Busyness vs. Purpose

Beware the barrenness of a busy life
- Socrates

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
- Samuel Johnson

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Habit and routine have an unbelievable power to waste and destroy.
- Henri de Lubac

He who sows hurry reaps indigestion.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

The price of success is hard work,
dedication to the job at hand,
and the determination that whether we win or lose,
we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.
- Vince Lombardi

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Inattention is fertile soil for bad habits to grow stronger.
To break bad habits and cultivate behaviors you prefer,
use your power of conscious attention and daily practice.

An overfull calendar, like an overfull stomach,
is a consequence of taking on too much.
Commit, and eat, in moderation.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Too little commitment, and life becomes meaningless.
Too much focus on accomplishment, and you burn out.
Balance striving for success, with gentle self-care.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you don't enjoy your career, today is the day to begin a long-term plan for creating a career that interests and excites you. In the short term, even if you hate your job, look for small joys at work each day, perhaps in your interactions with customers and co-workers.

Whenever you feel you must hurry,
ask yourself whether the busyness is fulfilling your purpose in life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Happiness is a Choice

Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Your Life Purpose
      

Curing Boredom

When people are bored it is primarily with themselves.
- Eric Hoffer

The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

It is only a step from boredom to disillusionment,
which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos.
- Manly Hall

For those who are bored with life,
the path to happiness almost always comes
through service to the less-fortunate.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How can I find what my happiness is supposed to be or look like?

Break Old Patterns of Action

Nothing to look forward to?

Overcome Being Negative
  

Self-Pity is Your Worst Enemy

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

We have met the enemy and he is us.
- Walt Kelly (Pogo comic strip)

Your best friend and worst enemy are both in this room right now.
It's not your neighbor right or left -
and it's not God or the devil -
it's you.
- Edwin Louis Cole

Self-pity is our worst enemy
and if we yield to it,
we can never do anything wise in this world.
- Helen Keller

Further reading: How to Feel Better About Yourself

Feeling Sorry for Yourself?

How to Gain Self Confidence

How to Stay Positive
    

Labeling yourself a "victim" prevents you from healing

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men
who walked through the huts comforting others,
giving away their last piece of bread...
They offer sufficient proof that everything
can be taken from a man but one thing:
to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances,
to choose one's own way.
- Viktor E. Frankl

Most of us believe that we have
been betrayed by someone outside of us -
in other words someone has done something to hurt us,
been dishonest or broken a promise made:
some trust in some concept was broken.
Indeed someone may have taken an action
that took only their needs into consideration,
they may have not followed through on a promise made,
and they may have not told you the truth.
But their actions have nothing to do with you
and have everything to do with them.
That's why no one can do anything TO you.
They can take actions that involve you that you may not like -
But you are not a victim, no way, no how.
- Sheri Rosenthal

Labeling yourself a "victim" prevents you from healing.
Don't let yesterday's troubles destroy today and tomorrow.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: You are not a victim - article by Sheri Rosenthal

When You Have Been Wronged

It's Not About You

Why I Choose to Believe that Others are Never the Cause of My Unhappiness

Self Pity
  

Boredom: Enemy of Happiness

The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

When people are bored it is primarily with themselves.
- Eric Hoffer

It is only a step from boredom to disillusionment,
which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos.
- Manly Hall

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time;
serenity, that nothing is.
- Thomas Szasz

For those who are bored with life,
the path to happiness almost always comes
through service to the less-fortunate.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How can I find what my happiness is supposed to be or look like?

Nothing to look forward to?

Break Old Patterns of Action

Overcome Being Negative
  

Self Pity

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Self-pity is our worst enemy
and if we yield to it,
we can never do anything wise in this world.
- Helen Keller

We have met the enemy and he is us.
- Walt Kelly (Pogo comic strip)

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Stay Positive

Is your glass of life half empty? Or half full?

How to Feel Better About Yourself

How to Cope with Loneliness
 

Our Own Worst Enemy

We have met the enemy and he is us.
- Walt Kelly (Pogo comic strip)

Self-pity is our worst enemy
and if we yield to it,
we can never do anything wise in this world.
- Helen Keller

Your best friend and worst enemy are both in this room right now.
It's not your neighbor right or left -
and it's not God or the devil -
it's you.
- Edwin Louis Cole

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Feel Better About Yourself

How to Gain Self Confidence

How to Cope with Loneliness

Don't Borrow Trouble

All Life is a Risk

Self Pity

Fear

Helen Keller quotes: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. – Helen Keller

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world. - Helen Keller

Helen Keller (1880-1968) overcame being both deaf and blind to become a famous author, lecturer, and activist.

Further reading: Honor your being

Discovery and adventure, rather than fear

Life's burdens are lighter when I laugh at myself. - jlh

May your spirit soar