We could all use a little boost right now and some quotes. It's why many of us are indulging in a second glass of wine, an extra nibble of dessert, one more episode of the Queen's Gambit on Netflix. Why not? The holidays are the time to take a little time off, put your feet up, hang out with family, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
We've all been through the wringer this year. Some of us worse than others. But we all feel it, in that human compassion kind of way that the holidays inspire. So rather than buying more stuff to make ourselves feel more secure, or eating too much for comfort, or picking a fight with a spouse to feel like we have some semblance of control over our lives, we suggest trying something different.
Try out a new recipe, one that uses ingredients you're not so familiar with.
Rearrange your kitchen cupboards and pantry, cleaning out the expired stuff as you go, and ditching or donating old utensils and appliances.
Write little notes to your family members. Yes, that's right, little feel-good notes for no other reason than they make someone feel loved and appreciated. Now, roll up those notes and tuck each one into a tiny bottle and leave them in different places around your house. Message in a bottle (MIB) is poetic lore originating from we don't know where. But it's a loving, thoughtful, and fun gesture.
To get you started, we dug up some of our favorite quotes from the literature around gratitude, love, kindness and compassion, and new beginnings. All good stuff to remind us what Maya Angelou says with such poetic grace:
"This is a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before."" ~ Maya Angelou
On Gratitude
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." ~ Buddha
"Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance." ~ Eckhart Tolle
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." ~ John F. Kennedy
"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." ~ John Wooden
"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude." ~ A.A. Milne
On Love
"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, 'You owe me.' Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky." ~ Hāfiz
"To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life." ~ Elizabeth Gilbert
"Where there is love, there is life." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
"To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you are the world." ~ Dr. Seuss
"You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear." ~ Oscar Wilde
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage." ~ Lao Tzu
On Kindness & Compassion
"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." ~ Audrey Hepburn
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." ~ Aesop
"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." ~ Lao Tzu
"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The words of kindness are more healing to a drooping heart than balm or honey." ~ Sarah Fielding
"When the norm is decency, other virtues can thrive: integrity, honesty, compassion, kindness, and trust." ~ Raja Krishnamurthi
"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." ~ Og Mandino
On New Beginnings
"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
"This is a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before." ~ Maya Angelou
"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." ~ T.S. Eliot
"The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose." ~ Arnold Bennett
"Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there's a big disappointment, we don't know if that's the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don't know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don't know." ~ Pema Chödrön
Welcome The New Year With Love....
And as we move forward into 2021 without any certainty that things are going to be "just fine," let's keep these words and quotes in our minds and hearts. But most of all, let's share our love with many people, in simple acts of kindness. We're all in this together, folks.
Happy New Year from your friends at Priority Chef. Let's make it a good one.
