7.24.2014

On MY Life Mottoes

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Santa Cruz, CA

I've been thinking a lot lately about life mottoes. My brother says I should clarify because "when you ask for a 'life motto', I think everyone definitely will overthink it. No one wants to submit and thereby endorse a lame 'life motto.'"

So, I'll say while I have some awesome "deeper" quotes I like to remember, I also have some really simple (also, dumb) phrases that I try to keep in my mind. I love hearing the words that others live by, and yes, you can tell a lot about a person by their "life motto" (now I'm just using the phrase loosely, you know what I mean!)


Here are a few of mine (with commentary when I absolutely couldn't resist:)


"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." Thanks to Irene for this one.

"Keep it classy." Aka take the high road.

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." - Maya Angelou
I can't remember where I read this, but I love it. To me, this means you have the power at all times to make yourself feel happy.

"The more the merrier." Yes, this is absolutely a cliche, but it's also kinda my philosophy for most things I do! I'm gonna go ahead and blame my big family for this one. Nowadays, if I'm making dinner, going out, etc. I just like to invite everyone. I certainly like alone time, but my general rule of thumb is, invite people, and they can invite their friends too!

"Never a Girl Scout, but always prepared." Story of my life.

"Every experience, is an experience." Everything, even if it sucks, is a story or a lesson for later.

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all." - Helen Keller

"Always leave everywhere a little cleaner than you found it." If everyone did this wherever they went (true, it's not always easy or convenient) things would be so much better!

"Positive thinking leads to positive performance." My friend Tim told me this once back when we were on a team together. Back then, it applied to cross-country & track, but I've never forgotten it. I have found that when I don't stress myself out, I perform better.


I asked assorted friends, family members, and co-workers to share with me their "words to live by", and I got so many awesome responses, I think they deserve their own post! Stay tuned.

In the meantime,
What are your life mottoes // words you have chosen to live by? I would really love to hear them, and if you'll let me, include them in my friends & family edition.

Let's all inspire each other! Fire away.
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7 comments

Gigi @ Dolce and Gabriella said...

I love "the more the merrier" as a life motto. People can be so darn mean when they get caught up in exclusivity--one of the worst things in life is feeling rejected or unwelcome. Being gracious and welcoming is the classy thing to do.

As far as my own life mottoes..."never settle." That one is from my mom and applies to most everything!

Love, Gigi
Dolce and Gabriella

Ash @ The Nashvillian said...

"Every experience, is an experience." Everything, even if it sucks, is a story or a lesson for later.

^That reminds me of my uncle's motto. His is, "life is just a bunch of memories." He gave me this advice the day before my wedding when I was freaking out about the possibility of something going wrong. He told me that life is just a bunch of memories and if something DOES go wrong, in a few years, I'll look back and it won't be anything more than a memory. He told me that if I ever get upset about something to just remember that someday it will just be a memory. And then he told my husband that if I ever get mad at him, to just remember that it will someday be a memory, haha!

-Ash
www.thenashvillianblog.com

Larissa said...

Hello pretty, thank you so much for your sweet comments! They made me really happy!
I love this small collection of true and beautiful sentences. I do not really know if I have one (or several) life mottos like that... I have more a kind of philosophy of life which is difficult to put in just one or two sentences but which mainly is about being good to others, enjoy every day and believe that everything happens for a reason and that everything will be good in the end :)
xx

Sara Strauss {Sincerely, Sara} said...

I really like the "Positive thinking leads to positive performance" one! I've never heard that before!
~Sara

Lauren @ Exploring My Style said...

Oh gosh, I don't really have life mottos! Pretty much just "Life is short." Although I'm not the best at it, I try to remember how short life is when trying to overcome fears or decide how to spend my time. I think you've compiled a great list here :)

Anonymous said...

Oh Priya what a wonderful post! I have so many of your blogs to catch up with it's been ages since I sat down to read. I have 3 life motto's which I link together:

Say yes. (self-explanatory)
Get involved. (as in with everything - projects, going out to party with people, get to know people you don't know)
Let the sunshine in. (i.e. keep positive, let everybody into everything, don't shut people out, look for the positive bits and also pretend everything is a big party)


And my other favourite motto is wherever you are, act like that's the best place to be, which I think is from Dazed and Confused (the film) hahaha! xx

Priya said...

I'm not sure if I ever read this comment! Which is a bummer, because I would have love to include this in my follow up post! Really lovely words to remember. Thanks for sharing, Laila!

Also- you and Sundar TOTALLY wrote the same thing! Haha!!

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