Published
My favorite thing to constantly remind myself is "even God can't change the past". I spent so much time in my early sobriety wishing I could go back & change things I had done. Once I heard this quote, I realized if God couldn't do it, I probably didn't have much chance either so quit trying to figure out how to change the past.
One of my favorites, and this may seem a little odd, but so very true, even in the darkest of times... (from Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club): It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.â€
This isn't exactly a saying but an idea that keeps me off the window ledge if I am threatening to go to a bad emotional place because I got "the shaft" in several areas of my life, including nursing.
Well, I guess it IS a saying, lol:
"Everyone has a reason they could feel like a victim."
This helps me avoid comparing my inner life to someone else's outer life. One never knows what people are struggling with and my feeling like a victim is a good way for me to go to some very dark places in my life.
I hope this helps someone, as it did me. :)
Catmom :paw:
Twoyearnurse
510 Posts
There are two things that people have said that have helped me beyond words when I get bogged down by the challenges of these programs and by shame (yes, it still at times rears it's ugly head even after all this time).
The first is something that I read on this site three years ago: "there is a fine line between humility and humiliation, gratitude is embedded within that thin line". This reminds me that I have a choice in how I allow this experience to touch me.
The second comes from my father who told me this in the midst of my withdrawing from opiates after being fired from my job when I was feeling like the singularly worst human being ever created: "if there is a name for it, it has been done before". This reminds me that I am not the first, nor the last, to have this experience.
What are your sayings?