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
Iβve found that the best life has to offer is right in front of me, with my husband and child
Interpretation
The most valuable aspects of life are often found in our loved ones.
In this quote, Alicia Keys expresses a profound realization that true fulfillment and happiness stem from the relationships we nurture with our family. It emphasizes the importance of appreciating the present moments shared with loved ones, suggesting that the essence of a rich life is found not in material possessions or achievements, but in the bonds of love and support we cultivate with those closest to us.
In practice
During a family gathering, you might share this quote to emphasize the value of being together.
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'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.
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.
Remembering how my mother looked before she gave birth to my sister is frightening. But even more frightening is the feeling that I wanted them to catch me and beat me. Why did I want to be punished? Shadows out of the past clutch at my legs and drag me down. I open my mouth to scream, but I am voiceless. My hands are trembling, I feel cold, and there is a distant humming in my ears.
It is easy to say that you can adopt the whole human race as your children, but it is not the same as living in a home with a child and shaping all you do to help him learn to be happy and whole and good. Don't live your life without ever holding a child in your arms, on your lap, in your home, and feeling a child's arms around you and hearing his voice in your ear and seeing his smile, given to you because you put it into your heart.
My problem was my inability to spend much time at home. I thought my family was secure, so I went running around everyplace else. I guess I had more of an effect on other people's kids than I did my own.
One of the hard things coming from an immigrant family - or any family that doesn't believe in the arts - is that you have to disappoint your parents. That's hard for people to do if you're a good kid.
What it means to be human is to bring up your children in safety, educate them, keep them healthy, teach them how to care for themselves and others, allow them to develop in their own way among adults who are sane and responsibile, who know the value of the world and not its economic potential. It means art, it means time, it means all the invisibles never counted by the GDP and the census figures. It means knowing that life has an inside as well as an outside. And I think it means love.
Your children make it impossible to regret your past. They're its finest fruits. Sometimes the only ones.
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