We spend our childhoods desperate to grow up, desperate to be an adult, desperate to make our dreams come true. By the time we hit our 20s, we are a little less desperate to be grown-ups. We’re a little less sure of what we really want and a lot less sure of who we want to become. At age 20-something, we are poised to become the person we are meant to be, whether we realize it or not. As we struggle to find ourselves and put the pieces together, we look for guidance, for inspiration for some sign that we are heading in the right direction. So, for all of you 20-somethings looking for your sign, here are 12 literary quotes to help inspire you on your path to becoming the person you are meant to be.
1. “Sometimes I can feel my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.”
-- Jonathan Safran Foer, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
Photo via Quote Fancy
At this point, you can only imagine all of the directions your life may take. Picking one path over another may leave you feeling like you're missing something. You have to keep trying until you find the path that makes your heart soar.
2. “I don’t understand it any more than you do, but one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to understand things for them to be.”
-- Madeleine L'Engle, "A Wrinkle in Time"
There will be times when you don't understand where life is taking you, but it's important to know that you are going in the direction life is supposed to take you. Even if it isn't what you intended when you started.
3. "If the moon smiled, she would resemble you. You leave the same impression of something beautiful, but annihilating."
-- Sylvia Plath
Photo via Goddess Rising
You are a person with infinite power; you can create and you can destroy. And you shall.4. "The curves of your lips rewrite history."
-- Oscar Wilde, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
Photo via Huffington Post
Don't get so caught up in the struggle of finding meaning that you forget how important it is to let the light of your smile change the world.
5. "And all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet."
-- Shel Silverstein
Photo via Quarter Vida
Every minute of every day, you are working to fill your life with color and meaning. Sometimes, these colors don't exist in your life and you have to make them as you go. So continue to fill your life with colors of your own invention
6. “She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.”
-- J.D. Salinger, "A Girl I Knew"
You may not realize it, but someone is looking at you like you put the stars in the sky. The work you are doing to become the person you want to be isn't going unnoticed.
7. “There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.”
-- Bram Stoker, "Dracula"
Photo via Rebloggy
Be the light in the darkness. Aspire to show the world the fierce, brilliant woman you are becoming.
8. "Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful."
-- Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein"
Photo via Society6
Don't let anyone tell you that you are less than the fearless, powerful being you were born to become.
9. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "The Little Prince"
Photo via Tumblr
Let your heart guide you in all things. If it is not well with your heart, it will not be well with your life.
10. “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”
-- Stephen Chbosky, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
Photo via Giphy
Nothing is ever perfect. Happiness and sadness will always exist, but we live through them every day, and that's the beauty of human existence.
11. “She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.”
-- Kate Chopin, "The Awakening"
Becoming the person you are meant to be is a process. Like any work of art, you are going to need more than one attempt to mold yourself into who you want to become. As human beings, it's never about the end product. It will always be about the process of growing into yourself.
12. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
-- E.E. Cummings
Photo via Tiny Buddha
Everyone is scared to cast aside the idea of who they should be and replace it with the reality of who they are. Don't let yourself become trapped in the mundane. Continue to grow, to change, to break free from the limits you impose on yourself. Have the courage to become the person you are inside. Let the world see the beautiful dancing flame that lives inside you.
