#ren

There are many paths to mastery, and if you are persistent you will certainly find one that suits you. But a key component in the process is determining your mental and psychological strengths and working with them. To rise to the level of mastery requires many hours of dedicated focus and practice. You cannot get there if your work brings you no joy and you are constantly struggling to overcome your own weaknesses. You must look deep within and come to an understanding of these particular strengths and weaknesses you possess, being as realistic as possible. Knowing your strengths you can lean on them with utmost intensity. Once you start in this direction, you will gain momentum. You will not be burdened by conventions and you will not be slowed down by having to deal with skills that go against your inclinations and strengths. In this way, your creative and intuitive powers will be naturally awakened. ↗

— Robert Greene

#weaknesses #working-with-your-strengths #nature

Was it the act of giving birth that made you a mother? Did you lose that label when you relinquished your child? If people were measured by their deeds, on the one hand, I had a woman who had chosen to give me up; on the other, I had a woman who'd sat up with me at night when I was sick as a child, who'd cried with me over boyfriends, who'd clapped fiercely at my law school graduation. Which acts made you more of a mother? Both, I realized. Being a parent wasn't just about bearing a child. It was about bearing witness to its life. ↗

— Jodi Picoult

#children #motherhood #parenting #life

The job of every generation is to discover the flaws of the one that came before it. That's part of growing up, figuring out all the ways your parents and their friends are broken. ↗

— Justine Larbalestier

#human-nature #intergenerational-relations #parents #nature

In the English language there are orphans and widows, but there is no word for the parents who loses a child. ↗

— Jodi Picoult

#english #inadequacy-of-words #language #lose #loss

Shapeshifter parenting motto—if your kid slit somebody's throat, always have a backup plan to make the body disappear. ↗

— Ilona Andrews

#parenting

We realized that the version of the world they rendered for us was not the version of the world they really believed in... ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#world #parenting

Fathers. Mothers. With all their caring and attention. They will f--- you up, every time. ↗

— Chuck Palahniuk

#father #mother #palahniuk #parent #snuff

Emma is a mattress who got thrown off the truck when her parents split up. It's not like you can blame a mattress when people don't tie it down tight enough. ↗

— Laurie Halse Anderson

#parenting

What's going to motivate you today? Are you going to do your work because you want to do it well and have some pride in it, or is your paycheck going to be your major motivation? The answer to that question tells you a lot about yourself, and it tells others a lot about you. It also indicates your relationship to life, too, and just how much you're getting out of life. Our lives are full of opportunities and wonderful chances to do wonderful things, and it's only the self-motivated person who's going to find and enjoy most of those great opportunities. The person whose motivation has to come from outside him- or herself is only going to uncover the treasures that others direct them to--and believe me, others won't direct us to too many treasures when they could keep them for themselves. ↗

— Tom Walsh

#effort #inspiration #motivation #opportunity #self-motivation

Without the support from religion--remember, we talked about it--no father, using only his own resources, would be able to bring up a child. ↗

— Leo Tolstoy

#children #father #parenting #religion #religion