I'm gonna be honest, there's a void in my life on Thursday nights right now. And no, it's not because I'm over 200 miles from a Lucy's fishbowl...OK well, maybe a little but still. It's because "Scandal" is on its summer break. I bet you're thinking I'm silly for missing a TV show but hey I'm a sucker for a routine and a good political drama. Plus Olivia Pope is a goddess. She embodies power and sexuality and never once sacrifices who she is. Only God knows how many hours and emotions I've invested into this show. And a few quotes, or "Popeisms" as I'll call them, have stuck with me. Take away the cheating president, the kidnappings, and the blood thirsty associates and she's not wrong, we all could live by the way of Olivia Pope.
"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but you have to try, because if you try, if you leap out and try, and it doesn't work out, it's not on you."
You never know unless you try. And trust me, you can't become a gladiator overnight.
"I am very good at what I do, I am better at it than anyone else. That's not arrogance. That's fact."
Be confident in yourself even if no one else does. You'll be thankful later down the road when everyone else is still trying to figure themselves out. Own it, own you.
"I'm the thing that needs to be fixed. I'm the thing that needs to be handled. I'm the scandal."
At some point of our life, we all have to face defeat and admit we need help. Even gladiators need to ask for fixing.
"I also bought wine, but this is for me. I'm drinking the whole bottle."
Even gladiators need a night off.
"I am not a toy you can play with when you're bored or lonely or horny. I am not the girl the guy gets at the end of the movie. I am not a fantasy. If you want me, earn me."
Don't diminish your worth to please anyone; always know your worth. Never settle for half-ass because you think it's the best you'll get. It's not. Wait for the guy who acknowledges your worth and your individuality, not the one that tries to mold you into what he wants.
"I'm not choosing Jake. I'm not choosing Fitz. I'm choosing Olivia."
The only way you can truly let someone else in is by putting yourself first and owning you. Always be your own number one priority.
"I like working for myself...but I've never left your side."
Never forget where your loyalties lay.
"I don't want normal and easy and simple. I want painful, difficult, devastating, life-changing, extraordinary love."
She's right, it isn't meant to be easy. Sometimes you gotta go through the pain to experience the joy.
"You can't change the choice you made, all you can do is not let it ruin you."
People make mistakes, it happens; don't let the real mistake be the ignorance of making another one.
"Who I am or am not screwing, what I am or am not doing, is no longer any of your damn business.”
Enough said.
"My gut tells me everything I need to know."
Trust your instincts, you're usually right.
We might not wear the white hat or fix people like Liv, but thanks to her, consider our lives, handled.
