Some pain is simply the normal grief of human existence. That is pain that I try to make room for. I honor my grief.
In our society, as people pass out of young adulthood, they tend to relate to themselves more in terms of what they are no longer than what they are now, and that's psychologically low-grade devastating.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that as people age, they often focus on their past losses rather than their current selves, which can be psychologically harmful.
Marianne Williamson highlights a common psychological struggle individuals face as they transition out of young adulthood. Instead of embracing who they are in the present, many individuals dwell on what they have lost or left behind in their youth, leading to a negative self-perception and emotional distress. This reflection on the past can detract from their identity and impact their mental well-being, indicating a need for a healthier perspective that prioritizes growth and acceptance of their current selves.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a motivational talk about embracing change and personal growth.
More from Marianne Williamson
All quotes βAs we become purer channels for God's light, we develop an appetite for the sweetness that is possible in this world. A miracle worker is not geared toward fighting the world that is, but toward creating the world that could be.
Governments move armies, but only individuals can move hearts.
The world is in trouble. Many have prayed. God sent help. God sent you.
Once we truly understand that God's will is that we be happy, we no longer feel the need to ask for anything other than that God's will be done.
A queen is wise. She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed on her but having passer her tests. She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it. She has proved she can hold her kingdom together. She has become its vision. She cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She rules with authentic power.
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There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.
The simplicity of the universe is very different from the simplicity of a machine. The simplicity of nature is not that which may be easily read but is inexhaustible. The last analysis can no wise be made.
Speak the truth do not become angered and give when asked, even be it a little. By these three conditions one goes to the presence of the gods.
You are not in the world...the world is in you," what did he mean? [That is, you are not in the world," that is, there is no "you" that is real or in any world. "The world is in you" means that the world is in your "mind" and is nothing more than a figment of your programming-and-conditioning-induced imaginings.]
False notions of liberty are strangely common. People talk of it as if it meant the liberty of doing whatever one likes - whereas the only liberty that a man, worthy of the name of man, ought to ask for, is, to have all restrictions, inward and outward, removed that prevent his doing what he ought.
The more honest and authentic we are, the more deeply we go into the mystery of our own being.