Quarantine Content: My Favorite Quote
Hello readers! I am back with some more quarantine content.
This posts prompt is to share a favorite quote. Here is mine:
"What doesn't challenge you - doesn't change you."
And I'm not saying that I follow that quote all the time (though I wish I did), but it's something I think about a lot.
What I love about this quote is that it works for all facets of my life: Writing, Career, Working Out, Relationships etc. Here is what I mean:
Writing: Sometimes writing is HARD, and that sucks. Yesterday for example it took me a solid hour to write 500 words. I couldn't remember minor character names, I couldn't remember if a character had mentioned something before...it was rough. That's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the challenge that comes with wanting your writing to be great, with wanting to come up with something that's exciting, to create something that stretches outside of your norm. My current project is 1. a novel, which is new to me and 2. way more speculative that anything I've ever written. It's weird, it's new, it's challenging. It's making me a stronger writer.
Career: Again, I'm not talking about bad days. Sometimes those happen and its sucks, and you have my permission to drink whatever type of drink soothes you and veg out on whatever type of media you like to veg out to - but a job should be challenging. Much in the same way as writing is, it should stretch you outside of your comfort zone. If you're working from home, or if you're an essential worker right now - you're feeling it. You may get asked to do different tasks, or work different hours. Maybe your job isn't what you went to school for or what you thought you'd even like doing. Embrace that challenge, and use it to your advantage. I didn't think I'd be working administration when I went to library school. Nor did I think I'd be trying to create 100% digital programs during a pandemic. And its hard - but I'm being challenged, and I'm building new skills as I do it.
Working Out: It was in this context that I first heard this quote - and its in this example that it is probably the most obvious. An easy workout isn't going to yield whatever results you are looking for - a challenging one will.
Relationships: First off - challenging does not mean abusive. It means you have friends, family, and loved ones who will push you to be better. Who will challenge you when you say that shitty thing about yourself - who push you when you say you're going to do something and then find all the excuses in the world not to do it - who (in a gentle loving way) make you go outside your comfort zone by trying a new food or going on a different type of date or trying a new activity. They challenge you to be a better version of you - and hopefully you do the same for them.
Anyway. That's my favorite quote and all the ways I (try) to apply it to my life. What are some of your favorite quotes?
Until next time,
B. Strong &;