One of the neatest things I saw at the San Diego Zoo wasn’t even on display there! Just like with my vacations, sometimes in life I have to be open to things I haven’t planned.

As I’ve said in the past, I’m a planner.  Not just vacations, weekends or menus but also life in general.  I have a picture of how I want my life to go.

Too often for me, though, my expectations are vastly different from the way my life unfurls.  Some things are beyond my control, and as much as I don’t like it, I have to accept it and learn to let go of my expectations.

I wish I could say that I’m one of those people who easily adapts to whatever life has in store.  Of course that’s the ideal, but that’s not always how I deal 😉

I try my best to picture the positive possibilities, but I admit that I can sometimes slip into the black abyss of doom and gloom or stinkin’ thinkin’.  I find that when life gets too out of control for me and I don’t seem to be able to do anything about it, it’s ok sometimes to just take a little time to throw myself a pity party.  I don’t allow myself too much time for this because it’s completely non-productive and gets me nowhere, nevertheless, I need that sometimes.

After I’m done wallowing, I try to inspire myself to get back up and try, try again.  Here are a few quotes that have helped me in the past.

 “The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“There is nothing permanent except change.” ~
Heraditus

“Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale

“To be able to move on, one has to learn to forgive not only the person (or people) who have done one wrong but also oneself.” ~ Eugenia Tripputi

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.” ~ Mother Teresa

“We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” ~ Mother Teresa

The last two quotes by Mother Teresa are great ones, I think, because by focusing on others and what I can do for them, I stop being self-centered and moping over things I cannot change.  Ultimately, I can usually pull myself out of my little slumps by remembering that there is a reason for everything that happens, even when I don’t understand the reason.  By finding a way to make someone else’s day a little brighter, I can often shrug off the cloud of self-pity and brighten my own day as well.

Do you have any favorite “pick me up” quotes or ways that you pull yourself out of a slump?  I’d love to hear about it!