saphira

Hey all! Ok...so I'm doing pretty well this weekend. No drinking, which is a huge thing for me. I'm attempting to quit smoking as well, and am making sort of a collage of things to look at when I'm tempted to drink or smoke. I have statistics and pictures but I'm in need of some good quotes to put on there. As I'm reading all of your posts, I keep intending to jot down some but haven't thus far.
Anybody have any inspiring quotes to share?

itsaboutime

I read one on a post here somewhere that struck me:

“If we don't change our direction we're likely to end up where we're headed.”

Ranger

If I choose to <drink, smoke, etc> today, then my past becomes my future.

saphira

Thanks you two! I appreciate it!

Anna

I LOVE Maya Angelou and I felt a lot of guilt and shame early in recovery so I kept her words close to me.

"I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."

saphira

Thank you.

frances2011

Someone here has this for a sig:
"Just keep swimming"--dory, finding nemo

I love it cause it's simple.

recoverywfaith

Praise is the song he sings
and hope is his name.
Peace

EmeraldRose

Some of my favorites...

"The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one minute to the next."

"When you have control over your thoughts, you have control over your life."

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

"Whatever you can do or dream you can; Begin It.
Boldness has genius, power, and magick in it."

"Sometimes all you need is a second chance, because time wasn't ready for the first one."

"Challenges make life interesting, however, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

SwanSong

"Experience is not what happens to a man. It was a man does with what happens to him"

"Unawareness is the root of all evil"

Fear. Face Everything And Recover.

Couple of my favs...good luck to you!

danielleg

I do I do!!!!! I just 5 minutes ago completed a book that contains all of my fav inspiration quotes misc..... do u know how to attach anything to this ? let me know and I will forward the disk stuff for you. im going to make copies and let the book circulate during the womans meeting. try mia angelo. i love her...esp. "still I rise" hope to hear from u soon.
dani

Ghostly

Here are some other Threads with quotes -

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ol-quotes.html

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...te-quotes.html

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...le-quotes.html

Boleo

There are only 3 truly meaningful things in life;

1. Beer
2. A couple of other piddly-assed things you don't need to worry about if you have enough beer.

Pigtails

Hi, I love inspirational quotes and they have been especially useful lately. I have these two taped to my computer monitor:

Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams
and endeavor to live the life you have imagined.
You will be met with unexpected success.
~Thoreau

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
~Aristotle

The funny thing is that I have loved these quotes for years and always wanted to live by them, but it was a "one day I hope to..." kind of thing, or I would try and fail, but this is the first time I am ever taking active action to make the life I have line up with the life I want, and truly be true to myself and live with integrity and love myself etc., and so the quotes are finally meaning something to me in real life. :-)

So this isn't a "quote" but a tip I use to keep myself accountable is to remind myself of all the things I want to be-- healthy, happy, skinny/in shape, organized, active, honest, etc... and before I do pretty much anything I ask myself "is this in line with what you want to be?" For instance if I want to go to McDonalds which was an old habit I think "does a skinny person go to McDonalds?" and answer myself "no" and go buy chicken and veggies instead, since that's what a skinny person eats. If I want to have a drink I think, "is this what a healthy and happy person does?" (well maybe if they can control it, but I can't obviously, so, no! I skip the drink). If I want to tell my job a lie about why I was late I think "is this what an honest person does?" No, so I tell the truth (or try hard not to be late in the first place. This has really helped me, kind of a visualization of who I want to be and then making sure I put that into practice.

Listening to music also helps me, I have stopped watching TV (cancelled my cable although I still occasionally watch movies or TV show boxed sets when I have time , and try to focus more on doing other things while listening to music. I personally find the music of Adele (who I heard had a drinking problem and stopped), Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos to be really inspiring... the lyrics are raw and honest and sometimes it helps me to just feel my emotions, even if they are painful, instead of turning to alcohol or other distractions and escapes. I'm in the middle of putting together a "recovery" playlist and it also has some songs by Evanessence and Pink in it (she's iffy becuase some of her songs are about partying but some are self-empowering and about getting sober... I feel like she's gone through different stages and is now on a healthier path (if her music reflects her life), and I find I can really relate to her ha ha). Also the song Thank You by Alanis Morissette. I have also joined a unitarian church and appreciate the meditations and self-affirmations.

Finally, here are some other inspiring quotes that I like:

"Keep yourself from worries and sorrow,
seize with all your might this fleeting life.
Yesterday is already far, tomorrow not yet arrived.
Be happy for a moment, for this moment is your life."
~ Omar Kyahham

"You've got your whole life to do something,
and that's not very long."
~ Ani DiFranco

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
~ Mary Oliver

Here's part of a poem I find really inspiring:

"Don't stay motionless by the roadside,
don't freeze joy or love halfheartedly.
Don't save yourself now or ever.
Don't become serene,
don't keep only a still corner in this world,
don't let your eyelids droop heavy like judgements.
Don't stay without lips,
don't sleep without dreams,
imagine you're bloodless or judge yourself in haste."
~ Mario Benedetti, Don't Save Yourself ("No Te Salves")

And here are lyrics from the musical Rent which I also find super inspiring-- if you haven't seen it it's about young people who are suffering from and trying to recover from addiction.

"There is no future, there is no past.
I live this moment as my last.
There's only us, there's only this.
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.
No other road, no other way.
No day but today."
~ "Another Day", song from Rent.

I hope these help -- I too search for inspiration wherever I can find it and like positive things to focus on and think about when I'm feeling down or distracted.

Pigtails

Oh, here are some more I found on my computer.

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at.
~Jesse Owens, American track and field athlete and Olympic gold medal winner

"Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it."
~Jim Rohn

Júntate a los buenos y serás uno de ellos.
~Get together with good people and you will be one of them - Dicho/Proverb from the Spanish

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”
~Dr. Suess

Reset

Do or do not, there is no try.
-Yoda

saphira

Pigtails....THANK YOU!!! This is exactly what I was looking for!! I am so excited to jot all of that stuff down! I really appreciate you taking the time to do this!

Danielleg....I actually have no idea how to attach things on here if that's even possible, but I would love to see what you have!

Thanks everyone for making inspirational additions to my collage!! I'm so excited!!

lisa888

Here is one poem that I always liked:

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises
and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open
with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child and you learn
to build all your roads on today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much
so you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn...

Mida

One of my faves is the one in my signature because it reminds me of the importance of gratitude...ironically, I initially put it up prior to my drinking days and have kept it prominently displayed in my home for years. Yet for about a decade, I ignored it's message completely and pretty much saw nothing but the bad stuff in my life. The stress, the conflict, the times I didn't get my way. Now in sobriety I am ever so slowly gaining "new eyes."

I also love all the other quotes posted especially the Aristotle one

Itchy

"When you see a worthy person, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy person, then examine your inner self."
- Confucius

"It ain't what a man knows that gets him in trouble. It's what he thinks he knows but just ain't so"
- Will Rogers

"Every time you face a challenge, you are being tested as to how strong your beliefs and intentions are. People who go through great hardships to achieve greatness have a kind of aura about them that says: "Don't mess with me, I know what I'm about. I have been thoroughly tested in battle." Confront your challenges with a brave face. The greater the challenge, the greater the gift of power."
A. C. Ping

"Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable."
Theodore N. Vail

"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do." -- Henry Ford

"Life is a process of accumulation. We either accumulate the debt or the value, the regret or the equity." -- Jim Rohn