Whenever I am in need of advice, I usually resort to one of three things. Or I just resort to all three: music, advice from one or both of my parents, and quotes. Words are incredibly important to me. I will listen to a single song on repeat because of how the lyrics hit me, or how a single verse makes me feel. I carry a notebook around with me so that I can quickly jot down words that resonate with me. When I read, I usually have a notebook next to me. My mind is a garden of words.

There are 7 quotes that I constantly come back to whenever I am in need of advice, and I think these are words that we all need to remember.

1. “Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.” - Pema Chodron (Le Petit Prince/ The Little Prince)

I used this quote as my graduation cap quote this past May. It was the last week of April and my friend and I were stressing over finals and the emotions that come with graduating from college. We were also trying to figure out how we were going to decorate our graduation caps, and this is the quote I came up with. It perfectly sums up why the closing of certain seasons in your life are important. You can’t hold onto things forever, sometimes you have to learn your lesson and move on to bigger better adventures.

2. “People generally see what they’re looking for and hear what they’re listening for.” - Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

This quote has become more relevant to me as I’ve continued to grow older. It’s something that is important to remember as we continue to enter the workforce and more relationships.People are always going to hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see. In life, you are only accountable for your words and actions. You cannot control how people interpret your words and actions. This leads me to my third quote!

3. “People will forget what you said, people what forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

If you have read any of Maya Angelou’s work and not taken any of it with you, at least take these words. This quote is about a person’s character. It’s about how we present ourselves to the world. To people. When I’m not in a particularly great mood it’s hard to remain chipper and all smiles. However, I try to remember this quote so that I can attempt to turn my behavior, if not my mood, around. The last thing I want anyone saying about me is that I made them feel horrible. This is also something to remember in the case of an argument.

4. “Accept the fact that some people didn’t intend to let you down. Their best is just less than you expected.” - Thema Davis

This is something that I am still learning. It is easy to hold onto the notion that life is black and white. It is hard to see the gray areas in life sometimes. Especially when you feel as if someone has disappointed you or let you down. Oftentimes, we hold the people in our lives to these expectations that either go unshared or are unrealistic. We have to learn how to meet people where they are. However, we also have to learn how to be honest with ourselves when we have these feelings of being let down by someone. We have to get into the practice of asking ourselves why we feel certain emotions when certain expectations aren't met. This takes practice but once you've got the hang of it, your life becomes so much easier.

5. “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life, and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” - Georgia O’Keefe

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: It isn't easy being a 20-something! As I continue to venture further into adulthood, I’ve found that there are more moments that slightly terrify me more than others. First there’s applying to college, then there’s graduating college. Now it’s applying for grad school. It’s also making my own appointments. I’m a firm believer that we are never given more than we can handle. Tackling the things that terrify us not only make us feel accomplished. They also reassure us that we’re doing something right.

6. “Don’t dig up in doubt what you’ve planted in faith” - Elisabeth Elliot

This one is pretty self explanatory, and something I’m still learning. Fear and doubt will make you second guess everything. However, if you have confidence in yourself and a few people to remind you what you’re made of - you’ll be okay. Just keep pushing forward!

7. “You can do anything, but not everything.” - David Allen

Finally, as an ambitious generation this is something we’ve got to remember. We have so much power and potential! However, we cannot do everything. No one can do everything. That’s an unfair and unrealistic expectation to even place on ourselves. The most important lesson we can learn in life is to be able to recognize when something is for us, and when it’s not. We have to have the courage and strength to acknowledge the things that we can change, and the things that we can’t.