Jesus’ life didn’t go well. He didn’t reach his earning potential. He didn’t have the respect of his colleagues. His friends weren’t loyal. His life wasn’t long. He didn’t meet his soul mate. And he wasn’t understood by his mother. Yet I think I deserve all those things because I’m so spiritual.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 3
Why are we so safe in the things we pray? Who are we trying to keep from looking foolish? Us or Him?
— Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day, p. 347
When you fail (which you will), that doesn’t mean that you are a failure. It simply means that you don’t do everything right. We all have to accept the fact that along with strengths we also have weaknesses. Just let Christ be strong in your weaknesses; let Him be your strength on your weak days.
— Joyce Meier, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 36
The process of reinvention, we’ve learned, is best managed with humor, friendship, optimism, and a long-lasting high-beam flashlight to see the light at the end of every tunnel.
— Deborah Collins Stephens, Jackie Speier, Michealene Cristini Risley, and Jan Yanehiro, This Is Not the Life I Ordered, p. 16
I will work hard to heal my hurt. This means understanding my own deepest emotions and those of all my loved ones. I will not hurt their feelings or try to control them, even if they hurt mine or try to control me.
— Steven Stosny, You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore, p. 186
The one major thing God told me from the very beginning, when I had no clue where I was or where I was going, was obedience in the face of reason. I was to keep a short account with God, cleanse myself daily of anger, bitterness and resentment, and forgive even when I didn’t feel like it. Willingness was, and is, always the key.
— Testimonial in Your Father Knows Best: True Reports from Court of God Moving When People are Praying, compiled by Bob and Charlyne Steinkamp
No matter how bad you feel, if you do one of these — improve, appreciate, protect or connect — you will feel better.
— Steven Stosny, You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore, p. 184
It is a sorry and often heard refrain that “love has vanished from our relationship.” As with many such statements, this is unfair to love. It’s not love that has disappeared from the relationship, we have. Lasting love is not a test of endurance. When we are able to appreciate all the little things which brought us together, and deepen that appreciation over the years, we stay together. Such a relationship is one of life’s great success stories.
— Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 181
Although from the outside gaslighting can look like the work of a single, abusive gaslighter, a gaslighting relationship always involves the active participation of two people. That is, in fact, the good news. If you’re caught in a gaslighting relationship, you may not be able to change the gaslighter’s behavior, but you can certainly change your own. Again, it’s not easy, but it is simple: You can end the gaslighting as soon as you stop trying to win the argument or convince your gaslighter to be reasonable. Instead, you can simply opt out.…
Gaslighting can occur only when a gaslightee tries — consciously or not — to accommodate the gaslighter, or to get him to see things her way, because she so desperately wants his approval so she can feel whole.
— Dr. Robin Stern, The Gaslight Effect, p. 34-35
When all else fails, try gratitude. Sometimes, that’s what we’re supposed to be learning. If we can’t think of anything to be grateful about, be grateful anyway.
— Melody Beattie, Beyond Codependency, p. 71