Tag: Inner Strength

Your Identity

“If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.”
― Thomas Merton

       Your identity is not defined by your job, your hobbies, your favorite color, your favorite tv show, etc. It goes much deeper than that. Your identity is intertwined with your core essence. It is tied to your purpose in life…it goes to what drives you to get out of bed each day and fight the good fight. It is the one thing no one can ever take from you.

Juggling Five Balls

“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”

― James Patterson

        As you progress through life, you begin to reassess your priorities and values. You hopefully learn that your family, health, friends and integrity are priceless. They are like glass balls – fragile and irreplaceable. These are things worth fighting for because if you are lucky enough to collect all four balls, you have all you need for a fulfilling life. And yes, it’s hard to juggle all five balls when you throw work into the mix, but do you really want to find out what life’s like when you drop one of the glass balls? I surely hope not. So, take each day and check the excuses at the door.  Make time to nurture the aspects of your life of utmost importance – friendships, family, your health and your integrity. For when it’s gone, it’s gone…

Change Your Outlook

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”

― Brian Tracy

       I believe firmly that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Change and growth isn’t about waiting for your circumstances to change or for someone’s behavior to change, it is about changing how you perceive the world around you. By changing your attitude and outlook, you can go from being stuck to creating a life filled with joy and limitless possibilities.

Know Yourself

“Know who you are, and be it. Know what you want, and go out and get it!”

― Carroll Bryant

       Be secure in who you are and each day strive to be that person.  There will always be someone who has a negative opinion of you and your choices, but at the end of the day, you must remember this is your life.  So, ignore the naysayers and do you.  Everything else will fall into place.

Take Control

“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.”

― Susan Polis Schutz

       What you do in this life is truly up to you. No one else can live your life for you. We each have our own path we must walk alone. And it is up to you to choose how you travel. You can choose to make your path very difficult to traverse by tying ankle weights to your legs or you can choose to free yourself from the burdens of yesterday and embrace your journey. Free your mind, body and soul. Take the power inside of you to author your own story. Because at the end of the day, this life is yours and yours alone.

The Path of Change

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

― Jon Krakauer

        Don’t be afraid of change because it is so easy to become complacent and comfortable in our lives. We may be miserable but something holds us back from getting up and making change happen. Whether it be a fear of the unknown or of failure. But at some point, you must wake up and realize that life isn’t about feeling safe, secure and comfortable all the time. Sometimes you have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and take a leap of faith to truly learn what it means to fly. So, today stop making excuses for your unhappy circumstances and take your first step down the untrodden path of change.

Free Yourself

“How would your life be different if…You stopped allowing other people to dilute or poison your day with their words or opinions? Let today be the day…You stand strong in the truth of your beauty and journey through your day without attachment to the validation of others”

― Steve Maraboli

        Today, choose to be free of caring about what the world thinks of you. Choose to be free of letting other people’s words and opinions define you. Live your truth and your truth alone.

Stay True to Who You Are

“Life is funny. Things change, people change, but you will always be you, so stay true to yourself and never sacrifice who you are for anyone.”

― Zayn Malik

    One of the most important lessons you must learn is to never compromise who you are for anyone – including for a job, a significant other, a family member, or a friend. It is so hard to stay true to yourself when you have outside influences and voices trying to change you and criticizing you when you try to say no. But it is at these times when you are facing immense pressure to behave in a certain manner that you must find the strength and courage to not give in and to not sacrifice who you are. Stand tall in your convictions and always listen to your inner voice.

Be Comfortable with the Company You Keep

“The person in life that you will always be with the most, is yourself. Because even when you are with others, you are still with yourself, too! When you wake up in the morning, you are with yourself, laying in bed at night you are with yourself, walking down the street in the sunlight you are with yourself.What kind of person do you want to walk down the street with? What kind of person do you want to wake up in the morning with? What kind of person do you want to see at the end of the day before you fall asleep? Because that person is yourself, and it’s your responsibility to be that person you want to be with. I know I want to spend my life with a person who knows how to let things go, who’s not full of hate, who’s able to smile and be carefree. So that’s who I have to be.”

– C. JoyBell C

       It is true that the person you will spend time with the most is yourself. So, you better love the company you keep. You must contemplate the type of person you would like to wake up to. Who do you want to spend time with? And then you must strive to be your highest self at all times. Check the pettiness, jealousy, hatred and self-loathing at the door. Embrace compassion, learn to forgive and let go – be a free spirit.  And become someone you would be honored to walk hand in hand with through this journey we call life.

Change the Channel

Life has no remote….get up and change it yourself!”

― Mark A. Cooper

      If at any point in life, you get tired of the the show playing…then get up and change the channel. No one else can do it for you. You have to decide when you’re tired of watching reruns and repeat episodes that make up your life and then make some changes.