🌸 Reflections from Mom’s Journals — Entry #20
Words to Live By (With a 😉Wink and a 💃Twirl)
I am loving these quotes from my mom’s journal. Some people collect stamps. Others collect shoes. 👠 Me? I collect quotes, and shoes too if I am being transparent! I tend to hoard quotes like little fortune-cookie fortunes, except instead of telling me I’m “destined to meet a tall stranger,” they slap me upside the head with truth bombs. 💥💥💣 Let’s unpack a few that keep following me around like glitter after craft night.
“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is rather than how you think it should be.” —Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Translation: Stop fighting reality like it’s a bad Wi-Fi signal. You can’t manifest five bars if the universe is stuck on 3G. Peace isn’t about everything being perfect—it’s about unclenching your mental fist and letting life show up in its messy, unfiltered glory.
“Don’t be a teacher or a judge, be an example.”
Forget the lecture notes and the gavel. People don’t need your TED Talk on “How to Live Right.” They need to see you actually doing the thing—kindness, bravery, eating tacos without shame. Be the walking, talking Pinterest board of how it’s done. No matter how loud you yell from the mountaintop, if your actions do not match your words, people will call a big BS on you!
“What you think, you become.” —attributed to the Buddha
If your inner monologue is basically, “Ugh, I’m a potato,” congratulations, you’ve just self-fulfilled into a spud. Thoughts are magic spells. Whisper better ones. Think Beyoncé, not couch cushion. I love this similar quote, “Energy goes where attention flows!”
“Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” —typically attributed to the Buddha
This one is basically the ancient version of “the receipts will come out.” Truth has a way of breaking through like a pimple before picture day, or first date day, aaarrrggg… . You can delay it, but you can’t deny it.
“Do not react… RESPOND.”
This one is tricky because reacting feels so good at the moment. But it’s like throwing glitter at someone—you will regret the cleanup later. Responding means you pause, breathe, and then say something that won’t get screenshot and texted to your mom, or husband, or boyfriend…
“Stop shrinking to fit places you have outgrown.” —Furaha Joyce
I love this one so very much!! It also applies to those fabulous jeans you can’t get on anymore without pulling up the zipper 80’s style, aka metal hanger in the look, suck in and pull hard! Life’s too short to contort yourself into a tiny version of who you used to be. Outgrow loudly. Outgrow sparkly. Outgrow with sequins if you have to.
“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” —Thich Nhat Hanh
You don’t have to wait until you’ve checked every box on the vision board. Happiness isn’t the carrot dangling at the end of the stick—it’s the confetti you throw while walking the path. Spoiler: you’re already on the yellow brick road, so go ahead and skip a little.
“Just do it.”
Okay, we all know this one—it’s basically tattooed on every gym rat’s water bottle. But here’s the kicker (pun intended): the phrase was inspired by the last words of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer, who said “Let’s do it” right before his execution by firing squad in 1977. So the word on the street is that one of the founders of the Wieden+Kennedy ad agency heard that slogan, gave it a little zhuzh, and—bam—Nike’s billion-dollar slogan was born.
Now… can we pause for a second? Because, um, am I the only one a little creeped out that a company turned a dying man’s words into the pep talk for your morning jog? Like, “Run faster—just like Gary Gilmore ran out of time.” Yikes.
It’s kind of wild how something so grim got scrubbed, polished, and served back to us as motivational gold. But honestly, isn’t that what humans do best? We remix darkness into light, tragedy into art, and apparently, death-row quips into gym inspo. Odd? Absolutely. Brilliant marketing? Without a doubt. And hey—it worked. We’re still out here lacing up sneakers and whispering “just do it” every time we try to convince ourselves to fold laundry. The lesson? Whether you’re chasing a dream, or finally cleaning out the junk drawer—quit procrastinating. Just. Do. It.
✨ The Sparkly Wrap-Up ✨
Quotes are like tiny life coaches—some inspire you, some confuse you, and some remind you to quit texting your ex. Keep the ones that make you feel expansive, ditch the ones that feel judgy, and remember: words only work if you let them dance off the page and into your life. The choice is all yours!
💋✨Until next time... keep loving & living your best life!
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