One thing I like to do when I am having a hard day is look at positive quotes. It can help motivate me and remind me that this too shall pass. So I thought I would share some of my favorites.
Some of these are not as much positive/inspirational but more reminders of how to treat ourselves and how we should allow others to treat us.
I love this one. It is such a good way to look at life. I have definitely learned that time is so valuable. Especially when it comes to the people we love. You never know what tomorrow, or even the next minute will bring. When I read this it reminds me to treat everyone with kindness and compassion. To not get caught up in my own daily schedule and not make the time for the people I care about. So often it is easy to get busy with work, school, and kids (for those of you who have them) that we tell ourselves we will make time to catch up with that person another day. We will check in and say hi to that friend later. But before you know it later has become days, weeks, months, or even years. Friendships start to grow more distant. I am guilty of doing this. Especially when I am struggling a lot with my eating disorder or issues that come along with being bipolar it is very easy for me to isolate myself and not pay attention to the people I care about. I have had one of my best friends pass away and one thing that bothers me is I was very caught up in my eating disorder and other problems the little time I knew her. I wish I could go back and be less focused on myself and enjoy the time I had with her more and pay more attention to what was going on in her life. Obviously I can't do that but what I can do is make the effort to be the friend/sister/daughter that I want to be now.
Another thing this makes me think about is how I have so many goals for things I want to accomplish in my life yet when I really think about it, I'm not doing everything I could to reach them. There are so many times I am sitting around being lazy and then later complain to myself about how I am not any closer to accomplishing what I want. Don't get me wrong, everyone needs some lazy time to relax and unwind. But I think I can use less of that and more time working towards my goals. I know I put things off because they seem overwhelming and I don't know where to even start. Looking at the whole big picture it is overwhelming because there is so much to do. So instead I am going to start breaking it down. I am going to choose 3-4 goals that I want to achieve and every day do 3-5 things that work towards accomplishing that goal. I am going to start a notebook and keep track of it to help hold myself accountable. I figure that is one way I can start using my time more wisely.
When I first read this I blew it off. I thought that I was going to be whoever I wanted to be regardless of who I spent my time with. But like it or not we do tend to act like the people we around the most. When I was hanging out with people who partied every night drinking and using drugs it didn't matter if I partook in the activities or not, I found myself thinking that certain behaviors were ok and even normal. It wasn't until I distanced myself from them that I realized how different I had been acting when I was with them. Some of my values had been slightly ignored or more I was making exceptions for things that I really never should have. Since then I have noticed that when I hang out with someone who complains a lot, I am more likely to do so and when I hang out with people who are constantly pointing out the good in life I am more likely to do that as well. When I was spending time with people who partied a lot I was at a place in my life where I wasn't very confident in myself and I think that led me to change the way I acted depending on the people I was around in order to feel like I fit in. That is a very dangerous thing to do and not a good way to live. Now I am much stronger and know who I am so I can be around all different types of people and it doesn't affect who I am as person. Although I do believe that is good to surround yourself with people that you want to be like. People who bring out the best in you and help you grow as a person. It's ok to spend time with other people too but you should make the first group of people the people you are around the most.
This one makes me smile. :) Some of the most wonderful people I have met have gone through hell and back. They know what it's like to struggle. They have felt pain and suffering. They know how unfair life can be and I think because of that they treat others with a type of compassion that is indescribable. I am so incredibly lucky to have so many beautiful people in my life. :)
Oh how true this is. You can say you mean something all you want but if your behavior contradicts that, your words mean nothing. Life is all about how we act towards other people, towards the environment, towards everything. You can believe in something all you want but if you are just talking the talk and not walking the walk, your beliefs don't mean a thing. "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds." (James 2:18) The whole book of James is a great place to read more about this. He talks bluntly about how it is not enough to just say we are a Christian and we believe in God, instead we must live our lives in a way that proves this to be true. My church (The Crossing) did an amazing series on this called rooted.
Here is a link to the website where you can watch it if you are interested. I would highly recommend it. Rooted was one of our best series. :)
This is something I am working on. I can be pretty mean to myself. I know if I treated someone else the way I treat myself they would NOT want to be my friend. So I'm working on being nicer to myself. I'm getting there. Slowly but it's happening which is good enough for me right now.
This is something that I am recently dealing with. A friendship that I thought would last forever has recently come to an end and it has been really hard. There are many things that I did to cause this but there are also a lot of things on the other end as well. As much as I still love this person I have realized that right now they cannot be a part of my life. Which makes me really sad because I truly care about this person. But I need to look out for myself too and right now that means us being apart. Maybe after some time has gone by we will be friends again but for now I know that God has put this person out of my life for a reason.
My favorite part of this one is love like hearts cannot break. So often we keep ourselves so guarded because we have been hurt in the past. And that can be smart, to an extent. Personally I like loving with all I've got. I am very good at doing this with friends and family. A little less so in relationships. So that is one I will have to work on if I ever meet someone. Or ya know I may be single forever. LOL I'm hoping that's not the case though.
Wonderful song! Listen below!
We all have things we are afraid of. But we can't let fear hold us back. Somehow we find the courage to do the things that scare us. I pray for courage everyday. To do the hard things that I don't want to do but have to do. God is good and has never let me down. Without Him I wouldn't be able to face my fears. But with Him, I can face anything.
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