In life, we often experience complicated phases, dark moments in which we have trouble looking ahead with optimism. In these situations we can fall into despair and be tempted to give up. But we must remember that a calm sea does not make us good sailors. Problems and obstacles, even if can block us, they also help us test our abilities and grow, to transform ourselves into stronger and more resilient people.
Throughout history, there have been many people who have been affected by adversity, whose way of thinking, face obstacles and the achievements can inspire us in the most difficult moments. Their famous phrases can turn into lighthouses that illuminate us in the most difficult times.
Frida Kahlo’s Motivational Quotes
The woman with bold brush and intense colors is an excellent example of resilience and desire to cling to life. The Mexican painter was not just one of the greatest artists in her country, but her life can serve us as inspiration in the darkest moments. Frida had to undergo more than 32 surgical operations and yet found the strength to continue despite chronic pain. Her sentimental relationship also caused her many emotional wounds.
1. Building a wall around your own suffering means risking that it eats you from the inside
Frida Kahlo has never hidden her feelings, on the contrary, she expressed them through her work. In fact, on more than one occasion, she said that she painted her life. The painter was aware that when we try to suppress anger, sadness, or suffering, they end up eating us from the inside. Therefore, it is always desirable to find a constructive way to channel our emotions.
2. At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think
One of the keys to overcoming the most difficult moments is to count on our strength and ability to deal with problems. If we do not trust that we can get out of this situation, we will lose hope and give up. Therefore, it is important to remember that we are much stronger than we think.
Viktor Frankl’s Motivational Quotes
Viktor Frankl was one of the young promises of Viennese psychiatry when destiny played him a bad joke. In 1942 he was sent to a concentration camp and since then he did not know anything about his family. Two years later he was transferred to Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration camp, where he never lost hope, but devoted himself to comforting prisoners and preventing suicides. In 1945 he was released and later wrote the famous book “A psychologist in the lager”, as well as established Logotherapy, one of the most important psychological schools of the time.
3. If you are unable to change a situation that causes you pain you can always choose the attitude with which you face this suffering
There are situations in life that can’t be changed. Denying the existence of them will only cause us unnecessary pain and suffering. But we have the opportunity to choose how to deal with these situations, we can let these facts destroy us or, conversely, we can try to take advantage of it or focus on the most positive aspects. Although we can’t change what happens, we can change the way we react, and that can change everything.
4. The rising man is even stronger than the one thatt never have fallen
Resilience is a capacity that develops by testing. Problems, obstacles and adversities push us to make a step further and develop new resources to grow. Therefore, as stated by Viktor Frankl, every fall makes us stronger, until we get up again.
Helen Keller’s Motivational Quotes
At only 19 months of age Helen Keller lost sight and hearing. In 1880 it was practically a sentence of total isolation, but the girl suddenly realized that she could discover the world with the other senses. At age of 7, she had already invented more than 60 signs with which she was trying to communicate with her family. The road was not easy, but in 1904 she graduated with praise and wrote the book “The History of My Life”, the first of many other works that would have been around the world. Since then, Helen Keller dedicated herself to help people with disabilities, holding conferences and becoming an example of tenacity and endurance.
5. Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows
You decide where to look, with which lenses look at the world. Helen Keller, a deaf and blind woman, still living in darkness and silence, managed to find her own light, coming from the heart. Of course, this does not mean denying shadows, but just concentrating on light. Remember that sometimes, a change of perspective is more than enough to find the way or recover strength.
6. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but we often we look so long at the closed door so long that we do not see the one that has been opened for us
Did you know that sadness is the emotion that lasts longer? Exactly 240 times more than any other emotion! In fact, the main problem of negative emotions is that keep us focused on problems, obstacles and adversities, creating a vicious circle from which it is difficult to get out. But sometimes it is enough to realize its existence to understand that we are living in an incomplete picture. It depends on you to see the full picture and include those positive emotions that only wait for you to decide to close that door that does not take you anywhere.
Nelson Mandela’s Motivational Quotes
He was destined to be the counselor of his tribe and to live peacefully in peace, but Nelson Mandela had other plans. When in South Africa was established the apartheid he did not hesitate to stand up and fight, a reason for what he spent 27 years in prison, 18 of whom in Robben Island, confined to a humid cell of only 2.4 meters in height and 2.1 in width , with a palm leaf carpet as a bed. It was in those years that he contracted tuberculosis and suffered irreversible damage to his eyes. It is said that when he was allowed to leave the cell he thanked the guards and blessed them. When he was released he did not give up and continued to fight for human rights.
7. Your choices must reflect your hopes, not your fears
Even in the most difficult times, we must make our decisions reflect the best part of us, our hopes and trust, they have not to be the result of our fears and anxieties. Taking a decision carried from the feeling of impotence, despair and fear, means limiting our universe of possibilities and probably we will repent later, because when we let ourselves be conditioned by negative emotions our reason is blurred and we are unable to assess the consequences of our actions as well as we are not aware of all the factors involved.
8. Don’t judge me for my successes, judge me for the amount of times I’ve fallen and I got up again
Adversities make us grow, push us out of our comfort zone and make us overcome our fears and limitations. It’s in the toughest moments when you put yourself to the test and know what you’re capable of. This means that difficulties are also opportunities for growing, so that for much you see the dark and an unjust world, always try to learn some lessons. In this way, at least, the suffering will not be in vain.
Erick Erickson’s Motivational Quotes
Erick Erickson has been suffering from dyslexia since childhood and was dauntless, but the true cross of his life came when he was 17, when he contracted polio. He then suffered such a severe paralysis that a doctor told his parents that he would not have gone any further. Erickson heard him and struggled to see at least another sunset. Even though he passed that first hurdle, his path would have been very difficult since he was completely paralyzed and had also difficulty talking. It was then when he started to get interested in psychology. At the age of 50, the polio spectrum returned. Erickson suffered again from muscular pain that caused him a new paralysis, and even though he regained the movement through perseverance, he was obliged to use a wheelchair forever. He then started using self-hypnosis to relieve chronic pain, a method that still today helps thousands of people around the world .
9. I am what survives of me
Every problem, every obstacle, every loss, and every adversity takes away a part of us, but also allows us to recompose in a different way. After all, life involves changing and adapting, so that every situation is a challenge to transform and mature. We can take advantage of this challenge to add new parts to our lives and enrich our arsenal of psychological tools for life.
10. Hope is what allows us to cling to life
Hope and a look focused on the future are what allow us to deal with adversity and get out of it. A good deal of optimism is essential if you want to go ahead, confident that after the storm comes always the quiet that will allow you to resume your journey.