Why give up before we try Feel the lows before the highs Clip our wings before we fly away I can't say I came prepared I'm suspended in the air Won't you come be in the sky with me
Alicia KeysRead
I'm a very positive person, but this whole concept of having to always be nice, always smiling, always happy, that's not real. It was like I was wearing a mask. I was becoming this perfectly chiselled sculpture, and that was bad. That took a long time to understand.
Interpretation
True positivity involves authenticity, not just a facade of happiness.
In this quote, Alicia Keys expresses the struggle between societal expectations of perpetual positivity and the reality of human emotions. She emphasizes that wearing a 'mask' to appear happy can lead to a loss of one's true self, and that genuine happiness comes from embracing one's true feelings rather than conforming to unrealistic standards.
In practice
In a motivational speech about mental health, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of being true to oneself.
Why give up before we try Feel the lows before the highs Clip our wings before we fly away I can't say I came prepared I'm suspended in the air Won't you come be in the sky with me
I always want to stay focused on who I am, even as I'm discovering who I am.
Failure isn't an option. I've erased the word fear from my vocabulary and I think when you erase fear you can't fail.
Everything you want to be, you already are. You're simply on the path to discovering it.
I’ve found that the best life has to offer is right in front of me, with my husband and child
How terrible would it have been if I had come out with some watered-down version of who I am? People fell in love with the real me, and I still feel blessed that that was how the journey began.
What would be the good of rushing? You want these books to last.
The surest way to bring goodness to yourself is to make it your intention to do good for somebody else.
I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.
I'm not going to tell a person how to think, don't believe in that. What I want to do, when I write these books, is just to say don't be so sure of yourself. Let me pull the carpet out from underneath you, and let's see if you can still find the footing.
Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.
I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I have ever met.
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