Doing things for yourself and being alone – Page 2

"But I was never sure what I was passionate about. Growing up, I was fiercely shy. I liked going outside and playing make-believe. The rush of [puberty] hormones brought with them depression and body-related insecurities. I ran track and cross-country in high school, focused on good grades and good running times. I didn’t really indulge in my own interests. To be honest, I felt a little directionless." — Gale Straub She Explores, Episode 4, "Origin Story"

"You are not a terrible person for wanting to break up with someone you love. You don’t need a reason to leave. Wanting to leave is enough. ... Be brave enough to break your own heart." — Cheryl Strayed Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

"Trusting yourself means living out what you already know to be true." — Cheryl Strayed Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

"A smile can be a kind of yoga practice, yoga of the mouth. You just smile, even if you don’t feel joy. And after you smile, you’ll see you feel differently. Sometimes the mind takes the initiative, and sometimes you have to allow the body to take the initiative. ... If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax and Being Peace

"As you learn how to be in the present moment, you’ll gain faith and trust in your ability to handle the situation. ... That makes you confident; and as your confidence grows, you’re no longer the victim of your worries." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax

"Sometimes we want to relax because we want to not think. That’s wonderful; we all need non-thinking time. But that doesn’t mean we should stop listening. When we stop thinking, we can start communicating with ourselves by listening to our bodies and our emotions." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax

"In our body there may be tension and pain. If we suppress or ignore this, then every day the tension and pain will grow and prevent us from experiencing the happiness that we should be able to experience. Mindfulness of breathing can help us relax and bring peace to our body. We take care of our body first. We can take care of our mind later." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax

"Meditation has two aspects. The first is stopping (shamatha in Sanskrit). We run throughout our whole life, chasing after some idea of happiness. Stopping means to stop our running, our forgetfulness, and our being caught in the past or the future. ... We think that happiness and well-being aren’t possible in the present. If you can stop and establish yourself in the here and the now, you will see that there are many elements of happiness available in this moment. ... The second aspect of meditation is looking deeply (vipashyana in Sanskrit) in order to see the true nature of things. ... Mindfulness is the continuous practice of touching deeply every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly present with your body and your mind, to harmonize your intentions and actions, and to be in harmony with those around you." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax

"Optimism is a choice." — Unknown

"Internal reflection was more important than external appearance; personal growth took precedence over material acquisition." — Dick Dorworth Climbing Fitz Roy, 1968, "Viva los Funhogs"

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Just be your natural, horrid self." — 4th Doctor Doctor Who, "The Masque of Mandragora"

"When life seems like a turbulent ocean, we have to remember we have an island of peace inside." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Walk

"Walking meditation is a way of waking up to the wonderful moment we are living in. ... if we’re awake, then we’ll see this is a wonderful moment that life has given us, the only moment in which life is available." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Walk

"The same is true when you drink a cup of tea: if you’re concentrated and you focus your attention on the cup of tea, then the cup of tea becomes a great joy. Mindfulness and concentration bring about pleasure and insight." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Walk

"When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There’s nothing else to it." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Walk

"I think he was quiet because his thoughts were loud." — Jedidiah Jenkins To Shake the Sleeping Self: A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret

"I, too, want to create a cartography for my life that only I can draw. It's no longer that important to me to place a flag on a summit and check it off on my map. What matters most are the questions that I ask myself between each mountain, and the answers that lead me to the next one. I want to grow with the evolution of these lines and with the spaces between them." — Kazuya Hiraide, translated from Japanese by Hiko Ito Alpinist Magazine, Issue 75, "A Map of the Heart: From Shispare to Rakaposhi"

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." — Unknown

"Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren’t a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I actually was." — Cheryl Strayed Wild