The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
—Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.
—Robert Tew
The best kind of people are the ones that come into your life, and make you see the sun where you once saw clouds. The people that believe in you so much, you start to believe in you too. The people that love you, simply for being you. The once in a lifetime kind of people.
—Unknown
Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they're trying to find someone who's going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.
—Anthony Robbins
Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.
—Octavia Butler
Never forget these 3 types of people in your life:
Those who helped you in difficult times.
Those who left you in difficult times.
Those who put you in difficult times.
—Unknown
Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven and likeminded. Relationships should help you, not hurt you. Surround yourself with people who reflect the person you want to be.
Choose friends who you are proud to know, people you admire, who love and respect you — people who make your day a little brighter simply by being in it.
Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. When you free yourself from negative people, you free yourself to be you — and being you is the only way to truly live.
—Unknown
Don't let your victories go to your head, or your failures go to your heart.
—Unknown
The fact that you're struggling doesn't make you a burden. It doesn't make you unloveable or undesirable or undeserving of care. It doesn't make you too much or too sensitive or too needy.
It makes you human. Everyone struggles. Everyone has a difficult time coping, and at times, we all fall apart.
During these times, we aren't always easy to be around — and that's okay. No one is easy to be around one hundred percent of the time. Yes, you may sometimes be unpleasant or difficult. And yes, you may sometimes do or say things that make the people around you feel helpless or sad. But those things aren't all of who you are and they certainly don't discount your worth as a human being.
The truth is that you can be struggling and still be loved. You can be difficult and still be cared for. You can be less than perfect, and still be deserving of compassion and kindness.
—Daniell Koepke
What are good ways to handle rejection in life? →
Separate the decision from the outcome.
Some choices are inherently risky. For example, let's say I propose the following game: you pay me a dollar, I flip a coin, if it's heads I give you $10 and if it's tails you get nothing. This is a great bet for you to take, but of course you will walk away with nothing half of the time. The key is to remember is that you made the right decision, even though it did not lead to the ideal outcome.
Making good choices is all you can ask of yourself. For example, let's say that if you ask for a raise, perhaps nothing happens 2/3 of the time and you get a 10% salary bump 1/3 of the time. So you ask your boss, and he says no. That sucks. But did you make the right decision? Sure! You had nothing to lose, and you knew that asking was not a sure bet. Your correct decision didn't pay off this time, but it might pay off the next time or the time after that.
Why would you be unhappy about making the right choice?
Focus on the process, not on the goal.
If your goal is to get a job, then you'll be anxious during the interview and disappointed if you don't get the job. If your goal is to do your best at an interview or to apply the lessons you learned at the last interview, then success is entirely in your control. This is a refinement of the last point: if the process is in your control but the outcome is not, then focus only on the process.