On Saturday, due to what I choose to call a freak accident (but was really the result of not paying attention), I gave myself a corneal abrasion. If you've ever had one of those you know it hurts like hell. A tiny, all but microscopic, scrape that anywhere else would go un-noticed, on the surface of the eye throws the entire body into battle mode. Which is to say, not only does it hurt, it's exhausting. After a quick visit to my neighborhood urgent care center to get help (they gave me this wonderful eye numbing drop but it only lasted an hour!) and antibiotics I spent the rest of the weekend huddled in a ball waiting for the pain to go away.
When I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself long enough to blurrily look around, I remembered this old post and reading it really did brighten me up. Maybe you could use a little brightening up too, so here it is, from the archives.
*****
The last few weeks have been rough mood wise. I have no idea why, and like I sometimes say to my patients, does the why really matter? The dark, shadowy mood just descended for no good reason. I needed help. Sometimes help comes in funny packages. For me it started with a series of quotes that seemed to appear out of nowhere but actually were delivered via friends, Twitter and Facebook. They aren't earth shattering, they just spoke to me and the weird mood I found myself in at the time. I'm sharing them with you just in case they speak to you, too…
"Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment." ~Dale Carnegie
"If you just try hard enough and long enough, you can always manage to boot yourself in the posterior." ~A.J. Leibling
"Each time you judge yourself you break your own heart." ~Swami Kripalu
"Self-confidence is the best accessory and cheaper than a new pair of shoes." ~Annie Fox
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~Anais Nin
Do you have a favorite quote you save for when you can use a lift? Please share!
Love the Dale Carnegie quote! I’m not sure that I have one particular quote that comes to mind when I need one. More often than not Bible verses that fit the situation jump to the forefront of my mind.
“Victory is the place where our breaking point becomes our turning point”. L.Burt
According to older alumni, a favorite aphorism of Buffalo Seminary’s legendary head of school, Gertrude Angell (1902 – 1952″ was “Make anything that happens TO you good FOR you.” While some things may be impossible to promote to “good”, this aphorism always reminds me that we can make a difference in how we choose to go forward.
Great quotes guys! Thanks!
Another one I like is “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” ~John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic (1928)