Welcome to “What’s Your Story?”, the occasional Tuesday space where I invite YOU to participate in the writing. Every episode, I offer a new writing prompt. In 200 words or less, YOU get to tell YOUR story.
I got a card in the mail yesterday. As I read the letter that was on the inside, it occurred to me that I want to be the kind of person who sends cards with a personal letter inside. Within 10 minutes, I had ordered 100 blank cards from Amazon and asked my mom if she would bring me some watercoloring supplies the next day. Today (the next day), I have created two cards, written a personal letter on the inside and sealed, stamped and addressed them both.
All that to let you know that I’m in search of short quotes and sayings, words that I can write in cursive on the front of my handmade cards. What’s your favorite? If you’re inspired, you can talk a little bit about why you love it (200 words or less), but that’s optional. Please comment below with one or two of your favorite short quotes or sayings. I’ll go first.
"Acceptance is giving up all hope for a better past."
I have a recurring thought that if I had lived my life differently, this illness wouldn't have progressed the way it has. If only I had slow down sooner. Acceptance of ME/CFS is one of my greatest challenges. No matter how badly I wish it were different, there's this brick wall of reality that I wake up to every morning. I recognize that wishing for this moment to be different is essentially wanting to change the past.
The first time I heard this saying, I laughed out loud with its truth. I realize that acceptance happens in this moment and all I really have is this moment. It was the past that lead to this moment and there's absolutely nothing I can do to change the past -- even though I desperately wish I could.
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” ~~Buddha.
This is particularly poignant for Boomers like me, who know we are almost out of it. A good friend just died suddenly of a brain tumor. We were planning for her to visit me here in Spain, “sometime later.” I once painted some red daisies with their petals blowing off in the wind, with this saying underneath. Enjoy the new project, and thanks, as always, for sharing your wisdom with us. ♥️
"We all have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one."
I found this quote around the time of my divorce after a 24-year union. It brought me much comfort and validated my feelings of needing to live the rest of my life free of the stress that filled the latter part of my marriage.
“All suffering can be borne when you tell a story about it.” Isak Dinesen
“Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth without judgment or blame. Don’t be attached to the outcome.”
“When the entire situation is taken into account, you’ve always done the best you possibly could in every moment. Without exception. This is especially true for you.” Harvey Jackins
“First thought. Best thought.”
“First thought. Slave thought.”
“What a relief it is to be human instead of the god or goddess my parents imagined me to be.” Marion Woodman
“This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day thou canst not then be false to any man” grandad via hamlet
Those are a few that come to mind. Dang, I could go on and on.
Receiving and sending cards is the best. I often make b day cards. It's so nice to receive a handmade card or handmade anything. The M. E 25% grp has a card sending grp I just sent to 2 women on their 80s and 90s. Housebound and getting something nice in the post is such a lift x
One that I’ve found so useful for recovery from CFS specifically: “slow progress is lasting progress”. You want to push and rush but it’s true, slow progress is lasting progress.
This actually came up in my FB memories this morning:
Even after all this time the sun never says to the Earth "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky. ~ Hafez
I used to get unconsciously trapped in keeping account in certain relationships. I was awakened to this pattern when someone measured the love I put into our relationship and found it unequal to their input and efforts. This quote has been a great teacher for me in the years since.
"We all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I stayed where I was happy." Mary Oliver
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
“Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall be satisfied “ My brother wrote that on a school book cover; you know, the kind that they tell you to make out of a brown paper bag. A cousin saw it and snorted at the “religious slogan,” but it isn’t really religious, even though it sounds like one of the Beatitudes. In fact, it is true by definition. Disappointment is when you expect something and you don’t get it.
"This too shall pass"-- Often said to me by my mother growing up, who said it was something her mother always said, and now it's something I've said to/taught my own daughter. It really helps me to remember that I won't always feel a certain way or be in a certain moment when I'm experiencing something that causes me to feel anxious, scared, embarrassed, angry, sad, or hurt.
My other favorite is from Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver:
To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.
This quote helps to me to normalize the pain of grief or loss. To know others have or are feeling the same way... And to remind myself that letting go does not mean forgetting...letting go is a survival skill, not selfish
Here are some of mine: “The only way out is through” (Robert Frost); “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” (Mary Oliver); “What you seek is seeking you” (Rumi).
"Acceptance is giving up all hope for a better past."
I have a recurring thought that if I had lived my life differently, this illness wouldn't have progressed the way it has. If only I had slow down sooner. Acceptance of ME/CFS is one of my greatest challenges. No matter how badly I wish it were different, there's this brick wall of reality that I wake up to every morning. I recognize that wishing for this moment to be different is essentially wanting to change the past.
The first time I heard this saying, I laughed out loud with its truth. I realize that acceptance happens in this moment and all I really have is this moment. It was the past that lead to this moment and there's absolutely nothing I can do to change the past -- even though I desperately wish I could.
Several in one song by Leonard cohen:
Ring the bell that still can ring…
Forget your perfect offering…
There is a crack, a crack in everything…
That’s how the light gets in.
Love you Hal.
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” ~~Buddha.
This is particularly poignant for Boomers like me, who know we are almost out of it. A good friend just died suddenly of a brain tumor. We were planning for her to visit me here in Spain, “sometime later.” I once painted some red daisies with their petals blowing off in the wind, with this saying underneath. Enjoy the new project, and thanks, as always, for sharing your wisdom with us. ♥️
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
This reminds me to do what I can to make the world a better place.
Sayings that I love:
To find yourself, think for yourself
There is no remote for life, get up and change it yourself
Let Go Let God
Run your own race
Don't forget to dream
"We all have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one."
I found this quote around the time of my divorce after a 24-year union. It brought me much comfort and validated my feelings of needing to live the rest of my life free of the stress that filled the latter part of my marriage.
“All suffering can be borne when you tell a story about it.” Isak Dinesen
“Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth without judgment or blame. Don’t be attached to the outcome.”
“When the entire situation is taken into account, you’ve always done the best you possibly could in every moment. Without exception. This is especially true for you.” Harvey Jackins
“First thought. Best thought.”
“First thought. Slave thought.”
“What a relief it is to be human instead of the god or goddess my parents imagined me to be.” Marion Woodman
“This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day thou canst not then be false to any man” grandad via hamlet
Those are a few that come to mind. Dang, I could go on and on.
"Accept - Adapt - Create" (Dick Blake)
Today I will Do Absolutely Nothing (unknown)
"All is done without doing" (Lao Tzu)
"Our hearts should do this more" (Hafiz)
"All things are possible" (Jesus Christ)
"I do not know what I do not know" Aristotle
You're an inspiration. oops, that's more than two... Thanks Hal
"We need to have people who mean something to us. People to whom we can turn, knowing that being with them, is coming home" Fr. Bernard Cooke
A kid whith whom I worked decades ago made a wooden plaque for me with this quote painted on it. This plaque has graced every place I've lived since.
Be you there's no better version
Anon
Receiving and sending cards is the best. I often make b day cards. It's so nice to receive a handmade card or handmade anything. The M. E 25% grp has a card sending grp I just sent to 2 women on their 80s and 90s. Housebound and getting something nice in the post is such a lift x
"No more advice. Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love. "
(The Essential Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks, pg. 51)
I have beautiful quotes, inspirational quotes, and funny quotes, but this quote touches me most deeply.
" The Three Hardest Things To Say
1. I'm sorry
2. I Need Help
3. Worcestershire Sauce "
- anon
Underneath my dear friend had printed the additional line "Stay Strong, You Are Not Alone."
I wear the T- shirt often to remind me of this ever so challenging reminder.
“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it's better to listen to what it has to say.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
One that I’ve found so useful for recovery from CFS specifically: “slow progress is lasting progress”. You want to push and rush but it’s true, slow progress is lasting progress.
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.
There is no rush.
At your own pace.
Practice kindness.
This actually came up in my FB memories this morning:
Even after all this time the sun never says to the Earth "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky. ~ Hafez
I used to get unconsciously trapped in keeping account in certain relationships. I was awakened to this pattern when someone measured the love I put into our relationship and found it unequal to their input and efforts. This quote has been a great teacher for me in the years since.
"We all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I stayed where I was happy." Mary Oliver
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
Shared joy is double joy; Shared sorrow is half a sorrow.
An aphorism that a fellow middle school teacher put on her window: interrupt anxiety with gratitude
“Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall be satisfied “ My brother wrote that on a school book cover; you know, the kind that they tell you to make out of a brown paper bag. A cousin saw it and snorted at the “religious slogan,” but it isn’t really religious, even though it sounds like one of the Beatitudes. In fact, it is true by definition. Disappointment is when you expect something and you don’t get it.
"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time", James Taylor. Pretty much pick any line in the lyrics.
"This too shall pass"-- Often said to me by my mother growing up, who said it was something her mother always said, and now it's something I've said to/taught my own daughter. It really helps me to remember that I won't always feel a certain way or be in a certain moment when I'm experiencing something that causes me to feel anxious, scared, embarrassed, angry, sad, or hurt.
My other favorite is from Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver:
To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.
This quote helps to me to normalize the pain of grief or loss. To know others have or are feeling the same way... And to remind myself that letting go does not mean forgetting...letting go is a survival skill, not selfish
Here are some of mine: “The only way out is through” (Robert Frost); “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” (Mary Oliver); “What you seek is seeking you” (Rumi).
Honor your Self, meditate on your Self. God dwells within you as you. - Swami Muktananda.
I love this quote, one i first heard decades ago when I started meditating, because it sums up my practice, and, for me, the secret of spirituality.