“Many times in life I've regretted the things I've said without thinking. But I've never regretted the things I said nearly as much as the words I left unspoken.” ― Lisa Kleypas

“I have always found it odd that people who think passive aggressively ignoring a person is making a point to them. The only point it makes to anyone is your inability to articulate your point of view because deep down you know you can’t win. It’s better to assert yourself and tell the person you are moving on without them and why, rather than leave a lasting impression of cowardness on your part in a person’s mind by avoiding them.” ― Shannon L. Alder

“The most intriguing people you will encounter in this life are the people who had insights about you, that you didn't know about yourself.” ― Shannon L. Alder

“How many of us accept our self for who we authentically despite our flaws? I truly believe our imperfections make us unique and also BEAUTIFUL. Some beautiful things are more impressive when left imperfect than when too highly finished, Our flaws and weaknesses can make us more beautiful! People who make mistakes are more like-able than those who appear perfect. We can’t connect with perfect…. but we like and LOVE people who are real. That’s beauty from the inside out. So lets accept our self for who we are and meant to be. We are all perfectly and authentically beautiful in our own special way, and nothing more or even less.” ― Angie Karan

“Love people with all sincere attention, but don't overdo it as if you are not special. Don't lose yourself in the process of loving other people. Remember, you are special too!” ― Israelmore Ayivor

Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love.

- Wally Lamb from She's Come Undone

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithlessand therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, book cover
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.--Jim Rohn

You get what you settle for.
~Louise Sawyer~

"If the concept of God has any use, it is to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God can't do that, it's time we got rid of him"

James Baldwin

"I know what this is, Alexander. Why you're with me. You're a man who dares to dance with the freaks. I perpetuate that deviance for you, allow you to show the world that you live outside the box. But, I know that's where this ends for us, and I understand. It comes with the territory of my complicated identity. But my feelings for you are simpler. They live very much inside the box. I am afraid, Alexander, that I may have fallen in love with you... I am a man. A man who knows she's a woman. And that's exactly where I'm supposed to be. That's the crisscross that I've come to love. I don't want the surgery. I don't want to undo what God has given me. I know how beautiful I am."

- Venus to Tig, Sons of Anarchy

“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!” ― C. JoyBell C.

“For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning."

― T.S. Eliot

“The chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
The next year, the next day,
the next hour are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
You can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose.”

― Arnold Bennett