Martha Beck Quotes

Somewhere in there, among the worries, questions, advice and advertising jingles, lives your intuition, your true 'inner voice.' You can hear it to the extent that you give it your attention.

Remember, intimacy increases with honesty. Share less to keep people away and more to draw them closer.

Bad habits fill needs, so find good alternatives for them.

External circumstances do not create feeling states. Feeling states create external circumstances.

I now believe that bêtes noires usually attack because we're thwarting our own destinies. Calming the beast turns us toward our best lives.

True freedom starts with absolute honesty. The moment you call a problem by its real name, you’re already learning how to make it less harmful.

Imagine what you'd do if it absolutely didn't matter what people thought of you. Got it? Good. Never go back.

Good fortune has side effects.

Instead of hiding your loneliness, bring it into the light. Honor it. Treat it. Heal it. You'll find that it returns the favor.

When making a decision, focus on what feels "shackles off" versus "shackles on".

Remember that it’s okay to ask for help when you’re stumped, because sometimes you really can’t be expected to handle everything alone.

When you're weary, find relief. When you're strong, find delight.

The difference between success and failure isn't the absence of fear but the determination to pursue your heart's desires no matter how scared you are.

Make stuff up. Anyone who ever did something new or interesting was making it up as they went along.

Anyone who comes into your life, under any circumstances, has something to teach you.

Does this feel warmer or colder?

Don't fight fearful thoughts. Just match each one with an alternative thought that brings you more peace.

The repercussions of one person living in stubborn gladness are incalculable.

Don't let your life revolve around whatever you're trying not to do or feel. Live to experience, not to avoid.

Most of our stress and suffering come not from events, but from our thoughts. Reframe from negative thoughts, and stress subsides.

The more you claim your own destiny, the easier it will be to love unconditionally .

You get social pressure from your parents, who teach you to pay attention to certain things and not to others. You get it in school.

In the moments I get it right, every step I take seems to be matched by a universal mystery, which obligingly, incredibly, creates what I can't.

I want you to notice is that-right here, right now-you’re okay. You may be in pain, you may be in fear, you may be in grief. But you’re here, you’re surviving; this moment is okay.

Be brave enough to turn away from shiny objects, and toward the light that makes them shine.

Take off your watch: the divine is speaking to you.

Imagination is the doorway you walk through into every future moment. Are you walking through doorways to pain or to joy?

Whenever you go somewhere that speaks to your soul, you are going home to yourself.

Tiny steps will get you to your goal months and months sooner. A little is better than a lot.

Bracketing has turned all my experiences, remembered and present, into a gallery of miracles where I wander around dazzled by the beauty of events I cannot explain.

Anything you're trying to will is focused on the future; it's always associated with some sort of anxiety that makes the present moment somewhat uncomfortable.

I'd like to help repair the earth's ecosystems, and to fully live until I'm fully dead.

I fell in love with Africa and began helping people fix things there.

You will know how to stop suffering as soon as suffering ceases to be valuable. If you are in pain, you are being led.

I don't believe that there are no spiritual beings around us. I don't know what to call them, I don't know how they work. But I know they're there

Stop trying to change your behavior; instead, rethink your beliefs

If you're religious, it gives you a perspective.

The power to bring me out of solitude - or to push me back into it - had never belonged to another person. It was mine and only mine.

To be really productive, it's as important to rest when we're tired as it is to work when we're inspired.

My deep belief is that all of us have the same lifelong work: to learn honesty, courage, and love. To learn, in other words, how to be our best selves.

The idea is to identify a destructive thought pattern, then simply label it and watch it and let it pass by whenever it appears in your mind.

Make a plan to change the world. For one night, don't disbelieve that you can.

I've developed the habit of mentally listing things that make me optimistic about the future. I do it every day.

The end goal of all of this striving is to live joyfully, and that there are often more direct ways of achieving this than conforming to rigid standards set by social custom.

From a place of stillness, openness, forgiveness and acceptance you can renew your commitment to any eating plan you like.

Every instance of heartbreak can teach us powerful lessons about creating the kind of love we really want.

Learning to quit while you're not ahead, when the dull ooze of depression tells you things are not going to get any better, is one of the best financial and life skills you can master.

Friends, there are many areas in which I need encouragement, but worrying is not one of them. I worry the way Renée Fleming sings high Cs: Effortlessly. Loudly. At length.

I'm not saying we have power over everything in our lives - if that were true, my hair would look so, so different - but I am saying that there's no circumstance in which we are completely powerless.

To know what that true self is without social pressure is to know your true nature.