Encouraging Thoughts and Quotes

It's a Sunday afternoon. The streets outside are wet - I can hear the cars driving through the rainwater that's left on the road. I should be doing so many things, yet "you should be..." is the last thing I feel like hearing from anyone today, including myself.

I'm feeling a bit melancholy today. Feeling a bit over-extended, a bit worn down, washed out, used up. I don't feel like being productive today or doing my best to be great at something. I just want to be. Today I don't want clichés or upbeat statements that really say nothing at all, I want peace and quiet and maybe, just maybe, some positivity.

So, I decided to look up some quotes on Goodreads to do with being happy, appreciating what life gives you, smiling through the tears, seeing the silver lining, believing in the positive... And all that even after saying that I wanted nothing to do with clichés today...

"When things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.
Just go right along, you'll start happening too!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
With your head full of brains,
And your shoes full of feet,
You're too smart to go down a not-so-good-street.
Out there things can happen, and frequently do,
To people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.
Just go right along, you'll start happening too!"

-- Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990) - Dr. Seuss

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where –"
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go.”

-- Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

-- Mahatma Gandhi

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.” 

-- Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking...” 

-- Leo Tolstoy

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.” 

-- An Inland Voyage - Robert Louis Stevenson

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” 

-- Dalai Lama XIV

“This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.” 

-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

“There comes a point when you either embrace who and what you are, or condemn yourself to be miserable all your days. Other people will try to make you miserable; don't help them by doing the job yourself.” 

-- Laurell K. Hamilton