Instead of fretting about getting everything done, why not simply accept that being alive means having things to do? Then drop into full engagement with whatever you're doing, and let the worry go.
Martha BeckRead
Whatever terrible things may have happened to you, only one thing allows them to damage your core self, and that is continued belief in them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Your beliefs shape your identity, and holding onto negative beliefs can harm your true self.
This quote by Martha Beck emphasizes the importance of our beliefs in shaping our identity and emotional health. It suggests that while we may experience difficult and traumatic events, it is our continued belief in these events that allows them to impact our core self, implying that releasing these negative beliefs is crucial for personal growth and healing.
Themes
BeliefIdentitySelfHealingMindset
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech on overcoming adversity.
More from Martha Beck
All quotes →When fear makes your choices for you, no security measures on earth will keep the things you dread from finding you. But if you can avoid avoidance - if you can choose to embrace experiences out of passion, enthusiasm, and a readiness to feel whatever arises - then nothing, nothing in all this dangerous world, can keep you from being safe.
Martha BeckRead
To complete your daily mental hygiene, observe any part of you that is upset or anxious, and offer that part of yourself the following simple wishes: 'May you be well. May you be happy. May you be free from suffering.' Repeat this until you actually mean it.
Martha BeckRead
Something in the human psyche confuses beauty with the right to be loved. The briefest glance at human folly reveals that good looks and worthiness operate independently. Yet countless socializing forces, from Aunt Clara to the latest perfume ad, reinforce beliefs like 'If I were pretty enough, I would be loved.'
Martha BeckRead
Since our society equates happiness with youth, we often assume that sorrow, quiet desperation, and hopelessness go hand in hand with getting older. They don't. Emotional pain or numbness are symptoms of living the wrong life, not a long life.
Martha BeckRead
To live a life that is wrong for you is a form of dying. There are people who have lives that look perfect. They try to be happy, they believe they should be happy, they are trying to like it, but if it's off course from their north star, they aren't satisfied.
Martha BeckRead
Similar quotes
Like every beginner, I have thought you could beat, pummel and thrash an idea into existence. Under such treatment, of course, any decent idea folds up its paws, turns on its back, fixes its eyes on eternity, and dies.
Ray BradburyRead
A reputable lawyer will advise you to keep out of the law, make the best of a foolish bargain, and not get caught again.
Mark TwainRead
Don't bite till you know if it's bread or stone.
Anne SextonRead
Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but “steal” some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.
Albert CamusRead
Have confidence in your decisions. Make them expeditiously, and stay with them as long as you believe you are correct no matter what others say. However, when you conclude you were in error, do not hesitate to announce the error publicly and change course.
Ed KochRead
Excellence is the eternal quest. We achieve it by living up to our highest intellectual standards and our finest moral intuitions. In seeking excellence, take life seriously-but never yourself!
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.Read