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Kindle Notes & Highlights
Finding the courage to act or surrender will never be as painful as lying on a deathbed with regrets.
Our society has shut death out, almost as a denial of its existence. This denial leaves both the dying person and the family or friends totally unprepared for something that is inevitable.
In some ways each leap of faith became harder, as it brought me closer to the core of my deepest fears. Yet each leap also became easier.
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
the longing to avoid pain is stronger than the yearning for pleasure. So it is often only when the pain becomes too much that we finally find the courage to make changes.
People change because they want to and when they are ready.
When there is limited time left, there is little to lose by being totally honest.
If he didn’t try, he couldn’t fail. Not one ounce of motivation remained in him. As the sun rose and set each day, Anthony chose to sleep his life away.
We all have trappings we need to free ourselves from. Most of them are not physical ones and if they are, it is likely they originated from non-physical trappings, such as unhealthy thinking and negative belief systems.
We spend so much time making plans for the future, often depending on things happening at a later date to assure our happiness or assuming we have all the time in the world, when all we ever have is our life today.
‘It’s just that the chase for more, and the need to be recognised through our achievements and belongings, can hinder us from the real things, like time with those we love, time doing things we love ourselves, and balance. It’s probably all about balance really, isn’t it?’
I would love to have not cared what others thought of me, as I do now. I wonder why we have to wait until we are dying to work things like this out.’
‘There is nothing wrong with loving your work and wanting to apply yourself to it, but there is so much more to life. Balance is what is important, maintaining balance.’
‘Sometimes you have to take some steps back to get a run-up before you jump,’
People don’t always realise the joy they bring to others.
It can take years to work out what you want to do, and it did for me. But the satisfaction that awaits will make the search worth it for anyone.’
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings
Pausing at the doorway of his room one last time, I looked at him again. We each smiled the same way at each other, saying nothing but saying so much.
began to wonder why we are all so afraid of being open and honest. Of course, we do it to avoid pain that may come as a result of our honesty. But those walls we create bring pain of their own, by stopping others from knowing who we truly are.
‘We must learn to express our feelings now,’ Jude emphasised. ‘Not when it is too late. None of us ever know when it will be too late. Tell people you love them. Tell them you appreciate them. If they can’t accept your honesty or react in a different way to how you hoped, it doesn’t matter. What matters is you have told them.’
Pride is such a waste of time. Honestly, look at me now. I can’t even wipe my own bum. What does it matter? We are all human. We are allowed to be vulnerable too. It is a part of the process.’
Just because someone doesn’t respond the way you wish, that doesn’t mean you should regret the attempt to express yourself.
to be in any sort of relationship where you do not express yourself, simply to keep the peace, is a relationship ruled by one person and will never be balanced or healthy.
The things we love about others are too often not acknowledged.
I brought her into the world, but we do not own our children. We are just blessed with the role of guiding them until they can fly on their own, and that’s what she is doing now.’
Loneliness leaves emptiness in the heart that can physically kill you. The ache is unbearable and the longer it hangs around, the more despair adds to it.
It was a perfect night but with the wrong people. There were plenty of reasons to like each of my companions on this trip, and I did. But I was experiencing a very special moment and wanted to be sharing it with the right people, with friends who truly knew me.
Friendship is about being accepted for who you are, not as someone else wants you to be, like a partner or family sometimes tries for.
‘Friends will come and go throughout life. That’s why we should value them while they are here. Sometimes, you simply finish learning or sharing what you were meant to through each other.
happiness is a choice, Rosemary, and one I try to make every day.
as we will never have everything we want and will always be growing, appreciating what we already have along the way is the most important thing.
It doesn’t matter what your job is. What matters is that you are trying to make a conscious contribution, hoping to create a better world,’
‘Don’t worry about the little stuff. None of it matters. Only love matters. If you remember this, that love is always present, it will be a good life.’
growth is more like peeling a very large onion. As we remove each new layer, it becomes even more raw and each layer just makes us cry harder.
Every tear shed, every sentence written, every thought shared, revealed a new layer to be peeled away.
Laughter is a very underrated tool for healing.
It is a pity that being who we truly are requires so much courage, but it does. It takes enormous courage at times. Being who we are, whoever that is, sometimes cannot even be articulated at first, even to ourself.
No-one else can make us happy or unhappy, unless we allow him or her to.
Having the courage to be ourself and not who others expect us to be may take a lot of strength and honesty. But so does lying on our deathbed and admitting that we wished we had done it differently.
Be gentle with yourself. That was who you were then. It does not need to be who you are now. Compassion for who you used to be, given from who you are now, is the first seed of kindness towards self-forgiveness.
It is crucial to consider the life we are living now, as there may be little time given at our passing to find peace or for any contemplation.
Forgive others who may have blamed you for their own unhappiness. We are all human. We have all said and done things that could have been done in a kinder way.
