“Do you need to give yourself permission to do something big for your special year? Just imagine, as an alternative, spending the rest of your life being dragged behind the Great Dane of your overcommitments to others. For five minutes it’s cute. Over a lifetime, it destroys what’s best in you and what’s unique about you. If you don’t care about that, it’s too bad. Maybe they got you, all those voices working away from the time you were a little [child], trying to convince you that your only needs were to meet other people’s needs. But I think you do care. A lot.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 151)
“We never lose the good parts of ourselves we really care about. All the parts of yourself you’re wanting to put back in your life are there waiting for you. The pain you feel comes from the way these missing parts of yourself slowly choke from lack of oxygen when they’re buried. All you have to do is identify what’s really missing. Then make sure you find room for it in your life.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 111)
“There was so much in my life I cared about—and of course I really loved being a therapist. But on another level there wasn’t anything in it I wanted just for me. It was as if my life had turned into a motel room and the truth was I could walk out of it without any sense that I was leaving anything of my own behind. A stranger could easily move into my life, and nothing would be different. I was happy as long as I didn’t think about who I was and what I really wanted for myself.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 44)
“The people in your life are truly interested in your being happy. The confusing thing is that they don’t go around advertising this. Your boss, your kids, your husband mostly talk about how they need this and they need that from you. But when you’re unhappy, a part of their world collapses. So if you have to shuffle your priorities around and put someone last who’s been coming first, and some of the people in your life start giving you grief, just remember how happy they’ll be when you’re happy.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 37)
“When you make yourself a top priority in your life for one year, you prove to yourself forever that you’re free, not trapped. You prove that you own your life, instead of feeling that everyone else’s claims on you come first. You prove that you can take care of yourself. You change the way you feel about your life forever. So do it now: cut one big slice from the pie of life and give it to yourself.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 17)
Mira Kirshenbaum Quote on Self-Care and How Important It Is To Give To Yourself
“If you don’t give to yourself, you will suffer damage.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 16)
Beyond the Quote (230/365)
More specifically, if you don’t give to yourself some of your own time, energy, and effort—you will suffer damage. And we’re not talking about presents. You can live just fine without ever buying yourself superfluous gifts. What you can’t live “just fine” without, however, are the gifts of “you” time, the self-directed energy required for self-discovery and healing, and the personal effort it takes to overcome challenges and become your best you. If you only ever direct your time, energy, and effort towards others—where are you supposed to get the time, energy, and effort required to maintain, upgrade, and improve yourself?
Read More »Mira Kirshenbaum Quote on Self-Care and How Important It Is To Give To Yourself“Giving yourself the gift of a year has a magical impact on your life because it restores the natural, necessary balance between giving to yourself and giving to others. There’s no reason for you to leave yourself outside of the equation. In the ecology of your life, you’re as important as anyone. If things curdle inside of you because you’ve neglected yourself, then ultimately they curdle for everyone.”
Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 10)
Oh, how different the world would look…
“How different would the world look if people spent as much time listening to their conscience as they did to chattering broadcasts? If they could respond to the calls of their convictions as quickly as we answer the dings and rings of technology in our pockets? All this noise. All this information. All these inputs. We are afraid of the silence. We are afraid of looking stupid. We are afraid of missing out. We are afraid of being the bad guy who says, ‘Nope, not interested.’ We’d rather make ourselves miserable than make ourselves a priority, than be our best selves. Than be still… and in charge of our own information diet.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 36)
Thich Nhat Hanh Quote on Suffering and Having Compassion For Those Who Are In Pain
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Beyond the Quote (76/365)
Below, you will find an exchange between another person and I in regards to the quote above and the caption I put up for it. It’s a good exchange and there are elements that I think are worth elaborating on and discussing. Here is the exchange:
Read More »Thich Nhat Hanh Quote on Suffering and Having Compassion For Those Who Are In Pain12 Empowering Don Miguel Ruiz Quotes from The Mastery of Love
Excerpt: Want to master the art of love? Start here. These 12 quotes from The Mastery of Love are elegant, insightful, and ready for pondering.
Read More »12 Empowering Don Miguel Ruiz Quotes from The Mastery of Love
