Some people collect stamps, jars and coins. I collect quotes.
Quotes have always enthralled me. They always provide an insight into life and really motivate me. I turn to them when I’m down and need a little boost. It’s sort of like receiving a little secret on how to survive life.
When I come across a quote I like, I write it down or take a picture of it. I like those quotes that you wouldn’t expect to find but instead are the ones that find you. I remember one time I was stressing out about school and went on Facebook for a minute to take a break. A random kid I vaguely knew had posted a status that showed up with the quote: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” That quote just helped calm me down and open my mind. Everything will always be okay in the end. It helped me not stress out as much and it still helps me now.
I used to follow twitter accounts that posted motivational quotes practically 10 times a day. My photos rose to the 400s as I kept taking screenshots of the quotes I liked. They posted so many good ones, but I had to unfollow them. I didn’t want to lose the magic of quotes.
I write the good quotes and hang them up around my room. My door is reserved for my favorites, so I will always see them before I enter my room. The quote, “It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret,” said by Jackie Joyner-Kersee, is taped up in-front of my desk, always reminding me to do my homework. My Chinese fortune, “You will soon be confronted with unlimited opportunities,” joins Jackie’s quote in front of my desk.
Right now, “Focus on your long-term goal. Good things will soon happen” is taped up onto my door. It reminds me to keep working hard and that everything will be worth it in the end. It’s what is on my mind when I’m up late finishing school work. This will all be worth it when I’m old and living the good life in my beach house.
But my absolute favorite quote that I’ve had memorized for eight years is one said by Henry David Thoreau. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined,” has been ingrained in my head ever since I heard heard it. It was a magnet that I found when I was little and it just stuck with me. It became the first quote on my door.
It amazes me the effect words can have. They’re simple, but they have so much insight packed into them. And with that, I leave you with this, spoken by Martina Navratilova.
“Just go out there and do what you’ve got to do”
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