Here’s where I collect timeless inspiration for reaching for our dreams, trusting our hearts, and facing the fear that comes with that. Not so easy to do, so we need a shot of inspiration and guidance sometimes. Stop by whenever you need a booster shot.
A good rule of thumb is that any environment that consistently leaves you feeling bad about who you are is the wrong environment.” ~Laurie Helgoe, psychologist and author of Introvert Power.
Your calling is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” ~Frederich Buechner
If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ~Maya Angelou
Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” ~Rumi
I hereby vow to follow my heart no matter where it takes me. Lately, I have to laugh at myself quite a bit. I have to keep surrendering to my life’s calling over and over again. It’s the endless battle between the head and the heart. My heart longs to be free, courageous and open and my mind is always trying to play small and hide in the bushes. The path of following our hearts can be a challenging one because it requires bold leaps into the unknown. But at the end of the day our hearts know WE GOT THIS.” ~Spring Washam, author of Fierce Heart.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” ~Patañjali
Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.”
~Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”
~Martha Graham
There is no risk free life. You only get to decide which risk is worth it to you, because everything is a risk….Staying inside in your bed is a risk. Taking the subway is a risk. Staying in a marriage or job that crushes your soul, though cruises along– as always– is a risk. There is no opting out in this life. You only get to choose which risk you’ll take. Here’s what I’d suggest. Bet on the sure thing. Bet on love. Spend your life on faith. Take the road that makes you stronger. Going after things you want, whether or not you get them, makes you stronger.” ~Tama Kieves
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh.
The many movements we perform for the sake of ego leave us feeling exhausted and depleted. Those born of stillness, on the other hand, draw forth our inner power…. Rising from the void, they have no obvious purpose, yet, like the flight of a heron through the mist, they are precise and charged with mystery.” ~Jalaja Bonheim
The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” – John Maxwell
(Which one do you want to be today?)
Most of us succeed earlier in our careers by saying yes to almost everything. But there is strength in learning to say no. It’s the only way to reach the level of focus and productivity that allows you to become great.”
– Dorie Clark
For more inspiration, see Inspirational Quotes for Introverts Who Care About Social Impact.
