Thanks to the bitter U.S. presidential election, a slew of celebrity deaths, the heartbreaking conflict in Syria, and a number of other things, the year of 2016 was a challenging time for many people. Now, a new year is here. It’s easy to carry the negativity of 2016 over into 2017, but doing so will only sap our energy and leave us feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Regardless of what lies ahead, let’s remain optimistic and start the new year with only good vibes.
Here’s to 2017, and here are 17 quotes to keep you inspired throughout the year.
1. Quote:
“I think you’ve really got to wait and see how things play out. Sometimes a decision you might consider a regret or failure in the present can turn out to be the catalyst for something extraordinary in the end. Some of life’s wildest journeys begin with a wrong turn.”
– Beau Taplin
Lesson to learn:
Don’t panic when decisions made in the present don’t work out perfectly. Everything is going to be all right in the end. Really. And if it’s not all right, it’s not the end.
2. Quote:
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
Lesson to learn:
We only get one shot at life. The stories we want to write, the songs we want to sing, all the things we’ve been thinking about doing, we should go and do them.
3. Quote:
“Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there are no guarantees. Get out of your comfort zone even if it means being uncomfortable. The road less traveled is sometimes fraught with barricades, bumps, and uncharted terrain. But it is on that road where your character is truly tested. Have the courage to accept that you’re not perfect, nothing is and no one is — and that’s OK.”
– Katie Couric
Lesson to learn:
We will only regret the opportunities we let pass by and the chances we didn’t take. Stepping out into the unknown may be risky and scary. There’s a huge possibility that it won’t work, but we must be brave. Leaving fearlessly isn’t safe, but it is worth it.
4. Quote:
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
– Jackie Robinson
Lesson to learn:
What we do for others is infinitely more important than anything we do for ourselves. Our legacy will not be found in a career, but in how well and how much we loved our family, friends, and strangers. Every day, let’s look for a way in which we can help someone else in some way and make their life a little better, their day a bit brighter.
5. Quote:
“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going, and I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
– C. JoyBell C.
Lesson to learn:
As long as we keep moving forward, it’s okay for us not to have everything figured out. Sometimes, the best things and the best ideas come in moments of uncertainty.
6. Quote:
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
– Winston Churchill
Lesson to learn:
Burn the white flag. No matter how hard life gets, never give up.
7. Quote:
“If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside.”
– Unknown
Lesson to learn:
We have inside of us the force to do great things. May this be the year we all break out.
8. Quote:
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
– John F. Kennedy
Lesson to learn:
Our gratitude is one of the greatest gifts we can give to others. From our parents to a special teacher to a friend who took time to listen, never forget to say “thank you” to those who make your life better.
9. Quote:
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
– Jim Rohn
Lesson to learn:
Let’s not wait for someone else to design our life plan. Their plan will be unsatisfying and unfulfilling. We must build our own boats, choose our own ocean, and set our own sails.
10. Quote:
“Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do.”
– John Wooden
Lesson to learn:
Instead of focusing on our failures and weaknesses, we should find out what we do well, and focus our energies on that. We cannot do everything, but we can do something.
11. Quote:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
– Steve Jobs
Lesson to learn:
We must be purposeful about our life; are we enjoying it? Are we doing things that we are passionate about? If not, why not, and what are we going to do today to change that?
12. Quote:
“Where there is love there is life.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Lesson to learn:
We only truly live when we give love and take love. Without love there can be no life. Never hesitate to love somebody.
13. Quote:
“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt, crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Lesson to learn:
Each day is a new day. Don’t spill yesterday’s paint on the clean canvas of tomorrow. The troubles of the past shouldn’t define our uncharted future.
14. Quote:
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
– Anne Dillard
Lesson to learn:
Make every day count. How much good we put into a day is how good the day will be.
15. Quote:
“Do a loony-goony dance ‘cross the kitchen floor. Put something silly in the world that ain’t been there before.”
– Shel Silverstein
Lesson to learn:
We are unique beings. The world is in need of our originality and creativity. No matter how silly it may seem to others, create something that the world has not yet seen.
16. Quote:
“I will go anywhere as long as it’s forward.”
– David Livingston
Lesson to learn:
No path leads to the past. We can’t go back and change our yesterdays, but we can make our todays and our tomorrows better. Keep moving forward.
17. Quote:
“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.”
– John Green
Lesson to learn:
It’s humbling to know that nothing lasts forever, not even us. So, don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t stress out over those who do.
Featured photo credit: Freestocks.org via pexels.com
