“I just want to be me—I just want to be useful and… content. I want to stop wondering if I’ll ever feel whole and just be whole. I want to have a purpose, one that I can look at without feeling like I’m less than I was.”— Eilis O’Neal,

Someday, someone is going to look at you like you’re the best thing in the world.

Loneliness is not being alone, it’s being empty.

It’s such a shame to waste time. We always think we have so much of it.

My mother calls to tell me about her day and I listen, because I know there’s no one else who will. My mother asks me to tell her about mine, so I tell her only the good things and keep the rest inside because words travel distances but her loving hands cannot. My mother asks me if I am happy, and I tell her that I am; I ask her the same question and she says ‘yes, if you are, I am’; and I know that some lies are worth telling. My mother reminds me to be strong through it all, to remember to be modest and to always keep my head up high; ” I’ve given you everything,” she says, ” make me proud.” But my mother doesn’t know that everything comes with her shame attached; that the child of an immigrant cannot smile without guilt, cannot feel without pain, cannot be without fear. My mother asks if I understand, and I say yes, I can’t unlearn it. And when my mother asks when I’m coming home, I know she’s asking for me to never forget; “Soon,” I promise her; Soon. ”

There are three things I want you to learn how to say.

One. “I love you” and don’t just say it as an empty phrase,say it with feeling,say it to every person who comes to mind when you think of those three little words.I know it’s scary, I know it’s difficult, but open yourself upand shout it.Don’t mumble,don’t say it under your breath,when you love someone,whether platonically or romantically,

it deserves to be shouted from every rooftop.

Two.“Goodbye”There will be some people in your life that come in and just wreck everything,they mess up your plans,they hurt you,and make you feel less than what you are,so please learn how to say goodbye to them.But I also want you to learn how to say goodbyeto even the people you want to stay.not everyone stays, and saying goodbye is like setting someone free,and it won’t always come easy,and it won’t always come without heartbreak,but not everyone stays,and it will do you a world of good to learn how to tell them goodbye.

Three. “I am worth it.”there will be waves of sorrow in your life,and you will feel as if you were the sand that the tide carries away,you will feel as if it carries away your worthit will feel like you are the left over rubble of a buildingthat had been burned down,and you will feel less,but please learn to say these words.say them in the mirror when you have just woken up,say them when your lover turns their back on you,say them when you are opening up the refrigeratorsing them,yell them,whisper them,and please, believe them.You are more than sand that can just be washed away,and you are more than just a few pieces of broken cement,please,you are worth it.”

Loss of the past, whether it be collectively or individually, is the supreme human tragedy, and we have thrown ours away just like a child picking off the petals of a rose. It is above all to avoid this loss that people will put up a desperate resistance to being conquered. — Simone Weil

“’I love myself.’thequietest.simplest.mostpowerful.revolutionever.”

I wish people could just say how they feel like ‘Hey I really don’t like when you do that to me’ or ‘Hey I’m in love with you’ or ‘Hi I really miss you and I think about you all the time’ without sounding desperate. Why can’t everyone be painfully honest and just save people the trouble.

What you seek is seeking you.

"What you seek is seeking you."

I love this so much! First of all, it’s true. And also: it’s more fun to believe that what you seek is seeking you. Your desires are divinely inspired.  You wouldn’t have had the desire in the first place if nature didn’t put it there.  But how do we loosen the death grip on our goals?

Meditation can help. Once we start getting to the chair (aka meditating every day), we stop being under the illusion that happiness lies on the other side of any one desire coming to fruition. We start to access bliss on a visceral level every day (preferably twice a day). Then our desires become Nature’s way of using us as a fulfillment delivery vehicle. 

Once you start meditating, you develop an all-access pass to bliss and fulfillment in the only place that it actually resides (inside you), then you're able to use your desires as Nature’s GPS, telling you how and where to deliver your goods.  

So, how do we apply this? 

The first step is to ask yourself: What do I WANT to do? 

Then, instead of turning it into a goal (thinking I HAVE to do this), which will cause the fun, bubbly feeling to dissipate, we want to keep ourselves in the realm of desire by consciously reminding ourselves that what we seek is also seeking us.

PS: This doesn’t mean sit around and wait for your dreams to land on your doorstep. You have to take inspired action. This is simply an important reminder that your happiness does not lie on the other side of a job, a boyfriend, or a proposal. Your happiness exists RIGHT NOW, inside of you. 

The paradoxical thing that starts to happen is the more you practice this, the easier it is for your desires to find you. Probably because taking the pressure off each individual event or thing allows you to stop panicking long enough to see your desires and opportunities when they arrive.

So, what do you think is seeking you?