How to write LOVE on my arms?
September 19, 2010 9:59 AM Subscribe
What inspirational quotes/mantras will fit on my forearm?
I am going through an exceedingly tough few weeks, isolated from family and friends while dealing with a messy breakup.
I am struggling to deal with my anger and pain, and I want to write something on my wrist everyday that will remind me that all things heal with time, and give me a second to breathe and regroup. (Also to remind myself not to regress and do something stupid.)
I've been writing "Keep calm and carry on," but I think that having something different every day would really help.
What (short) mantras/sayings help you when you feel like giving up?
I am going through an exceedingly tough few weeks, isolated from family and friends while dealing with a messy breakup.
I am struggling to deal with my anger and pain, and I want to write something on my wrist everyday that will remind me that all things heal with time, and give me a second to breathe and regroup. (Also to remind myself not to regress and do something stupid.)
I've been writing "Keep calm and carry on," but I think that having something different every day would really help.
What (short) mantras/sayings help you when you feel like giving up?
"Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:04 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:04 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't - you're right." - Henry Ford
posted by banannafish at 10:04 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by banannafish at 10:04 AM on September 19, 2010
"If you're going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
posted by fight or flight at 10:07 AM on September 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 10:07 AM on September 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
To HELL with you and here's to ME!
Last line of this quote
posted by deezil at 10:24 AM on September 19, 2010
Last line of this quote
posted by deezil at 10:24 AM on September 19, 2010
Keep on breathing in.
posted by R.Stornoway at 10:37 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by R.Stornoway at 10:37 AM on September 19, 2010
"If there is no wind, row."
-Rumi
Little by little, one travels far.
- J. R. R. Tolkien
A divine fire blazes within you. Don’t jump back like a coward. Cook in that fire. Bake like bread.
-Rumi
"We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival."
- Winston Churchill
posted by LauraJ at 10:49 AM on September 19, 2010
-Rumi
Little by little, one travels far.
- J. R. R. Tolkien
A divine fire blazes within you. Don’t jump back like a coward. Cook in that fire. Bake like bread.
-Rumi
"We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival."
- Winston Churchill
posted by LauraJ at 10:49 AM on September 19, 2010
I constantly remind myself thusly:
Today better than yesterday. Tomorrow better than today.
posted by eafarris at 10:55 AM on September 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Today better than yesterday. Tomorrow better than today.
posted by eafarris at 10:55 AM on September 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
What goes around, comes around.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:04 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:04 AM on September 19, 2010
Zadcat's suggestion "This too will pass" seems appropriate.
My personal motto is, "This is it." Which has several meanings for me.
Consider also: "Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" from Virgil's Aeneid, which means, Perhaps someday we will look back upon these things with joy. A bit long, but maybe useful.
"Slow and steady."
"Onwards and upwards."
Hope that helps.
posted by Busoni at 11:11 AM on September 19, 2010
My personal motto is, "This is it." Which has several meanings for me.
Consider also: "Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" from Virgil's Aeneid, which means, Perhaps someday we will look back upon these things with joy. A bit long, but maybe useful.
"Slow and steady."
"Onwards and upwards."
Hope that helps.
posted by Busoni at 11:11 AM on September 19, 2010
Oh, and the advice from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is also relevant: "Don't Panic."
posted by Busoni at 11:13 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Busoni at 11:13 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Non illegitimis carborundum.
Fake Latin for "Don't let the bastards get you down."
posted by drlith at 11:29 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Fake Latin for "Don't let the bastards get you down."
posted by drlith at 11:29 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
relentless forward motion
posted by kestrel251 at 11:40 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by kestrel251 at 11:40 AM on September 19, 2010
I like "this too shall pass" rather than "will"
posted by lizbunny at 12:35 PM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by lizbunny at 12:35 PM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Be the change you want to see in the world- Gandhi
Shorten it to "Be the change"...
posted by Polgara at 12:41 PM on September 19, 2010
Shorten it to "Be the change"...
posted by Polgara at 12:41 PM on September 19, 2010
So it goes.
Not necessarily inspirational I know.
posted by JaredSeth at 1:59 PM on September 19, 2010
Not necessarily inspirational I know.
posted by JaredSeth at 1:59 PM on September 19, 2010
I like "this too shall pass", but it feels a bit too passive for my taste, but veni, vidi, vici - "I came, I saw, I conquered" - is more proactive.
I realize it's not quite in line with what you're looking for, but I'm suggesting it as a visualization technique. If you tell yourself often enough that you have succeeded, you will begin to believe in your success.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 3:05 PM on September 19, 2010
I realize it's not quite in line with what you're looking for, but I'm suggesting it as a visualization technique. If you tell yourself often enough that you have succeeded, you will begin to believe in your success.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 3:05 PM on September 19, 2010
I'M STRONG TO THE FINISH / CAUSE I EATS ME SPINACH
posted by eccnineten at 3:30 PM on September 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by eccnineten at 3:30 PM on September 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam (I shall either find a way or make one.).
Attributed to Hannibal
posted by Morrigan at 5:53 PM on September 19, 2010
Attributed to Hannibal
posted by Morrigan at 5:53 PM on September 19, 2010
Where there is life, there is hope.
posted by anotherkate at 11:36 PM on September 19, 2010
posted by anotherkate at 11:36 PM on September 19, 2010
Seven times down, eight times up.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 3:13 PM on September 20, 2010
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 3:13 PM on September 20, 2010
"To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities." - Bruce Lee
"I think I can, I know I can" - The train from Dumbo
posted by pedmands at 4:28 PM on September 20, 2010
"I think I can, I know I can" - The train from Dumbo
posted by pedmands at 4:28 PM on September 20, 2010
I love a friend's tattoo that says "fail again fail better" in a circle around her inner elbow. (Quote from Beckett.) The text was done so well that I went to her tattoo artist and got "yay!" tattooed on my left bicep, and recently got the text "love is a place" (the first line of a favorite EE Cummings poem) on my lower forearm.
My tattoos make me happy, and I thought they'd make me happy enough that I made them permanent. The "yay!" tattoo I thought about for a year -- and when I first thought of it, I was really happy (and "yay!" is one of my happy exclamations), but by the time I got the tattoo, I was Not So Happy -- and I got it anyway, on the grounds that I would look at it and smile and remember happier times, and imagine future happier times. And it turns out that when people see it, they exclaim, "yay!" *at* me, which then makes us both smile/laugh. I can't imagine getting tired of that.
I love a lot of the other suggestions for temporary sayings. Good luck with this time in your life. This is a great idea for giving yourself strength from within -- I might steal it sometime. :)
posted by yarnivore at 12:31 PM on September 21, 2010
My tattoos make me happy, and I thought they'd make me happy enough that I made them permanent. The "yay!" tattoo I thought about for a year -- and when I first thought of it, I was really happy (and "yay!" is one of my happy exclamations), but by the time I got the tattoo, I was Not So Happy -- and I got it anyway, on the grounds that I would look at it and smile and remember happier times, and imagine future happier times. And it turns out that when people see it, they exclaim, "yay!" *at* me, which then makes us both smile/laugh. I can't imagine getting tired of that.
I love a lot of the other suggestions for temporary sayings. Good luck with this time in your life. This is a great idea for giving yourself strength from within -- I might steal it sometime. :)
posted by yarnivore at 12:31 PM on September 21, 2010
You are exactly the person you need to be in this moment.
posted by aniola at 4:46 PM on January 26, 2011
posted by aniola at 4:46 PM on January 26, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zadcat at 10:01 AM on September 19, 2010 [1 favorite]