I love a good inspirational quote. Sometimes they pop up magically when I need them most, other times I will read one and file it away for use at a later date. There are several quotes that have helped me through difficult times and some that I just love because they make me happy. Full disclosure though, I still struggle to take my own advice so don’t worry if you throw all of these out the window when you probably need them most!
Here are a few of my favourites. I hope they help you in the same way.
- Settle in, float up. – This was taken from an amazing post on Facebook a long time ago. The story was about the sometimes chaotic times that we face as mothers and how it can feel so overwhelming as though we are drowning. The writer used the analogy of the ocean. If we panic and flounder about and try and fight the waves, we will tire ourselves out and make things worse. Instead, we need to settle in and float up. When things feel overwhelming and you can’t find your footing. Lean in to the chaos, accept it rather than fighting it and just go with it, you will float to the surface. Weird but it really stuck with me and often when I am feeling really anxious or out of control I remind myself to settle in and float through it.
- Share the shit/ find someone who will sit in the shit with you. – Often when we are in our darkest moments and grieving, those surrounding us want us to feel better. It is natural to want to help someone and make them happy, sometimes though, we need someone to sit in the shit with us and just be there. If you have ever experienced grief or depression, you will understand this.
- Instead of waiting for the sunshine, learn to dance in the rain. – Instead of waiting for life to get better, embrace things as they are now. It’s all in the mindset.
- This to shall pass/ this is a phase. – A particularly helpful one when you have a baby! Nothing lasts forever and every challenging phase is temporary, I promise.
- Fight it or survive it/ choose your battles. – If you can’t control a situation or do anything about it, find a way to survive it.
- Just keep swimming. – A classic thanks to Finding Nemo.
- Be a kaleidoscope. The idea is that it’s a structure that’s filled with broken bits and pieces, and somehow if you look through them, you still see something beautiful.