Inspiring Change

Good morning and happy Friday to you! I'm definitely ready for the weekend. We have plans to head to Bend, OR to enjoy the fresh air, do a little running and hiking, and drink some good beer. They kind of have a thing for beer over there, but who can blame 'em?!

This week as I was reading blogs and a book, I came across a few inspiring quotes that I bookmarked for later and thought I'd share.

The first comes from Jen of Lemon Drop Love on why they moved.

Here’s the thing, and how Brian and I have been looking at it. Limiting yourself to what you think you should do, or where you think your life should be, isn’t always the best option. Because at the end of the day, you just never know where life is going to take you. Living openly and letting opportunities come to you that you might think are totally impossible, is how you make dreams come true for yourself. And that’s exactly what we did.

I like this; be open to possibility and live your dreams.

...Getting back to my first question; you know you’re making the right choice to move or make a change because some part of you wants to do it in the first place, and you feel it in your bones that if you don’t go for it, you will look back and regret not experiencing and taking advantage of what life brought to you.

Yes, yes, yes! Whenever I'm considering a decision for far too long, I remind myself that in the end I'll regret never trying even if I fail. So friends, it's time to take a few more chances and see where it takes me.

The second bit of inspiration came from Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, which I'm slowly making my way through on the ipad. As you may tell, I'm someone who gets inspired by others taking a leap of faith and making things turn out for themselves. For whatever reason, I've just never had that innate need to try new things, be risky, embrace change. It's scary.

The book talks a lot about vulnerability and I really liked this reference to it:

When we pretend that we can avoid vulnerability we engage in behaviors that are often inconsistent with who we want to be. Experiencing vulnerability isn't a choice - the only choice we have is how we're going to respond when we are confronted with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. As a huge fan of the band Rush...a quote from their song "Freewill": "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

It's true that I have avoided vulnerability in certain areas of my life because I don't know what's on the other side of the fence. Even though I want to see the outcome, I'm afraid to swim the rough waters.

Brene Brown also has a great TED talk on shame, which I recommend.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the inspiration for your Friday! Feel free to leave a favorite quote in the comments if you have one or let me know how you connected to one of these quotes. 

Comments

Amanda said…
Brene Brown is amazing. I'm slowly making my way through all of her books and I feel like she hits the nail on the head every other paragraph.
Elizabeth said…
Good stuff here! Thanks for sharing the quotes :) Enjoy the time in Bend!!
I think that that Brene Brown book is waiting for me at the library so I am hoping to sneak over there today during work. She sounds like a super inspiring writer.

I love the quotes about vulnerability. I feel like when others let down their guard and show their vulnerability, it makes others feel less alone as they probably have similar vulnerabilities/etc.

I hope you had a great time in Bend!!
Unknown said…
Working my way through some of your posts in a non-linear fashion. :) So glad you picked up Brene Brown's book--she has a ton of valuable insights for everybody.

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