The thing is, I am happy. Sure, there are sucky things about life right now, but generally speaking I am a happy girl. I have a spectacular group of friends, the best family I could ever hope for, and an ability to laugh at things I probably shouldn’t; who wouldn’t be happy over that stuff? But some mornings, when I’m in the fog of a hangover sleepiness, life feels overwhelming sometimes. It feels something very unlike HAPPY.
I need to print out these inspiring quotes and keep them near my bed—or as Nana suggests for important notes, “Pin them to your bra!” (That’s when she’s speaking to me. Okay, so maybe not everyone in my fam is the best.) 
“Giving up is giving in to whatever may be keeping you down. Overcoming is beating what you need to, and becoming stronger in the process.” — Cynthia Mercedes
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain
“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” — Anonymous
“All problems become smaller if you don’t dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumble.” — William S. Halsey
“Life is like an onion: you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.” — Carl Sandburg
“Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.” — Corita Kent
Brenda shared this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on Facebook today. If I had time, I’d put all of these quotes on backdrops of beautiful photos. Instead, I steal them from my FB friends. Heh.
A few more:
“We are not defined by our trials, but by how we face them. We are all afraid; bravery is a choice, that though you may lose, you shall never be defeated.” — Jill Pendley
“Life is too short to wake up in the mornings with regrets. So love the ones who treat you right, forget the ones who don’t. Remember that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance take it, if it changes your life, then let it. No one said it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.” — Anonymous
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ ...You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“Sometimes I wish life had subtitles. In a big font.” — Anonymous
“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” — Walt Disney
“No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap.” — Carrie Snow
If you have days in which you don’t want to get out from under the covers, maybe these quotes will inspire you to take baby steps until you get in the groove of making something of your day. Yay for us get-out-of-bedders!
Jen,
ReplyDeleteIt is so amazing that you wrote about this today. This morning, I felt good when I woke up. I grabbed my laptop, the first action I usually do in the early hours of the day. I decided I needed to add to my FB page, so I went to my collection of quotes (My favorite thing to collect) and chose this one you added above. The choice to regret or rejoice...
Then, I read my home page. There, I found that a friends sister died yesterday afternoon from Ovarian Cancer. Ugh. My heart sunk for her! My heart sunk for me!
I continued my morning, grabbing my gym bag, dropping the kids off at school and then heading to the hospital for my daily radiation treatment. As I sat in the "special" radiation treatment waiting area, in walked a 30 something gentlemen. I see him every morning but he seemed to be in terrible pain this morning. He was walking slowly, obviously hurting. Along side him, was his sweet little wife, holding his hand and helping him to s-l-o-w-l-y sit down. Something struck me in that moment. His pain, her gentle touch, and all the sickness in the room. I still didn't consciously face or acknowledge the emotion yet.
They called my name and it was my turn in the "tanning bed". I laid down and got positioned, chatting with the tech's. They left the room and then it all hit me. It's hard to cry when you are laying on your back and you aren't supposed to move for fear the radiation will hit your heart!
We each have our own "stuff" to deal with. It IS harder some days then others to rejoice! Sometimes I don’t feel like rejoicing. Everyone’s collective ‘pain’ IS overwhelming.
I find inspiration from knowing God is always near and there for me. I also get courage from those who have struggled through hard times and were able to share it with the rest of the world.
Some days I do regret but hopefully, more often than not I choose to rejoice!
Keep hanging on Sister! Thanks for inspiring me ☺