As a writer, I love a good quote. In my opinion, there is nothing better than a short phrase that makes you stop and go, “hmmm?”

Struggling this week with thoughts on what direction to take with my column, I sat down and reviewed some of my favorite quotes, hopeful for inspiration. It wasn’t long until I found a trend of sorts pertaining to not only where I have been, but where I am headed on my journey through life.

True life, I believe, begins at the end of all of our comfort zones. These quotes push that limit when dissected and evaluated by each individual.

In hopes to share a little of the things that have made me stop and either think, reevaluate or grow in life, I figured I would share a few of them. Here is a little end-of-the-week inspiration of sorts for whatever you may be going through.

“Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path.”

One of the hardest realizations I believe we as humans struggle with is even in the most difficult times, we have the opportunity to grow and change.

If we look at struggles in life, much like Noah and the flooding of the Earth, then we can see even through destruction, there is an opportunity for new growth.

“If you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.”

Many times in life, I think we all struggle because of subconscious feelings of entitlement. I think a lot of this, in this day and age, comes from social media and the picture put in our minds from the entertainment industry. We see all the luxury, but not all the work that goes into obtaining it.

For example, I just finished writing my first novel. It was a learning experience that has been two years in the making. When it goes live next month, all anyone will see is the finished product. But they will not see the weekends I woke up at 6 a.m. after I had already stayed up until 1 a.m. and continued to work on it. Or the endless times I read and reread after receiving feedback. Or the plotting and structuring required to obtain my dream of becoming an author.

My husband jokes with me all the time, asking, “How can you go to work and write all day, come home and read all night and then wake up and work on your own writing on the weekends?”

The answer is simple. What you want in life requires sacrifice.

“A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.”

Those 1 a.m. bedtimes to 6 a.m. rises on the weekend is what is required, just like all the feedback I received from family, friends and copy editors.

It creates pressure, and definitely trying to internalize constructive criticism is hard; but, in the end, if handled correctly, I will have done well under pressure and hopefully end up with a diamond on my hands as my end result. Here is hoping.

“Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere.”

This one goes hand-in-hand with another great one, “The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized. You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.”

We are all no stranger to worry and anxiety. I think the biggest challenge and gasoline to the fire of any person struggling with anxiety, is thinking you are only one struggling with those kinds of emotions.

Worry does keep you immobile and it is one of Satan’s oldest tricks. The best thing for anybody, I believe, is to get up and move. Much like when someone is struggling with addiction, you need to stay moving in order to quiet the mind.

We have all heard about idle hands, but I believe one of the biggest issues as well is idle minds. That is a destruction all on its own that is not often talked of.

Ending on a good note, I tried to save the best for last: “I don’t pay attention to the world ending. It has ended for me many times, and began again in the morning.”

This life that we are all in is not our practice life. Loosing all of your excuses allows you to finally find your results.

I have gone through many things in my short 35 years which made me believe my life was over, only to learn the sun still rises every morning. 

If every life was made into a book, we would all have that one chapter we do not read aloud. And that is OK.

The hardest thing to grasp sometimes is the absolute fact your new life will cost you your old one.

But as long as you don’t worry, remember to do well under pressure, sacrifice for what you want most and thank God even for the storms in your life, giving you the chance at rebirth, then there is nothing you can’t accomplish.

After all, the trick is to, “Listen to your minds whispers before they turn into screams.”

Brittany Fuller is the community editor of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. She can be reached at brittany.fuller@jessaminejournal.com.