I have to level with you guys, because I feel like I can open up about certain things in this arena of my life (meaning here on my blog). I had a really rough weekend last weekend for a few reasons. Things that I really don't want to see changing are changing in my life right now, and they are things that are really outside of my control. It hurts my heart to think that I'm losing people from my life who have been around for so long, but I'm hitting a point where I have to start thinking more of myself. I've always been someone who gives and gives to others (sometimes at the risk of forgetting all about me), and that's something that has to change.
So, on that note, I'll be using those feelings to guide me in choosing our Thoughts on Thursday this week. I hope that you can understand--and I don't want to get too detailed, because I hate when other people pour out every little tidbit of their lives in a blog like this. I just felt like you should know that there's a purpose behind my choices for topics. And if you've ever gone through (or, heaven forbid, are now going through) a period where you've lost friends as a product of growing up and kind of growing apart, I hope these thoughts will offer you some solace as they have for me.
First up: thoughts on adversity.
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." ~M. Kathleen Casey
"The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief." ~William Shakespeare, Othello
(This is one of my favorite quotes. Ever.)
"We acquire the strength we have overcome." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don't embrace trouble; that's as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known." ~Garrison Keillor
Now for some thoughts on change.
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." ~Mary Engelbreit
(Easier said than done, but sound advice nonetheless.)
"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." ~W. Edwards Deming
(Wow. Blunt, but effective, eh?)
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~Anatole France
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." ~Victor Frankl
"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves." ~Lynn Hall
And last, but most certainly not least, are some thoughts on action.
"I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts." ~John Locke
"The shortest answer is doing." ~Lord Herbert
"Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement." ~Alfred Adler
(This is one of my favorite quotes, too. So, so true.)
"Ironically, making a statement with words is the least effective method." ~Grey Livingston
"As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." ~Andrew Carnegie
I think that'll do for today. Lots of really great thoughts and really sound advice up there. I have to say, just taking time to read through quotes and think on them...it's super cathartic for me. I hope something made you stop and think.
So glad tomorrow is Friday. This weekend will probably be a pretty busy one, but that's a good thing, I think. I'll see you back here for tomorrow's edition of Friday Funnies.
Have a great night!
♥ Marlee
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