Archive for March 2020
Funny, Inspirational Quotes About Life And Happiness
We all need a little perspective now and again.
We’re all guilty of taking ourselves too seriously at times. And, while we’re wallowing in the heaviness of our thoughts, the motive for our pursuits is often tiptoeing out the back door. We lose the moment, our sense of humor, and often our sense of purpose in life. Sometimes having little reminders in the form of funny, inspirational quotes about life and happiness can reel us back in.
Yes, those journal-cover, greeting-card, sappy, quippy niblets of wisdom and encouragement can actually help keep our lives on track. We may “blah blah blah” with an eye roll when we hear familiar quotes dropped like original thought, but our brains are actually paying attention. We stash those funny, inspirational quotes about life and happiness like free candy. Their big-truths-in-a-few-words are part fortune cookie, part motivational psychology, part “ain’t life ironic?”
Quite frankly, sometimes we all need to step back and revisit those mantras that help us focus on what’s essential. Keeping a few favorites in the memory bank can be a subconscious source of positivity. It can also be a reminder that we aren’t alone on this crazy journey called ‘life.’
Here are several funny, inspirational quotes about life and happiness to help you clear out the mental cobwebs and focus on your life’s purpose and possibilities.
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
Dolly Parton
Of course Dolly would sum up life in one pithy line — and no doubt with a smile and giggle for punctuation.
Have you ever noticed that those people who gracefully accept the good with the bad are the happiest people? They strive for and look for the best at all times, but they know that life always presents struggles.
Just as stars need the dark sky to shine, rainbows rely on water to manifest the sun’s colorful gift. And so it is with life. With the right perspective, the dark times just become a backdrop for the good times to really shine.
“The hardest thing to find in life is happiness. Money is only hard to find because it gets wasted trying to find happiness.”
Unknown
This may sound more tragic than funny. But it’s definitely ironic.
As easy as it is to say that money can’t buy happiness, most of us still focus a good part of our lives on it. We want to make more so we can spend more, usually because there is an emptiness we are trying to fill.
Sure, money is a vehicle that can help facilitate happiness. But when it becomes so connected to your happiness that you can’t have happiness without it, you will likely come up short on both.
“You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.”
George Clooney
Look at any relationship that is in a dry spell or downward spiral, and poor communication is usually the underlying issue.
Whether your struggling relationship is a marriage, “SO romance,” family-of-origin connection, or friendship, communication is key. And one principle, if used to guide your choices, can change everything. Everyone wants to feel heard. Not just verbally “heard,” but deeply, soulfully heard.
That means practicing active listening. Show genuine interest in what the other person has to say. Ask questions to go deeper into the person’s thoughts and feelings. Pay attention to your body language while reading the information communicated in the other person’s body language.
As St. Francis said in his famous prayer, seek to understand, not to be understood. If you do that, the reciprocal effort is all but guaranteed to follow.
“If you can do what you do best and be happy, you’re further along than most people.”
Leonardo DiCaprio
Look around you. How many people seem to be truly happy? How many people that you know are doing what they do best and truly want to do?
Even among the people you would consider to be highly successful, how many are following their hearts? And how many are following the money or a sense of obligation?
Finding happiness in what you love and do well, regardless of what the world expects, is a holy grail that more people seek than find.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss was a master of delivering funny, inspirational quotes about life and happiness. He just had a way of going right to the heart in a way that children inherently understood and adults needed to be reminded of.
This quote is often used as a condolence for those experiencing grief over death or loss. And, while telling someone to smile instead of cry doesn’t take away the pain, it does plant a seed of gratitude. And gratitude is one of the most healing mindsets available to us.
Remember that it happened. Rejoice that it happened. Plant that seed, even in the midst of your grief — over death, divorce, or disappointment. You will find the healing comes more quickly. And the negative emotions attached to grief — anger, confusion, guilt — will more easily fall away.
“Be happy. It drives people crazy.”
Anonymous
Isn’t it the truth? When everyone around you is being Eeyore, and Tigger comes bouncing into the room, it’s impossible to stay in the doldrums.
Even if that overdose of positive energy is maddening, you can’t ignore it. And you can’t simply return to what you were doing before Mr. Tiggerific came springing in to ruin your woe-is-me party.
So go ahead. Stay a step ahead of the crowd on the happiness scale. See if you can’t force at least a crack of a smile. You’ll at least make some eyes roll. And even that is a shift in the right direction.
“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
Guillaume Apollinaire
Funny, inspiring quotes about life and happiness could fill your Pinterest quota. But in the end, they really come down to this one. Don’t forget the very thing you are seeking: happiness!
Happiness isn’t something to be found. It’s something to be lived. And living is about being in the moment. Cliché as it sounds, this moment is all anyone has. So stop looking for it. It’s right here. Why not be happy in it?
I’m Dr. Karen Finn and I’m a divorce and life coach. Schedule a 30-minute private consultation for support in putting together the pieces so you can begin living your happy life.
Looking for more information about how you can have a happier life? You’ll find what you’re looking for in Building A Happy Life.
6 Strategies To Get To The Point Where You Can Truthfully Say, “I Love My Life After Divorce”
Moving forward won’t necessarily be easy, but it is necessary if you want to love your life again.
It’s the end of life as you know it. It marks the influx of unknowns and full-spectrum emotions you may not even recognize, let alone be able to identify. It’s also the beginning of a paradigm shift that can leave you saying, “I love my life after divorce.”
The end of a marriage is hardly the recommended way to rediscover yourself and evolve into a newer and better you. But when divorce does happen, those people parting ways have choices to make. And those choices extend far beyond the division of assets and the determination of custody arrangements.
At a time when your world has just spun off its axis, making decisions may seem futile, if not impossible. You may feel as if you have landed in a black hole with no vision and no sense of direction.
But the world around you won’t stop spinning. And it won’t stop expecting you to show up if you are going to be a part of it.
How you show up, however, can make all the difference between hating your life and saying, “I love my life after divorce.”
And yes, for better or for worse, you are the one who will have to make the choice…and the effort.
How do you get to this idyllic place of being able to say, “I love my life after divorce”? How do you keep the hurt, betrayal, anger, rancor, disappointment, and sense of loss from turning you into a cynic? How do you pull yourself out of your own sense of failure and set your new life up to succeed?
Some of the work will be painful, difficult, even ugly. But it will be essential for reaching the work that is hopeful, invigorating, even enjoyable.
Below are 6 strategies for getting to the point where you can truthfully say, “I love my life after divorce.”
- The mourning after.
This is the hump you simply have to get over if you want to move forward. Grief isn’t an option. It doesn’t have a gender preference, and it doesn’t evaporate simply because you think you are bigger than it is.Most importantly, grief isn’t a sign of weakness. It is a navigation of loss.
Whether or not you wanted your divorce doesn’t change the fact that there is a big, vacuous hole where your “life” used to be. There is chaos where there was once order. There is unpredictability where routine used to be.Even in the worst of marriages for which divorce is a blessing, there is an end to vows, dreams, and a huge time commitment.
When dealing with grief after divorce and its complexity of emotions, remember that the journey will not necessarily be linear. But you will know when you are far enough along to take the plunge into bigger life decisions.
- Work through your feelings.
Grief and feelings go hand-in-hand. You will naturally experience feelings like sadness, anger, and confusion. But you will have a flood of other emotions, too, some of which may be a blend of primary emotions.It takes great courage to embrace your feelings – to give them the opportunity to speak while you actively listen and learn.
By spending time with yourself this way, you inevitably evolve your sense of self. You learn how to recognize the signals your emotions send you. And in doing so, you become empowered to make better choices about your responses to your life experiences.
Look back on your relationship that has ended in divorce and consider how many issues existed because you or your spouse didn’t know how to deal with feelings.
Now fast forward to a potential love relationship in the future. How do you want it to be different than your previous relationship? How do you want your communication to look different? How do you want to feel differently? And what feelings do you want to be able to release in order to move on?
Working through your feelings now will open the door to saying, “I love my life after divorce.”
- Schedule time to be good to yourself…every…single…day.
You don’t need anyone else to tell you what makes you feel good or what you “should” want. You get to choose for yourself. And it’s important that you indulge that liberating empowerment every day.Commit to even fifteen minutes a day. Do something that makes you feel comforted, indulged, creative, rewarded, relaxed. And by all means, do something that makes you feel special and loved.
Down the road, when you are in a new relationship, you will have developed the important habit of remembering your own self-worth. You will naturally build “me-time” into your daily routine, and you will feel confident doing so.
- Make new friends, but keep the old.
Divorce has a way of dragging unexpected consequences in its wake. People you thought were lifetime friends turn out to be “couples-only” friends, while some who were less visible in your life step up like heroes.Just because you and your ex are no longer a couple doesn’t mean you have to sever all your ties with mutual friends. But your new life is an invitation to new friends and new streams of influence.
As you take stock of the other things in your life, take stock of your relationships, too. Who are the people who model the behaviors and relationships you want to emulate? Who are the people who have been there for you through thick and thin?
And, as you start meeting new people, who are the ones who prove to be worth your time and energy? As you embark on your single life, other singles will assume a more important role in your life.
- Revisit old passions and create new ones.
It’s inevitable that couples lose some of their individuality and personal passions to the larger entity of marriage. But now that you don’t have to answer to a spouse (and may have more free time due to co-parenting), it’s time to reinvent yourself.What talents and interests got put on the back burner while you were a slave to your mortgage and children? What yearnings still burn inside, waiting for expression and maybe even a new professional pursuit?
Listening to your creative, ambitious, enthusiastic nudges will lead you into exciting opportunities to learn, grow, and meet new people.
- Dream, dream, dream.
You may be surprised at how stunted your dreaming ability has become. Marriage usually starts off with expansive visions of the future – building a home, having children, traveling the world, making tons of money.But reality and its unexpected turns can dull your dreams and truncate your bucket list. You may not even notice the shift until someone asks you what your dreams are for the future.
Now is the time to plant seeds. Explore ideas. Open magazines. Watch travel shows. Meditate on how you can make a positive difference in the world.
Don’t edit. Just dream.
If you are in the early throes of divorce, you may not believe that you will ever say, “I love my life after divorce.” The pain may be too deep. The change in lifestyle may be too extreme.
But loving your life at all its stages is the intention, and therefore the possibility, for your life. Post-divorce is simply another chapter. You may not have seen it coming, but it’s here.
And, if you are willing to focus through the dark tunnel of grief and letting go, you will find that life awaits you with open arms of possibility.
The next chapter is yours to write.
I’m Dr. Karen Finn, a divorce and life coach. If you’d like additional support in creating a you’re your love after divorce, you can join my newsletter list for free weekly advice or you can schedule a 30-minute private consultation with me.