Believe

“Believe”...you hear it a lot this time of year. Believe in Santa Claus. Believe in the spirit of Christmas.

Well, "Believe" has also been our mantra this year. Believe in our intuition. Believe that we have the strength and courage to follow our dreams. Believe that this is what we're meant to do. Believe in ourselves.

Last year for Christmas I got a page-a-day calendar title “Believing in Ourselves” which features inspiring quotes from well-known women from all walks of life. While I wait for my computer to boot up at work each morning, I read the quote for that day. Each time I found one that particularly resonated with me, I stuck the page on my wall. Whenever I had a bad day, I’d pull the pages down and read through them. They’ve definitely been a source of strength to me when I struggle to get through the day or find myself with second thoughts on what we’re about to do . One thing that amazes me is that several of these are from early in the year, even before Tracy and I began our discussions. Must have been my subconscious speaking! I suspect that they will continue to provide support long after this year comes to an end. Here are several of my favorites:

Part of the adventure in life is not always knowing what’s going to happen next, and the next part may be grander than your original plan. The key to enjoying the journey is being open to the unknown. ~Kristine Carlson (author)

Begin doing what you want do to now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snowflake. ~Marie Beynon Ray (writer)

Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small in it. For the greatest things grow by God’s Law out of the smallest. ~Florence Nightingale

Have confidence in yourself and tell yourself “you can” twice for every time you are told “you can’t”. Confidence that you can succeed is everything. Take every negative remark as a challenge to achieve more and progress to newer heights. You are able to do anything you believe you can do. You might even surprise yourself. ~Alinda Wikert (first female owner of airline)

Faith and doubt both are needed – not as antagonists, but working side by side – to take us around the unknown curve. ~Lillian Smith (writer)

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself. ~Alice Walker (author)

Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Let us never confuse stability with stagnation. ~Mary Jean LeTendre (educator and government official)

Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow. ~Margaret Fuller (writer)

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. ~Audrey Hepburn

To change skins, evolve into new cycles, I feel one has to learn to discard. If one changes internally, one should not continue to live with the same objects. They reflect one’s mind and psyche of yesterday. I throw away what has no dynamic, living use. ~Anais Nin (writer)

I never quite believed that one chance is all I get. ~Anne Tyler (novelist)

We need to nurture, feed, and cleanse our spirits in the same way we care for our appearance and physical health. ~Kristine Carlson (author)

Faith is the very first thing you should pack in a hope chest. ~Sarah Ban Breatnach (author)

It’s good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters, in the end. ~Ursula Le Guin (writer)

People say that you’re going the wrong way when it’s simply a way of your own. ~Angelina Jolie