Quote of the Week - Thorns

Is it just me or do we complain a lot? Things don't go our way, or don't work out the way we wanted them to, and so we get angry about it?

I like today's quote so much because it really teaches about the value of perspective. You can choose how you wish to view things, and that choice can dictate your entire mindset on a situation.

"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."

                                                         -Abraham Lincoln

Talk about perspective! We are talking about the same bush here. Do we choose to resent the thorns, or rejoice in the beauty of the roses? 

Situations in life can be viewed in a similar way. When something goes wrong, we can choose to complain about everything that is not the way it should be. OR we can choose to seek out the good amidst the bad. 

You can choose to complain about your job, or you can rejoice in the fact that you have one. You can choose to sulk because someone you love is sick, or you can rejoice because you are healthy enough to take care of them, and God can heal. The situations are endless, but the idea is the same.

Life is all about perspective. Will you choose to see the thorns or the roses?

Quote of the Week - Thoughts

Is it just me or do you ever let your thoughts dictate your life? You lie awake at night, countless thoughts running through your head, telling yourself that you aren't good enough, or that you didn't deserve that promotion, or that you made the wrong decision.

As soon as I read the following quote, I just knew that I had to write a post about it. 

"Don't believe everything you think."

This quote is so powerful. So often, we let our thoughts wander and lead us into thinking things that are simply not true. We convince ourselves that just because we think something, it must be the truth, and we must believe it.

But this is just not the case. Thoughts can be very powerful, wonderful things. Thoughts can also be very powerful, destructive things. And sometimes, we feel like we have no other choice than to believe our thoughts. The reality, though, is that we do have another choice. We can choose to reign over our thoughts, and to discern what is true and what is not.

Just because you might look in the mirror that think that you are not pretty for whatever reason does not make it a truth that you should believe. Just because you made a mistake, and therefore may think that you are the worst person on the planet, does not mean that this is the case at all. 

So try, please try, to have control over your thoughts, and not let yourself get sucked into believing everything that your mind may be telling you. I think you will find that it does a world of good.

Quote of the Week - Intentions

Is it just me or do you ever truly plan on doing something for someone, but then it just doesn't happen? 

This happens for me quite often--I plan to help clean the house, or send a letter to my sister away at school, or help my friend tidy her room. But then life gets in the way (or I just get distracted by other things) and it never happens. 

Today's quote hits home:

"The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention."

                                                                                       -John Burroughs

You can have the greatest of intentions, but if you don't actually carry them through, they are meaningless. You may intend to help clean the house, or write a letter, or help a friend do something, but if you don't actually do it, it means nothing.

That is why, in keeping with the quote, even "the smallest deed is better than the greatest intention." Intending to do things is good, but actually doing things is better. 

I think this is a great quote to keep in mind the next time you intend on doing something. Make sure you carry that plan through with an action--it will mean so much more.

What are some of your favorite quotes?

Quote of the Week - Preach With Your Life

Is it just me or do people do a whole lot of talking and not a whole lot of doing? Everyone is so focused on saying the right things that they forget that actually doing those things can have a greater impact than their words ever will.

Today's quote is one that I think is perfect to kick-start this new year:

"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."

                                                                                       -William Ellery Channing

I'm sure you have all heard the saying "Practice what you preach." While this is a great saying, it is not exactly what today's quote is all about. Words are never enough. It is so much more important to let your life do the talking for you.

It is amazing how much more impact one action can have than a hundred words. As we head into this new year, I challenge you to let your life speak for you. Let your life be a testament to what you believe, and let others see, rather than hear, what you are all about.

Will you let your life preach more loudly than your lips?

Quote of the Week - Capabilities

Is it just me or do you ever feel like treating a rude person in the rude manner that they seemingly "deserve?" The quote for this week (albeit a few days late--sorry!) is one that should be at the front of your mind always:

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming."

                                                                                       -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

This quote cuts deep. Instead of treating people the way that we think they deserve, we need to treat them as though they are the kind of person that they ought to be. This is no easy task. It is much easier to see people as they are and treat them the way that they treat us. But it is so important that we see others as more than where they are in their lives at any given moment, and treat them as though they are better.

As a teacher, I find that it is easier to "write kids off" as being awful listeners or incapable of certain tasks than it is to see them as the little bundles of great potential that they truly are. But that is not right. I need to see each child, each person I encounter, as the wonderful person that they could be. By doing that, I might even be helping that person see for themselves all that they can become.

So the next time you want to write someone off and accept that they will never change, stop and think. Try to see them in a different light, a better light, and see if the way that you treat them can help them become a better person.

Do you see people as they ought to be instead of just as they are?

                                            

Quote of the Week - Wounds

Is it just me or did you ever have something happen in your life that changed you in some way? Some event, or series of events, that wounded you, scarred you, changed some part of you?

Today's quote really spoke to my heart:

"Don't allow your wounds to transform you into someone you are not."

                                                                                                                -Paulo Coelho

You may have been hurt. You may have been treated unfairly. You may have seen someone that you love suffer unfairly, and you may not have been able to do anything about it. 

Do not let your wounds change you so much that you turn into someone you are not. Do not let these wounds make you so bitter that you cannot find joy in things that you used to love before. Just because you were deeply hurt or treated unfairly does not mean that you have the right to do the same to others. Just because you have seen things that you wish you never had to see does not mean that you should harden your heart to things that are actually worth seeing.

Things happen in life that wound us, and sometimes these wounds leave scars. And while these scars may remain a part of you, they do not have to define who you are.  

With each new day comes distance from the things that hurt us. Will you let your wounds change you into a person that you are not? I know for me, I will do everything I can to ensure that this does not happen to me. Will you do the same?

Quote of the Week - Wrong vs. Right

Is it just me or is it difficult to do the right thing sometimes when everyone around you is doing the wrong thing? Today's quote is perfect for this issue, so let's just get straight to it:

"Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. 

Right is right even if no one is doing it."

This seems like such an obvious thing, but sometimes it helps to have it written out in front of you. Just because everyone is doing something does not make it right, and it does not mean that it is OK. And just because you may be the only one doing something does not make it any less right, and you should not stop doing it because you feel like you're the only one. 

Feeling like you are alone in something can be extremely difficult. It is so much easier to just give in to doing what everyone else is doing. But you can't do that. Why? Because wrong is wrong and right is right. If you know that something is wrong, you need to steer clear of that, even if everyone else seems to be flocking to it. And if you know that something is right, you need to keep doing that and hope that you can lead others to do it too.

Figure out what your morals are, and stick to them. Don't go back on what you believe just because everyone is doing something and you don't want to feel left out. Stand strong, no matter what.

Will you join me in doing the right thing?

Quote of the Week - Comparison

Is it just me or do you ever find that you are comparing yourself to others? One minute, you are perfectly fine being your own person doing your own thing, and the next, you are envying someone for what you don’t have or didn’t do.

As soon as I read this quote, I knew that I had to use it for my Quote of the Week. It is too good to pass up:

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

                                                                                       -Theodore Roosevelt

Do you remember when you were little and you got a cool new doll or toy that you really wanted? Do you remember how happy you were? And then do you remember how you weren’t so happy anymore when you went to your friend’s house and they had a cooler, newer toy? This comparing doesn’t end when you grow up—in my opinion, it gets worse. 

Picture this: you get a brand new car and you are so excited about it. You love it and you are so happy with your decision. But then you look over at your neighbors driveway and start to compare their car to yours. Their's is nicer, their's is shinier, their's is better. And suddenly, you are robbed of the joy you had only seconds before.  

Not a car person? No problem. Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking, “I am really happy with the way I look. I’ve been working really hard at the gym, I love my new haircut, I like my makeup…” But then you go in to work that day and see someone who is thinner, “prettier,” has a cuter outfit, haircut, etc. That confidence and joy that you felt earlier completely vanished the second you began comparing yourself to someone else. 

So why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we compare ourselves with everyone else, even though we know that it will only take away our joy? It is no secret that society places a huge importance on looking a certain way and owning the “best” things. It is almost inevitable that we would eventually begin comparing ourselves to others. But it doesn't have to be that way.

If you focus on you and on the blessings in your life, and if you are content with yourself and what you have, then there is no need to look to others to stack your life up against. There is simply no point. And the odds are that the person you are comparing your life to is comparing their life to yours.

I realize that this is much easier said than done, but I challenge you to give it a try. Next time you make a decision about your life, try to be confident in it enough that, no matter what someone else has, or says, or does, your joy will not waver. 

Quote of the Week - Reaching Your Goals

Is it just me or do you ever set goals for yourself and then never get any closer to accomplishing them? I know for me, I sometimes wish that things in my life were different, but I never take the steps to make them different.

Today's quote is a great one to (hopefully) motivate you to begin reaching your goals.

"Ask yourself if what you're doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow."

Making and attaining goals can be a bit of a daunting task sometimes. Depending on the goal, you may have no idea how or where to begin, and even the thought of your goals leaves you feeling overwhelmed. 

But when I read this quote, I don't think about how I can reach my goals in the shortest amount of time possible. I think about how I can take even the smallest of steps forward every single day, working towards my goal little by little.

If your goal is to be a kinder person, start out by doing even one kind thing for someone else each day. If your goal is to start your own business, research how you can begin getting there and do one thing off the checklist every day. If your goal is to become a singer, seek out performance opportunities, or record songs for youtube, or write lyrics for an original each day. The results are not going to come overnight. But by asking yourself if you are taking the necessary steps towards that goal every day, and by actually following through with those small steps, you will eventually reach it. 

So I ask you, is what you are doing today getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow?

Quote of the Week - Bad Day vs. Bad Life

Is it just me or do you sometimes let a bad day trick you into thinking that you have a bad life? You have an awful day, which sometimes leads you to believe that your life must be bad.

This week's quote addresses this issue perfectly.

"Breathe. It's just a bad day. Not a bad life."

You know those days where everything just feels like a mess? You were running late all morning, forgetting everything, and then for the rest of the day, you just feel like you can't seem to get it together? 

I have had my fair share of these days, and I am all too familiar with that frazzled feeling you just can't seem to shake for the rest of the day. But we have to remember that just because our lives aren't together for a day does not mean that our lives aren't together. Just because we feel like a mess one day does not mean that our whole lives are a mess.

So the next time you have one of those terrible days, try to take a deep breath and remember that it is just one bad day. You do not have a bad life. Bad days happen, but they don't dictate or define our entire lives.

Have any quotes that are worth sharing? Leave them down below!

Quote of the Week - Be Kind Always

Is it just me or do you ever come across people that seem just plain rude for no reason? It is almost a natural reaction to act rude right back to them, because after all, they did it first, right? WRONG.

This week's quote is a good one to keep in your pocket at all times, because I have a feeling you'll need to think back on it often:

"Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. 
Be kind. Always."

I have learned that many times, people who seem rude, or who give me an attitude right off the bat really have something else going on that has nothing to do with me. Maybe they are going through a rocky divorce, or they have to spend all night awake in the hospital with their sick child. Maybe they just got in a fight with their best friend, or a loved one recently passed away. Maybe they are simply having a really awful day. Does this give them a right to take it out on me, on us? No, but it certainly helps put things into perspective. 

Life is not always easy, and it's certainly not always fun. But what a better place this world would be if we could all be kind to one another always. It is all too easy to get wrapped up in our own little world, thinking only of ourselves. But if we take just a second to think of what another person might possibly be going through before shooting back a sassy answer, we could really learn something valuable.

So the next time you have the urge to lash out at someone or give them attitude right back, try and remember that, odds are, they are going through something in their life that is really difficult. Cut them some slack. And share this quote with others, because you never know when you might need someone to be kind to you when you are not able to be so kind yourself.

Have a good quote? Feel free to share it in the comments!

Quote of the Week - Let it Go

Is it just me or do some quotes really speak to you? I am a huge lover of quotes, and so I decided that I am going to start a "series" on my blog called 'Quote of the Week'. Every Sunday, I will be posting a quote that I really love, and talking a little bit about it.

Today's quote is all about letting it go. 

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."

                                                                                            -Will Rogers

You hear people say it all the time. "Let it go....it happened...it's done now..." etc. But how true is this?! Let's say you had a really terrible day. And I mean really terrible. Everything went wrong and you were in a horrible mood because of it. Does that mean that the next day should be ruined too? Absolutely not.

Don't carry the baggage from yesterday with you into today (or tomorrow, or the next day, for that matter!). Let the past stay in the past, accept that whatever happened, happened, and move on. 

What are some of your favorite quotes?