breathe

I’m proud of myself for being able to turn down things that I know aren’t healthy for me.

saintjoan :

Start asking yourself “what can I learn from this situation? What is good about this? Where can it possibly lead me someday?” And whenever you find yourself trapped in the negative thoughts and emotions, force yourself to stop and ask “what am I focusing on right now? How does it help me? Why should I perceive this situation in a negative light when it’s just making me feel bad?” That’s a habit that you have to develop. Once you do this, you will be a much happier person. You will be able to notice beauty in everything around you, in yourself too.

I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am. You take away my conscience, my ability to empathize, my intuition, my creativity, my deep appreciation of the little things, my vivid inner life, my keen awareness to others pain and my passion for it all.

We’re taught everything about the body and about agriculture in Madagascar and about the square root of pi, or whatever the hell it’s called, but not a word about the soul. We’re abysmally ignorant, about both ourselves and others. There’s a lot of loose talk nowadays to the effect that children should be brought up to know all about brotherhood and understanding and coexistence and equality and everything else that’s all the rage just now. But it doesn’t dawn on anyone that we must first learn something about ourselves and our own feelings… How can you understand other people if you don’t know anything about yourself? Now you’re yawning, so that’s the end of the lecture.