• A big bunch of inspirational sayings and motivational phrases …
• … presented like a reflective essay, a kind of motivation essay.
• This motivation article is personal development, self improvement and spirituality the entertaining way.
• It is chuck full of sayings to motivate, self improvement quotes ….
• … empowering quotes, coaching quotes & other good quotes.
Getting Going & Getting There
A Chinese saying (originally it’s actually a Lao-tzu quote) states:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
The Buddha said:
A jug fills drop by drop.
The great and simple thing is:
You want to go somewhere, achieve something? Then take biggest next step. Can’t take a big step? Then take a smaller step. Can’t even take a small step? Then take a tiny baby step. Then: Just keep doing that. Even teeny-tiny baby steps will get you where you want to go!
~ Soren Lauritzen ~
But where DO you want to go? Do you know?
A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it.
~ Motivational saying ~
Which Way? – Alice in Wonderland Quotes and Inspirational Sayings.
Many years ago (around 1865) a man named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, but using the pen name of Lewis Carroll, wrote some highly imaginative books by the names of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and its sequel ‘Through the Looking Glass’.
In the first book, which we now know as ‘Alice in Wonderland’, the little girl, Alice, feels pretty lost in Wonderland, but meets the widely smiling Cheshire Cat. This is how it was originally illustrated by John Tenniel (the Cheshire Cat quote is added by me):
Now, this is a children’s book, but if you read the quote carefully, you’ll see that it’s amazingly deep. Off and on we all secretly long for someone to tell us where to go (and how to get there), but obviously we ALSO want to keep our independence and decide for ourselves.
In the end, though, it doesn’t really matter where you want to go – or which way you take. Because:
No matter where you go, there you are!
~ Inspirational saying ~
So, what does matter, then?
Well, one thing that really matters is who you (think you) are.
But Who and What to be?- More Alice in Wonderland Quotes and Inspirational Sayings.
Let’s look at another Alice in Wonderland quote, one of the difficult ones:
‘I quite agree with you,’ said the Duchess; ‘and the moral of that is – "Be what you would seem to be; – or if you’d like it put more simply – Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.
I think I should understand that better,’ Alice said very politely, ‘if I had it written down: but I can’t quite follow it as you say it.’
‘That’s nothing to what I could say if I chose,’ the Duchess replied, in a pleased tone.
‘Pray don’t trouble yourself to say it any longer than that,’ said Alice.
~ Lewis Carroll ~ (an Alice in Wonderland quote)
Is what the Duchess is saying incomprehensible gibberish? It sure seems that way. But Mr. Dodgson/Carroll was a mathematician and constructed this particular linguistic and grammatical Gordian knot very carefully.
As far as I can interpret it, using my sense of language and logic, this is (approx.) what he is saying:
‘Always imagine yourself to be different from your appearance to others, so your identity is the same, whether or not other people think you’re different.’
In other words: You’re you, different or not, so just be yourself, no matter what other people think!
Or, even more simplified: Be yourself.
And that’s very sound advice indeed.
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
~ Judy Garland ~
It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.
~ Desiderius Erasmus ~
Be Yourself … Even If at First It Scares Your Pants Off
If you are plainly and simply authentically you, your life will be as easy as it can be.
The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere.
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~
For most people an inordinate amount of energy is tied up in trying to appear in a certain way. That’s a total waste of energy. I know, because it used to be that way for me, too.
My family quietly appreciated certain things (being strong and intelligent, for instance), and even more quietly depreciated other things (e.g. being weak and dumb). Those values/beliefs were hardly ever spoken out loud, but there was never any doubt that they were there.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with being strong or intelligent, of course, and I’ve learned a lot about those two characteristics, but ALWAYS having to appear that way is awfully hard work! Because, hey, I can be frail and stupid sometimes, too.
My process of personal development helped me let go of those rigid and largely unconscious values/beliefs, and I’m telling you: It was a tough process, but it freed up an enormous amount of energy. Today I use all that energy creatively, which is ever so much more satisfying. Also, today, I can pretty much just be myself.
Being yourself means: No more lying, no more posing, no more worrying about your image.
Yes, that’s scary. You’ll probably face your own fears. But:
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
~ E. E. Cummings ~
If you are going through hell, keep going.
~ Sir Winston Churchill ~
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
~ Dr. Seuss ~
Beliefs are Very, Very Important
Inspirational Sayings about Beliefs.
Above, I talked about values and beliefs. Now, if you’re interested in self improvement, self help and personal development, you’ve probably heard about how important your thoughts and ‘the way you think’ is. And it’s quite true.
Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.
~ Henry Ford ~
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.
~ Inspirational saying ~
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.
~ Motivational saying ~
The way you think is controlled by your beliefs. It is, actually, limited by them.
Yes, sorry, your thoughts are limited. By your beliefs.
Some things have to be believed to be seen.
~ Ralph Hodgson ~
An old belief is like an old shoe. We so value its comfort that we fail to notice the hole in it.
~ Robert Brault ~
It is difficult to even think a thought that runs contrary to your beliefs. Just think about that!
There are thoughts that you CANNOT THINK simply because they don’t fit into your belief system.
Or, you may force yourself to think that ‘heretical’ thought … only to dismiss it out of hand as being ‘not for you’, ‘unrealistic’, ‘impossible’ or some such unsubstantiated claim.
How’s that for freedom of thought?
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
~ Frank Lloyd Wright ~
Who’s In Charge of Your Life?
Well, then, if beliefs are so powerful, what or who controls your beliefs?
Your results are determined by your actions.
Your actions are determined by your feelings and your thinking.
Your feelings and your thinking is determined by your beliefs.
Your beliefs include your self esteem, your life esteem (trust in life) and your identity.
Your life experience is determined by your beliefs, self esteem, life esteem and identity.
But your free will is the master of all of the above!
~ Soren Lauritzen ~
Changing your way of thinking, or, even more powerfully: changing your beliefs, WILL change your experience! There’s no doubt about it.
In other words:
Great news! YOU are in charge of your life experience!
How to Change Your Beliefs and More Inspirational Sayings.
Basically there are two ways you can deal constructively with your beliefs: You can either change them into beliefs that are less limiting (i.e. open them up) or you can let them go commpletely.
Opening your beliefs up (a bit) and changing them into other, less limiting beliefs is the way that appears safest. In reality, though, it’s no more or less safe than the alternative (they’re both quite safe), it’s merely less efficient.
It is easier to believe than to doubt.
~ E. D. Martin ~
Letting your beliefs go is by far the most powerful way of dealing with them. But don’t you need your beliefs? No, you don’t.
The fewer beliefs you hold, the more open to life, the more open to love, and the happier you’ll be.
~ Soren Lauritzen ~ ,
So-called spiritually enlightened people have very few or no beliefs, and they are the happier for it.
You are ripe for enlightenment when you want nothing else. In order to be born you have to spend nine months getting bigger and bigger. For enlightenment, you have to get smaller and smaller until you disappear completely.
~ Sri Poonja (Papaji) ~
Life itself is like a light, a beacon that will shine through everything and tell you exactly what to do in all situations. All you have to do is let it – by letting go of your limiting beliefs. Once they are gone, you yourself will shine!
~ Soren Lauritzen ~
Letting go of something is nothing more than a decision. You can let go of anything, at any time, just by deciding to do so. But to make it easier, you can use the the Let Go Method.
Will you be able to let go of all your beliefs in a matter of, say, months? Perhaps, but probably not. Some beliefs are deeply hidden.
This is how humans are: we question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question.
~ Orson Scott Card ~
But then you don’t need to let all your beliefs go. No matter how much or how little you’re able (dare) to let go of, your life will improve.
Letting go of beliefs is the ultimate kind of self improvement.
Get Pleasantly Psyched Up – and Go for It!
So let as much go of as many beliefs as you can, get all worked up (in a nice, stressless way), and have a go at just being yourself while realizing your dreams, visions and aspirations.
So long as you’re not stressed you still have access to all your resources. That includes both your body, your mental abilities, your gut feeling (instincts) and your intuition – what we might call your access to universal inspiration. Use all of that to create what you want the most in your life.
Take risks: If you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.
~ Motivational saying ~
And hey:
The biggest risk you will ever take is not taking one at all!
~ Motivational saying ~
This is very, very true. It doesn’t mean ‘go jump out of airplanes with a grand piano instead of a parachute’ … but it does mean that in order to feel truly alive you need to let go of your irrational fears.
Or, if you can’t let them go, then at least feel the fear and do it anyway (which is a great catchphrase and also a pretty famous book title by author Susan Jeffers).
But What If …
You Encounter Resistance and Obstacles? And the last Inspirational Sayings.
Keep moving. Just take the next, biggest step in the general direction of your dreams.
If you can’t (or: don’t are) take a big step, take a small step. Or even a tiny step.
Even teeny-tiny baby steps will get you where you want to go!
~ Soren Lauritzen ~
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
~ Henry Ford ~
The future depends on what we do in the present.
~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.
~ Dr. Robert Anthony ~
Nothing on earth can overcome an absolutely non-resistant person.
~ Zen Proverb ~
You can do it; you can be yourself and create the life you want.
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