“One of the most painful things about being a human being, in my opinion, is when you feel like you’re not of use to anyone and you have nothing it give. It’s heartbreaking. And a lot of people who are sick, feel that way because just taking care of themselves takes up so much of their time.” ~ Claire Wineland, Relatable
“We teach sick people that when they are sick, somehow, someway, they cannot be as happy as normal, healthy people. We teach them that their happiness, their contentment in life, their joy in life, is tied to how healthy they are.” ~ Claire Wineland, Klick MUSE New York
“How do we make it so that when someone is born with a chronic illness, someone who is going to be sick, who might always be sick—who might die sick—can still live a life that they are proud of? How do we teach kids who are sick, teach people who are sick in general, to not feel ashamed of their illness or their experience of life, but to learn from it and to make something from it?” ~ Claire Wineland (20), EEM LA 2018
“Innovation doesn’t happen because there’s some person who’s in some great circumstance and everything is going well and they get on a roll and they make something for the world. Innovation happens—art happens—because of suffering.” ~ Claire Wineland, Klick MUSE New York
“Some of the happiest moments in my life have been when I am sick in the hospital—honestly. And think about the implications of that because I have lived the kind of life that all of you spend your entire lives running from. I’ve been sick and dying my entire life. And yet, I am so proud of my life. What does that say? We’re waiting to be healthy; we’re waiting to be wealthy; we’re waiting to find our passion; we’re waiting to find our true love before we actually start living! Instead of looking at everything that we have—looking at all of the pain, looking at all of the sadness, looking at all of the beauty, and making something with that. That’s how innovation happens.” ~ Claire Wineland, Klick MUSE New York
“I have lived a life of a lot of pain and I’m not pretending that I haven’t. I’ve had to deal with death; I’ve had to deal with painful surgeries; I’ve had to deal with being alone and scared in the hospital. But I have had a beautiful life—and one that I am so incredibly proud of. And that is not in spite of having Cystic Fibrosis… That’s because of it.” ~ Claire Wineland (19), Zappos All Hands Meeting
“An optimist is one who sees opportunity in every difficulty. A pessimist is one who sees difficulty in every opportunity.” ~ L. P. Jacks, via The Way of the Seal
“The nature of the outer, conscious mind is to receive input, process it through our story filter, and then make meaning out of it. A problem arises when too much of what flows through our minds is negative: The conscious mind dwells on negative things and obsesses about them. Sound familiar? It’s well known that whatever we focus on tends to become our reality, even if the focus is on not wanting something. Negative input can plant seeds of destruction in our subconscious mind, which then partners with our conscious mind in a conspiracy for failure.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“Drive is fueled by desire, belief, and expectation that we can achieve something extraordinary through our efforts. It feeds on discipline in that it becomes stronger as we commit ourselves at deeper levels to our pursuits.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“Discipline is the spark that ignites the fire of a habit. Those fires must be lit daily, and discipline provides the original source energy. The word discipline literally means to be a disciple to a higher purpose. Developing the discipline to train hard every day means you become a disciple—not to the training itself, not just to looking good or stroking your ego, but to the higher purpose of developing yourself fully as a human being and as a leader.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“When it comes to habits, the best approach isn’t to focus on eliminating unwanted behaviors but to replace them with new habits and drown the old out. This is true of replacing a nasty habit like smoking with a healthy habit like exercise, and it’s just as true with replacing a character habit like laziness with a more useful one such as embracing the suck. Our habits define us: Solid character habits define a solid character.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“Whether we’re talking about mental or physical effort, the first step to embracing the suck is to step up and face your fear of suffering. We all share this fear, which stems from a deep-rooted need for certainty and security. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that security is threatened because something is out of whack. However, when you consistently experience the personal growth that accrues from deliberately putting yourself out of balance, such as with hard workouts, you begin to embrace that temporary pain for the rewards it brings. The fear recedes into oblivion as you embrace the suck.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“I am just an average man, but by God I work harder than the average man.” ~ Winston Churchill, via The Way of the Seal
“Too many of us succumb to a weak internal story informed by flawed but popular beliefs. We are reactionary to objective events, easily buffeted by the winds of change. Pop culture, people we interact with daily, and external events shape and reinforce this subjective reality. In these instances, we end up being extras in someone else’s story, reacting our way through life, lacking integrity and out of balance.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“Comfort imprisons us in a low-grade fear of suffering. We naturally shy from things that hurt, not understanding how much this pattern debilitates us and keeps us from experiencing life at its fullest. We must define our comfort zone, and then get the heck out of it!” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard, via The Way of the Seal
“When it’s obvious that a goal cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goal, adjust the action steps.” ~ Chinese Proverb, via The Way of the Seal
“Success doesn’t come to you… you go to it.” ~ Marva Collins, via The Way of the Seal
“Though we’d like to believe our thoughts are under our control, guess again. Thoughts arise constantly, and many have no business being in our minds, nor do they have a positive purpose in our lives. Road rage, what goes through your mind when someone cuts you off in traffic, is a good example of an emotion-driven thought.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal
“To win anything, we must first win control over our minds.” ~ Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal