Friday, November 4, 2011

Mottos to live by

I'm not a big quote person, I mean, I like them as much as the next person, but I don't have a book of them or anything.

I love to pull quotes out of books I'm reading (the ones you find on your own are the best!) but I almost always forget to write them down and have only just recently started starring them in the books I own.

When I was younger (and I mean, tween/teenager age) I was obsessed with the "If you love something set it free..." quote. You know which one I'm talking about, right? What fourteen year old didn't love that quote and think that whatever you "set free" was going to come back to you because it is "yours"? Yep, that was me. Oh, puberty and teenage dreams... Blech.

Lately, I haven't been thinking of quotes. I've been thinking about the mottos I tend to live my life by. There are several that I kind of repeat to myself over and over to get me through something "tough" but there are five that really stick out. So, today I am going to share those with you!

1. Fake it, till you make it.
I don't care who you are, everyone lives by this motto. Don't even try to deny it. To me, it's the equivalent to "sink or swim" and I never want to sink, so many many many times... I'm fakin' it.

2. What goes around comes around.
Karama, baby. I believe in it. 110%

3. Mind over matter.
I have repeated this to myself in so many cases (@missoakly, I'm looking at you) and it has gotten me out of many sticky situations. Let's back up... My junior year of high school my AP English teacher taught us The Secret. You know, the book, The Secret? It wasn't out at that time, but it's basically the same thing. The secret says, what you put out there, is what you get back. If you say you're going to get sick - guess what? You're gonna get sick! Don't say it, if you don't want it to happen. This phrase is also helpful on a particularly tough run or workout... just repeat, "mind over matter, mind over matter..." It works for me.

4. Be the best you can be.
This one came from my dad. Oh, and Abraham Lincoln. He said, "Whatever you are, be a good one." (It also came out of the book, American Wife, which is one of my top three favorite books of all time. Ofcourseyoualreadyknowthat). My dad always told us that whatever we were doing, whether it was scrubbing the floor or writing that term paper - do the best you possibly can.

5. Count your blessings.
It's too easy to get all down and all "woe is me...boo hoooo hoooo" But, let's face it, things can always be worse. Don't try to control what is out of your control.

Those are my top 5 mottos. What mottos do you live by? Do you have a favorite quote?

10 comments:

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

I love quotes!! It is early so it will be tough for me to think of my favorites, but here are 2 I like:

1. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

2. When someone shows you who they are, believe them (this one is about paying attention to someone's actions v. their words, which is important when it comes to dating in my opinion).

Marisa A. said...

Love it. My motto is on my current post: You are entirely up to you. I'm a big fan of taking responsibility for your own happiness, health, etc. I feel like Nike developed that campaign just for me!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

These are great! You just made me flash back to all the things my parents would say to me to try to get me to do whatever it was that needed doing!

Anonymous said...

Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect; it just means that you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

Kara said...

One saying that's been drilled into my head since I was little and that i still go by is, "Treat others the way you want to be treated."

That being said, if I'm nice to someone and they're acting like a meany back, well, I'll treat them the same way they're treating me. Ha!

Amber said...

I'm a big fan of "fake it till you make it" too! I do that all the time with workouts, when I feel crappy at work, when I don't feel like being at a social event etc. It almost ALWAYS work. I think it's also equivalent to the saying that if you smile you will start to feel happy!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

I can't think of a favorite right now but the count your blessings always pisses me off. Like you are not allowed to feel the anger, hurt that is boiling because it could potentially be worse. Feel what you feel, when you feel it and don't be ashamed. Maybe that is my saying that I just made up.

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Amen to Karma girl!!! I always go with, "It is what it is". That one is a big one for me!

Nora said...

My favorite: let go, let flow. It applies to everything and helps me to let go of the things I cannot control and focus only on what I can (which isn't that much, other than my responses/reactions to things at time!)

Also, I know I've been MIA a bit but love your new look/design here! <3

Anonymous said...

Mind over matter...Mind over matter...

I have so many quotes/sayings/mottos I go by...

Fake it until you make is is definitely one of mine.

I used to believe in karma, but now I don't. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people.

Right now I'm "just going with it..." life...everything.