I'm a sucker for quotes. I think that we can learn so much about people from the mottos they decide to live by, and I think it's beyond cool when I see a sentence so gracefully pieced together by one person, that another person chooses to base their entire life off of it.
Today is my birthday, and for my big one-nine, I asked 19 people to give me their mottos. I wanted to see what motivated the people I knew every single day to be wonderful, what drove them to love and care for others and the world in the ways they do.
Here are the mottos of some people who are very important to me, followed by one I recently heard and picked myself. I hope you all enjoy these 19 quotes to live by, whether you're 10 or 100, and know that, at whatever age, we can appreciate and love life with all we have.
"She believed she could. So she did." - picked by Kassie, 25
"You've got one life honey buns, don't waste it being miserable." - picked by Emily, 19
"None but ourselves can free our minds." - picked by Megan, 19
"Remind yourself that it's okay not to be perfect." - picked by Jordan, 18
"Be aware of what people do, not always what they say. That often defines what they are really like." - picked by Sharon, 65
"There will always be light, and I'll never stop chasing it." - picked by Ally, 19
"Families are like branches on a tree. We grow in different directions but our roots remain as one." - picked by Mary Pat, 48
"The harder I work, the luckier I get." - picked by Pedro, 19
"Shine your light, no matter how dark the world around you appears." - picked by Lisa, 42
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." - picked by Megan, 12
"Death is life's only guarantee, the rest is what you aspire to be." - picked by Shawn, 19
"Be fair and honest; it will serve you well." - picked by Joseph, 68
"If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down." - picked by Julie, 22
"I am strong, confident, and fearless." - picked by Nicky, 19
"Always treat people the way you would want them to treat you or your family." - picked by Karl, 53
"Do it once, do it right." - picked by C.J., 19
"With pain comes strength." - picked by Kayla, 18
"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it." - picked by Catherine, 40
"Keep people close. You need to give them access to your heart." - picked by Colleen, now 19.
I thought about trying to interpret each of these quotes and mottos, which would make for an incredibly interesting article; but I decided against it because of how unique and individual they all are. They mean something specific to each person who lives by them; they coincide with a memory or time in life where they especially held true and were finalized as a lifelong ideal. I think everyone can learn something from all of these quotes, whether self-thought or admired from someone else's words, because we are all growing, all learning to accept new things and open our eyes to new perspectives, and all learning to love the lives we have been given to the very best of our ability.
I noticed that the younger people I asked were focused on bettering their lives and learning to be independent: getting ahead, becoming stronger, and looking to make the time they have on this earth worth living. For the most part, they were focused on doing what we have all been told to do for our entire lives: work hard, do well, and try to be happy. With the parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles I asked, I noticed the focus was a little different; many focused on their family, or on how their lives and their choices impact other's lives. Once we get older and we gradually move into an adult life, especially once we have the responsibility of taking care of another human being (whether kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc.), the impact we have on others becomes so much more evident and significant than ever before.
With this little experiment, I was hoping to help anyone else who may be looking for some words to live by as well; I gathered people close to my heart who varied in almost anything you could vary in, from age, to gender, to ethnicity, to religious views, to upbringings, and so on. I found that as different variations in identity came across, different values were brought out in the mottos chosen. Some centered on love, some on growth and motivation, some on family, and so on. I think there is a quote for everybody, whether it gives them something to work toward everyday of their life, or shows them that someone else in the world thinks like them and that no matter what, they're never alone.
I'll be sure not to take this new year for granted, because I can only imagine the new experiences and adventures it'll hold that will teach me so much more about myself, growing up, and about all the beautiful life around me. I am so excited to see how I, and those around me, will continue to grow, and how the ways in which we decide to live and admire life reflects who we really are.
