which way. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and reading. There's more to share, but I encourage anyone who hasn't read this book [Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now] to find it now.
So grateful.
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