Inspirational words Women

“When I was 38 I contemplated beginning a two year Associates Degree in Radiography. I was talking to a friend and had almost talked myself out of doing it. I said ‘I’m too old to start that. I’ll be 40 when I get my degree.’ My friend said ‘If you don’t do it, you’ll still be 40, but without the degree.’ I’m nearly 60 now, and that degree has been the difference between making a decent living, and struggling to get by.”

“When I was young and having what I thought was a serious relationship talk with my first real SO, I told her that I just wanted to find the right person.

Without missing a beat she said, ‘Everybody is looking for the right person, and nobody is trying to be the right person.’

That stopped me in my tracks.”

“My mom was dying. A friend told me ‘you have your whole life to freak out about this– don’t do it in front of her.’

It really helped me to understand that my feelings are not always what’s important. It IS possible to delay a freakout, and that skill has served me innumerable times.”

“I was 13 years old, trying to teach my 6 year old sister how to dive into a swimming pool from the side of the pool. It was taking quite a while as my sister was really nervous about it. We were at a big, public pool, and nearby there was a woman, about 75 years old, slowly swimming laps. Occasionally she would stop and watch us. Finally she swam over to us just when I was really putting the pressure on, trying to get my sister to try the dive, and my sister was shouting, ‘but I’m afraid!! I’m so afraid!!’ The old woman looked at my sister, raised her fist defiantly in the air and said, ‘So be afraid! And then do it anyway!’

That was 35 years ago and I have never forgotten it. It was a revelation — it’s not about being unafraid. It’s about being afraid and doing it anyway.”

“‘It’s only embarrassing if you’re embarrassed.’

Changed my life forever.”

“I met a person who was in a wheelchair. He related a story about how a person once asked if it was difficult to be confined to a wheelchair.

He responded, ‘I’m not confined to my wheelchair – I am liberated by it. If it wasn’t for my wheelchair, I would be bed-bound and never able to leave my room or house.’”

“The person that you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so try to make yourself as interesting as possible.”