Life can be a challenge. Yet if we view those challenges as stepping stones to where we want to go, they actually contribute to our growth. On the other hand, if we let them discourage us, we lose out. Read on for seven short inspirational quotes that will help you put things in perspective when the going gets tough.
"Eighty percent of success is showing up."
-- Woody Allen
Doesn't that take off the pressure? Sometimes just being in the right place at the right time is all it takes. If you're feeling a sudden impulse to go somewhere, go.
Many years ago, I once won a medal in a karate sparring competition -- because I showed up. Unlike some of my competitors, who chickened out at the last minute. I stepped forward, got beaten up in the one fight I did end up fighting, and yet I ended up with a medal! I didn't get into sports until college, so this was the only sports medal I ever acquired and felt like an amazing achievement. Me, the anti-jock, won a medal in karate! And I still have that medal to this day.
So even if things don't work quite the way you have hoped for, take heart. Edison said that that he found 999 ways the light bulb did NOT work. Or something along those lines. What a great positive spin on having tried something a thousand times until it finally worked.
But if you're still feeling discouraged, consider this:
"It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final."
-- Roger Babson
Indeed. And Robert Frost has found an even cooler way to put it:
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
It does indeed. And every day we get another chance to make a new start. In fact, every moment, but it does seem to work better after a good night's sleep.
And if anyone ever picks on you for your perceived lack of success, remember what Bill Cosby had to say about that one:
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
-- Bill Cosby
Another one of my favorites, Albert Einstein, found another way to put it in perspective:
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
-- Albert Einstein
One of my favorites is on a coffee mug I acquired while I went through breast cancer treatments -- and it really helped me gain perspective:
"Don't take life too seriously. It's not permanent."
-- On a coffee mug by Oz
And so, instead of focusing too hard on what everybody else wants us to do, or achieving success at any price, why not go with Joseph Campbell and follow our bliss:
"Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."
-- Joseph Campbell
I always try to remember that one whenever I'm tempted to get discouraged. And keep looking for the doors, which keep turning up in the most surprising places.