Recovery Quotes: Beauty

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

Confucius

Just because you are blind, and unable to see my beauty doesn't mean it does not exist.

Margaret Cho

Beauty - in projection and perceiving - is 99.9% attitude.

Grey Livingston

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The fact is, there really is no such thing as 'normal' - everybody's different, and that is the essence of their beauty

Kevin Aucoin

Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It's about knowing and accepting who you are.

Ellen DeGeneres

Flawed, we're truly interesting, truly memorable, and yes, truly beautiful.

Justina Chen

Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.

David Hume

There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection. To me, that is the true essence of beauty.

Steve Maraboli

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness. 

Leo Tolstoy

There is no definition of beauty, but when you can see someone's spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that's beautiful to me.

Liv Tyler

People are more than just the way they look.

Madeleine L'Engle

Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic.

Rosalind Russell

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you look closely at a tree you'll notice it's knots and dead branches, just like our bodies. What we learn is that beauty and imperfection go together wonderfully.

Matthew Fox

I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me. And it has nothing to do with what I look like really, it is just that I gave myself the power to say that I am beautiful, and if I could do that, maybe there is hope for them too. And the great divide between the beautiful and the ugly will cease to be, because we are all what we choose.

Margaret Cho

You are beautiful. Your beauty, just like your capacity for life, happiness, and success, is immeasurable.

Steve Maraboli

To the people who love you, you are beautiful already. This is not because they’re blind to your shortcomings but because they so clearly see your soul. Your shortcomings then dim by comparison. The people who care about you are willing to let you be imperfect and beautiful, too.

Victoria Moran

There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.

Edgar Allan Poe

You don't have to be perfect to be pretty

Carson Kressley

Beauty comes in all sizes, not just size 5. 

Roseanne

The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.

 Kahlil Gibran

You are beautiful. Know this. Anyone who tells you otherwise is simply lying. You are beautiful.

Steve Maraboli

Beauty is the illumination of your soul.

John O'Donohue

Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head.

Garrison Keillor

Glamour is a shooting star, it catches your eye, but fades away; beauty is the sun always brilliant day after day. 

Mike Dolan

Get Off The Scale!

You are beautiful. Your beauty, just like your capacity for life, happiness, and success, is immeasurable. Day after day, countless people across the globe get on a scale in search of validation of beauty and social acceptance.

Get off the scale! I have yet to see a scale that can tell you how enchanting your eyes are. I have yet to see a scale that can show you how wonderful your hair looks when the sun shines its glorious rays on it. I have yet to see a scale that can thank you for your compassion, sense of humor, and contagious smile. Get off the scale because I have yet to see one that can admire you for your perseverance when challenged in life.

It’s true; the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That’s it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don’t give the scale more power than it has earned. Take note of the number, then get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!

Steve Maraboli

The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.

P.C. Cast

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.

Khalil Gibran

There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.

Conrad Hall

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

Maya Angelou

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair.

Audrey Hepburn

As if you were on fire from within.

The moon lives in the lining of your skin.

Pablo Neruda

Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.

Sophia Loren

By choosing healthy over skinny you are choosing self-love over self-judgment. You are beautiful!

Steve Maraboli,

Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.

Marcus Aurelius

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Rabindranath Tagore

What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.

Scott Westerfeld

I think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness.

Drew Barrymore

The really magical things are the ones that happen right in front of you. A lot of the time you keep looking for beauty, but it is already there. And if you look with a bit more intention, you see it.

Vik Muniz

Beauty... when you look into a woman's eyes and see what is in her heart. 

Nate Dircks

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

But you are the eternity and you are the mirror.

Kahlil Gibran

That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful.

Ninon de L'Enclos

I don't like standard beauty - there is no beauty without strangeness.

Karl Lagerfeld

See also: Self-Defining Personal Beauty

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Recovery Inspiration: Limitless

The ability to accept, forgive, and let-go allows us to move forwards, beyond the pain. Unburdened, we become limitless.
MrsM. 


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Recovery: Breathe, Believe, Begin

Take a moment to be silent and breathe. Let go of perceived impossibilities and believe. What you desire will be yours if only you begin. 
MrsM

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Inspirational Recovery Quote: If You Want To Conquer Anxiety

If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.
Amit Ray

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Recovery Quote: Your Struggle

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Don't let your struggle become your identity.

Ralston Bowles

Recovery Inspiration: The Choice Is Ours!

  Life challenges our ability to accept, to forgive, to love, and to overcome. We can either face these challenges with grace and positivity, or relinquish our power and welcome defeat. The choice is ours!

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Recovery Image: Start Your Day Right!

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Start your day right!
What are you filling your cup with?


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Inspirational Recovery Quotes: Define Yourself

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.
Harvey Fierstein

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Recovery: Don't Fear The Storm

Don't fear the storm, rejoice instead in the flowers it wakes in its passing.
MrsM

Recovery Image: What We Think and Believe

What we think and believe can either drag us down into the abyss, or pull us out of it! 
MrsM

Inspirational Recovery Quotes: Seize The Day!

All the windows of my heart I open to the day.

John Greenleaf Whittier

Today is the only day in which we have any power.

Steve Maraboli

Each day comes bearing its own gifts.  Untie the ribbons. 

Ruth Ann Schabacker

Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending. 

Unknown

Don't put off your happy life.

Unknown

Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop to look around once in a while you could miss it. 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Go for it now.  The future is promised to no one. 

Wayne Dyer

I would I could stand on a busy corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted hours. 

Bernard Berenson

It doesn't matter what you did or where you were...it matters where you are and what you're doing. Get out there! Sing the song in your heart and NEVER let anyone shut you up!!

Steve Maraboli

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

You only live once; but if you live it right, once is enough.

Adam Marshall

I say if it's going to be done, let's do it. Let's not put it in the hands of fate. Let's not put it in the hands of someone who doesn't know me. I know me best. Then take a breath and go ahead.

Anita Baker

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung. 

Tagore

Contemplation often makes life miserable.  We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live. 

Nicolas de Chamfort

The question for each man is not what he would do if he had the means, time, influence, and educational advantages, but what he will do with the things he has. Hamilton

Your life isn't behind you; your memories are behind you. Your life is ALWAYS ahead of you. Today is a new day - seize it!

Steve Maraboli

If you woke up breathing, congratulations!  You have another chance. 

Andrea Boydston

Then indecision brings its own delays,

And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;

What you can do, or dream you can, begin it;

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Life is always walking up to us and saying, "Come on in, the living's fine," and what do we do? Back off and take its picture.

Russell Baker

No matter what your history has been, your destiny is what you create today.

Steve Maraboli

May you live all the days of your life. 

Jonathan Swift

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas A. Edison

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. 

Sydney J. Harris

You may delay, but time will not.

Benjamin Franklin

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love-then make that day count!

Steve Maraboli

Warning:  Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear. 

Unknown

I'm less interested in why we're here.  I'm wholly devoted to while we're here.

Erika Harris

To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.

William James

You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear. Do it! Develop an appreciation for the present moment. Seize every second of your life and savor it. Value your present moments. Using them up in any self-defeating ways means you've lost them forever.

Wayne Dyer quotes

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. 

Milton Berle

There is great change to be experienced once you learn the power of letting go. Stop allowing anyone or anything control, limit, repress, or discourage you from being your true self! Today is YOURS to shape - own it - break free from people and things that poison or dilute your spirit.

Steve Maraboli

Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Lost time is never found again.

Benjamin Franklin

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.

Orison Swett Marden

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Diane Ackerman

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.

Ruth E. Renkl

How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon.

December is here before it's June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?

Dr. Seuss

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. 

Japanese Proverb

Let today be the day you stop being haunted by the ghost of yesterday. Holding a grudge & harboring anger/resentment is poison to the soul. Get even with people...but not those who have hurt us, forget them, instead get even with those who have helped us.

Steve Maraboli

One can make a day of any size. 

John Muir

Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning. 

John Henry Cardinal Newman

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. 

John Burroughs

Don't be fooled by the calendar.  There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. 

Charles Richards

If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance.

Andrea Boydston

Begin doing what you want to do now.  We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake.

Marie Ray

Although time seems to fly, it never travels faster than one day at a time. Each day is a new opportunity to live your life to the fullest. In each waking day, you will find scores of blessings and opportunities for positive change. Do not let your TODAY be stolen by the unchangeable past or the indefinite future! Today is a new day!

Steve Maraboli

Who knows whether the gods will add tomorrow to the present hour?

Horace

Enjoy yourself.  It's later than you think.

Chinese Proverb

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite.  Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance.  Everyone is just waiting. 

Dr. Seuss

Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.  Being alive is the special occasion. Unknown

Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along. 

Hugh Allen

Today is a new day. Hiding from your history only shackles you to it. We can't undo a single thing we have ever done, but we can make decisions today that propel us to the life we want and towards the healing we need.

Steve Maraboli

Opportunity is often difficult to recognize; we usually expect it to beckon us with beepers and billboards. 

William Arthur Ward

Every day you are alive is a special occasion.  Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God. 

Mary Manin Morrissey

Spend the afternoon.  You can't take it with you. 

Annie Dillard

You will never find time for anything.  If you want time you must make it. 

Charles Buxton

Today is a new day. It's a day you have never seen before and will never see again. Stop telling yourself the 'same crap, different day' lie! How many days has that lie stolen from you? Seize the wonder and uniqueness of today! Recognize that throughout this beautiful day, you have an incredible amount of opportunities to move your life into the direction you want it to go.

Steve Maraboli

Minutes are worth more than money.  Spend them wisely. 

Thomas P. Murphy

Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways. 

Stephen Vincent Benét

I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour.  I dripped it carelessly, Ah!  I didn't know, I held opportunity. 

Hazel Lee

Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank. 

Ben Irwin

This moment is yours and yours alone! Take charge, seize this moment and allow it to propel you to the high levels of an empowered life. Allow upon this fertile moment to be planted the seeds of your happiness and success.

Steve Maraboli

When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you've got plenty to watch.  Unknown

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way.  Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. 

Fr. Alfred D'Souza

When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break. 

William Hale White

Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity. 

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

You may feel powerless as a child, but the world will one day be yours. And you're responsible for it. So, seize the day and take charge of it.

Harvey Fierstein

Your life isn't behind you; your memories are behind you. Your life is ALWAYS ahead of you. Today is a new day - seize it!

Steve Maraboli

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Recovery: Letting Go Of What Was

Recovery is the process of letting go of what was in order to create what will be.
MrsM

The Decision To Try: Recovery Quote

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. 
Unknown

Recovery Image: The Power Of The Past

The only power that the past possesses is the power that I choose to relinquish to it. 
MrsM

Accepting and Loving Your Body

Bodies. They come in all shapes and sizes. They are unique. Each one an original creation. Bodies are a true example of diversity. They do so much for us every day, yet we judge them by their appearance instead of accepting them and loving them as they are. We compare our bodies to the bodies of others. We scrutinize them, pick them apart, and find fault. We wish we had thinner thighs, bigger breasts, or flatter tummies. We wish we were taller, shorter, or less wide. We feel ashamed, embarrassed, and cheated by what we see in the mirror. We may hide ourselves, deprive ourselves, or berate ourselves because we feel our bodies are not good enough. We allow our bodies to define us.

It’s also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that’s sitting right here right now…with its aches and its pleasures…is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive.
Pema Chodron

Why? 

Opinions vary and overlap about the whys of body dissatisfaction. One being that we are bombarded, everyday, by images of women (and men) that have been professionally lit, creatively photographed, and photoshopped resulting in a visual misrepresentation of reality. Despite the diversity of bodies in every day life, the media has created a narrowly defined and unattainable image of beauty.

A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience. 
Naomi Wolf 

Fortunately, these practices are no longer a carefully kept industry secret. Many have lifted the veil, exposed these methods, and informed the public. Search the internet and you'll find many examples of photoshopped fashion/beauty images that compare the true image to the final product. Actresses have come forward to speak out against their images being digitally manipulated. Some have bared their bodies as proof that what you see on a slickly designed magazine cover is not what you'd see in reality. There has also been a push to require photoshopped images to come with a warning/disclosure stating the image has been altered. 

We are raising a generation of children who see these images and believe them to be real. Children who are dieting in elementary school, or being diagnosed with an eating disorder at the age of 5. Grade school children who are focusing on their body's shortcomings and loving themselves less. 

So, what can we do about it?

We can stop buying into the hate. We can stop permitting an industry who relies on our dissatisfaction with ourselves (in order to make money) to dictate what beauty is. We can teach our children that what they see in the media has most likely been altered and is not a fair and true representation of the human body. We can lead by example by accepting ourselves and loving ourselves. We can start being grateful for all that our bodies do for us, and less concerned with how are bodies stack up against the hype. We can reteach ourselves to love our individuality. We can start by redefining beauty. We can begin by realizing that we are beautiful just as we are.

...say bye-bye to feeling bad about your looks.

Are you ready to stop colluding with a culture that makes so many of us feel physically inadequate? Say goodbye to your inner critic, and take this pledge to be kinder to yourself and others. .

Oprah Winfrey

Commit to accepting your body. Commit to loving and appreciating your body right now, just as you are. Take a step forward in the direction of body acceptance/love, and another step, and another step... every day.

There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection. To me, that is the true essence of beauty.

Steve Maraboli

How are others doing it?

For me, loving my body is something that is a long way in the distance. However, accepting my body how it is is something I've accomplished. Just getting to that point was a long journey. By accepting myself, I've gained confidence. By gaining confidence, I've been able to love little things about myself. I am a curvy girl, but ED does not discriminate. Some of the little things I love are my curves and the shape of my legs. Learning to love little things has given me the peace of mind I need to get down to a HEALTHY weight HEALTHY way. Regular exercise, but not too much and eating healthy things without bingeing and without restricting. My recovery is only beginning, but I can't wait to love myself completely, fully, and unconditionally!!

Jessica, 17 yrs

I suffered with an eating disorder for many years and I have found that one of the hardest parts of recovery is learning to accept/love your body. For me it is something I still have to work at daily. For me the process really started with accepting that what I was reaching for was really unrealistic and my therapist pointed out to me that unless I literally got bone removed I would never achieve my goal. So it started with that realization and then my dietician was able to prove to me that no matter what eating disorder “behaviors I used” I was not really getting where I wanted to be. SO…I eventually had to accept that my body may be a little smarter than me and know where it needs to be. Now, I am simply at a place where I may not really like my body and I still have a struggle accepting that this is what I will look like forever…but I can accept that in this moment this is where I am and so I can torture myself or accept it .  Some steps I have had to take in my recovery have been to distance myself from media image on the internet, magazines, etc. Also, I have had to continually have an internally dialogue disputing my negative body thoughts and have had to start speaking up against others body bashing. Overall, it is a daily process and simply taking one more leap of faith, and one more step forward but it is worth the journey. I no longer take 3 hours to get dressed in the morning and am able to go shopping with my friends again…Also, at my Masters graduation for the first time in a long time I was able to take a picture and not start crying after seeing it! IT was a great feeling.

Kelly, 27 yrs 

 I am still in the process of learning to accept my body; however, I can see how far I have come. Acceptance began when I was respected sexually. My boyfriend, now husband, did not pressure me to have sex when I didn't want to. That opened the door to me reclaiming ownership of my body. Once I saw it as mine, I began practicing appreciating what it did for me. I put it through hell! Yet my body is resilient and bounced back. Now I am starting to be open to the idea that other things beside my weight determine my worth. Accepting that I am worth more than that number is awful because then I see all the pain poured into hating something that was really okay. .. but more than that it is amazing because I can finally have moments in life where I am content. 
Courtney, 24 yrs 

Learning to love and accept my body has been the hardest part in my recovery, and even though I consider myself free from Ed, I still find myself having "bad body" days. Days where I feel "fat" and don't want to do anything. But I have learned how to push through these days by remembering that the feelings won't last forever. They are bound to disappear because feelings are not fact and they come and go continuously. Feeling "fat" or gross one day does not mean you are in fact "fat" or gross. I've learned that tomorrow I will probably wake up feeling amazing about myself so I hold on to that thought and keep going. Remember that you are beautiful no matter how you feel inside or what those Ed thoughts are telling you. Fight back. 
Tayla, 20 yrs

I fight my battle with words, positive words and daily gratitude, words that give me a why: why should I keep my scale beneath the sink? Why should I love the girl in the mirror? Why is there more to life than counting (weight, calories, seconds on the treadmill...)? My why is puppy dog kisses and long walks in the mountains. My why is laughing with my siblings, cultivating a fulfilling career, writing in coffee shops on the weekends. My why is dreaming of a better future--working toward a future--and knowing that any future I take part in requires more than skin and bones. I still do math--in my head, walking past the mirror or as I crack my eggs for breakfast or tie on my walking shoes. But the words--positive words and gratitude--fill my head and crowd out the numbers, and, for today, I have the peace that lets me work toward a recovered tomorrow. 
 Kaila, 26 yrs 

Start living life fully now, in your present body… 
Linda Bacon 


 If you would like to share your experience with learning to accept/love your body to be added to this post, please email me at mrsmenopausal@yahoo.com.



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Recovery: How Much Longer?

How much longer are you going to allow your value to be determined by your appearance? How much longer will you put off joy in wait of that one thing that will finally make you deserving? How much longer are you willing to deprive yourself of happiness because of a number, a history, a preconceived notion of beauty? How much longer?
MrsM

Inspirational Recovery: I'll Rise

Now you may shoot me with your words
You may cut me with your eyes
and I'll rise
I'll rise...
Out of the shacks of 
history's shame
Up from a past rooted 
in pain
I'll rise...
Ben Harper


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Recovery Inspiration: The Time Is Now...

The time is now to begin, to create, to do, to be.

Let go. Be resilient. Live each precious moment with abandon.

Embrace the miracle that you are.

Delight in the uniqueness of your being.

Rejoice in each day, each breath, each small wonder.

Celebrate your life! 

MrsM.

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Recovery Quote Of The Week: January 3, 2013

Standing in the inspiring vision of my future, I boldly take every step - large and small - with courage and intent. Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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Recovery Image: Choose To Bloom

The most beautiful flowers are those that, despite overwhelming odds, plant their seeds of hope and reach for the sun. Be resilient, persevere... choose to bloom!
MrsM


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