How do we keep our inner fire alive? Two things, at minimum, are needed: an ability to appreciate the positives in our life – and a commitment to action. Every day, it’s important to ask and answer these questions: ‘What’s good in my life?’ and ‘What needs to be done?
It is humiliating to realize that when you drive yourself underground, when you fake who you are, often you do so for people you do not even like or respect.
The opposite of self-assertiveness is self-abnegation – abandoning or submerging your personal values, judgment, and interests. Some people tell themselves this is a virtue. It is a “virtue” that corrodes self-esteem.
Self-discipline is the ability to organize your behavior over time in the service of specific goals.
What a great teacher, a great parent, a great psychotherapist and a great coach have in common is a deep belief in the potential of the person with whom they are concerned. They relate to the person from their vision of his or her worth and value.
The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.
If you face life without confidence in your own powers, you succumb too easily to setbacks and adversity; you lack the will to persevere.
Feel deeply to think clearly.