Friday, April 19, 2013

Q Is For...Quotes

Q Is For...Quotes

Specifically, quotes about happiness.

This is something I need to work on.

I only have one pair of pants that fits well. It's been like that for years. I know that if I just lost 15 pounds, I would have an entire wardrobe of clothes. So I only allow myself the one pair, and I wash it a lot. I either wear my pajama bottoms or squeeze into something uncomfortable while I wait for that one pair of pants to dry.

If I forced one of my children to wear the same thing over and over until they looked prettier, it would be considered abusive. I've been planning to lose that weight for a long, long time, and it hasn't happened. I still want it to. I still plan to do it. Deep in my heart, I hope that weight loss is a side affect of happiness. But, in all my soul-searching, I'm finally realizing that trying to beat myself into good health is backfiring. It is making me miserable AND I'm steadily gaining weight.

So, here are a few quotes from The Happiness Project about being happy.

  • The belief that unhappiness is selfless and happiness is selfish is misguided. It's more selfless to act happy. It takes energy, generosity, and discipline to be unfailingly lighthearted, yet everyone takes the happy person for granted. No one is careful of his feelings or tries to keep his spirits high. He seems self-sufficient; he becomes a cushion for others. And because happiness seems unforced, that person usually gets no credit.  -Gretchen Rubin
  • What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.-Gretchen Rubin 
  • When I find myself focusing overmuch on the anticipated future happiness of arriving at a certain goal, I remind myself to 'Enjoy now'. If I can enjoy the present, I don't need to count on the happiness that is (or isn't) waiting for me in the future.
  •  ... one flaw throws the loveliness of [everything else] into focus. I remember reading that Shakers deliberately introduced a mistake into the things they made, to show that man shouldn't aspire to the perfection of God. Flawed can be more perfect than perfection. -Gretchen Rubin
  • Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain. -Unknown
  • A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires. -Paulo Coelho
  • Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate. So practice happy thinking everyday. Cultivate the merry heart, develop the happiness habit, and life with become a continual feast. -Norman Vincent Peale
  • Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. -Unknown
  • I have been running so sweaty my whole life, urgent for a finish line, and I have been missing the rapture this whole time.
    Of being forever incomplete – Alanis Morissette
  • Exercise for sanity, not vanity. -Gretchen Rubin
This one is from Hungry For Change:
  • Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life. -Anthony Robbins

3 comments:

  1. I have heard from a few friends that they were doing the same as you - keeping all those clothes that don't quite fit anymore, because they WILL get back down to a previous weight again. And then they've decided to just let go and move on. That doesn't mean they're never going to lose weight though.

    Those are some great quotes!

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  2. I love the one about learning to dance in the rain! That's delightful! I agree with the one that suggests you should "practice happy thinking every day." I usually look on the bright side and try to find humor in things. Sometimes, it's really hard, and I admit to a downward spiral in the past year. I'm really hoping things are changing for the better now. :-)

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  3. Love, love, love that first quote. You know fat people can be happy too ;)

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