Inspirational quotes for the start of the year: Part 3 of 3

Last week, we continued exploring how to make a fresh start in your life:

You can wipe the slate clean of whatever happened the day before (no matter what it was) and just start anew.

Indeed, even though you might not be feeling happy after a difficult year, this can be a good thing:

Each time you get stressed, each time you feel anger or frustration or resentment, this is an opportunity to practice and develop trust in yourself. Every spike of fear or stress is an opportunity to transform, to open, to stay and be present.

Unfortunately, many people force themselves to be cheerful when they’re struggling inside:

It’s hard to win at the rat race and other public-facing status games when you admit you are suffering. But suffering less is more important.

So, the first step is to understand that hard feelings are perfectly normal:

A life of peacefulness isn’t one that’s absent of difficulty, but one that isn’t struggling so hard to run from it.  

It’s about embracing the challenges:

When we meet life with a genuine sense of uncertainty, we cease to project that which we think we know, and we instead begin to see life for what it truly is.

It’s also about embracing the pain:

Unbelievably, all the pain you’ve ever experienced is already gone, except for what’s present now. Even the worst physical or emotional sensations do transmute, with time, into sunny moments in the backyard in which nothing seems to be wrong.

This sense of emotional awareness is what makes you strong:

To the degree you can meet experience exactly as it is, without resentment, it ceases to cause you suffering and drive your behavior.

One way to feel better is to connect with people who bring you joy:

While many of us focus primarily on diet and exercise to achieve better health, science suggests that our well-being also is influenced by the company we keep.    

Indeed, even grown-ups can and should make new friends:

Good friends are the best thing in the world. They make the good times great and the bad times not so bad. They make you wiser, kinder, smarter, and more interesting. They help you develop your strengths and survive your weaknesses. 

But if you’re not ready to get out and be social, at least stop watching the news:

We’ve all heard the ridiculous 19th-century retort that abstaining from news is “sticking your head in the sand,” as though industrialised news is some sort of clear air. When you consider the criteria under which news stories are selected, the news is more like a noxious cocktail made with the nastiest ingredients available that day. 

Instead, get outside and build healthy emotions away from your screens:

Going for a walk is an age-old salve for many ills: isolation, disappointment, drowsiness, worry, heartbreak, writer’s block, general stagnation, and boredom. The activity of walking benefits the mind and body in ways we’re still discovering, due to its all-star ingredient list of fresh air, exercise, change of scenery, contact with nature, and contemplation time. 

If you pay attention on your walk, you can start to see the world with fresh eyes:

Look at everything around you with awe and appreciation. Treat it with respect and care. Put things away with reverence. Treat others as if you are connecting with the divine. And treat yourself as a manifestation of the universe that has somehow been given the gift of realising its own sacredness.    

This is how you’ll remember that life is something to cherish:

In every single moment, if we open ourselves to it, we can find awe for this incredible universe. For the interconnectedness we might see we have with all beings. We can find wonder for things we take for granted.

This will also make it clear that even though 2020 may have been a write-off in many ways, 2021 doesn’t have to be a waste:

Whatever you’re doing or experiencing today, you might never do or experience it again. Let it sink in and consider how it feels.