Share Six | Favorite Quote

So June’s theme is our favorite quotation. I absolutely love this theme and wish I would have had more time to be more creative with it. As usual, I had a game plan, but my life is quite crazy, so I once again failed at executing my original plan.  Oh well, I may just try to do a follow up blog post for the theme.

Fun little fact (which all of you grammar nazis will already know), the word quote was originally a verb and the word quotation referred to the noun.  Apparently enough people have used quote for the noun (quotation), so it is now in the dictionary as both the noun and verb. For my OCD’s sake I have to stick with the original meanings of the words in which case our theme would be our favorite quotation.

I couldn’t choose just one quotation so I chose 7 different ones. These are all quotations that I find very inspirational. (Yes, I did say 7. I have always been a strict rule follower, which is probably due to my OCD. This is Share Six and we share SIX images on the sixth of the month, but being that some of our other contributors have often posted more than 6 pictures, AND we aren’t posting on the 6th this month, I figured I’d step out of my comfort zone and go against our “guideline” of 6 photos.)

For my first quotation I chose one from the movie Superman. When we watched the movie, it immediately stood out to me.  I just love children and I love their uniqueness. I wish we as a society would foster each child’s individuality, recognizing their unique strengths and talents, instead of trying to fit them into a box.

My next one is a pretty generic one that I think almost every person has heard, but I still love it none the less. Often times we aren’t exactly where we want to be in life, but we need to choose to rise above the circumstances and be joyful. As a Christian I see it as no matter where we are, the mission field is all around us. We can serve God by helping those around us…those right in front of us no matter whether we are located in some third world country or if we are in a wealthy neighborhood. Also, I’d like to give credit where credit is due. Apparently the Bishop of Geneva Saint Francis de Sales is credited for this quotation, but Mary Engelbreit made the phrase popular.

I am not able to find the person who said this next quotation, but it’s another great one. I think we all fall prey to feeling like we need to fit in. In this fast paced narcissistic age though, I think we need to not follow the crowd by filling our schedules with things that make ourselves happy, but instead go against the flow…slow down and notice our fellow men and women and build relationships so that we can make a change for the better.

This next one is one that has pretty much been the theme of my existence since having kids. Obviously I don’t always stay focused on it, but it is what has influenced all of my major decisions when parenting my kids.  I think family is so important, more important than any career we may have. When we are on our death bed, will we think back on our career or on our family? What will our legacy be, the career we chose or the children we raised who have the potential to make a difference in this world. This is not about not having a career, that’s all well and good, what I’m saying is, the relationships we make with our family has far more potential to better this world, than any paycheck or promotion.

Here is another one along the same lines. It’s something we struggled with for a few years. As parents it’s so hard not to want to put your kids in every extracurricular activity imaginable, but at the expense of the family, or at the expense of our sanity? Is it really worth it? Is it bettering the family unit?  A family that is united and strongly bonded together can do great things for their community. (I believe this quotation is by Lysa Terkeurst.)

This next one is one that I think is so important for us all to remember, especially in this age of social media. We often forget that people aren’t going to air their dirty laundry for all to see. Yet we live with our own piles of dirty laundry staring us straight in the face. We struggle with the stress of our daily lives. Then we log onto our social media accounts and see the perfectly curated images of people’s families and lives. The monologue in our head goes something like this, “Oh look at that picture of Suzie’s kids playing together so nicely. I wish my kids could get along.” *scroll*  “And look at Jennifer’s kitchen, it’s so perfectly clean. Why can’t I get my act together and keep my kitchen that clean?!?” *scroll*  “Really! Kathy is out on another date night with her husband.” *eyeroll*  “I wish my husband would take me out on a date.” *scroll*  “There’s Leah doing another post about her awesome workouts. Ugh! I’m such a failure. My life is so boring. What am I doing wrong?!?”

(I believe the credit for this quotation goes to Steven Furtick.  Also, this is an actual picture of my living room at this very moment. So don’t be so hard on yourself. We can’t have it all together ALL of the time.)

Guys, let me just remind you, no one’s life is perfect. Just because their Facebook and Instagram feeds may be *perfectly* curated does not mean their lives are perfect.  As I said before, no one wants to air their dirty laundry. Very few people post the nitty gritty hard stuff of life. No one posts the fighting kids, no one posts the sink full of dishes, no one posts the countless nights where the spouse has fallen asleep next to them complete with drool and snoring. No one posts about the workout they skipped along with the unhealthy meal they devoured because their day was just awful. No one posts about the extra 25 pounds they’ve gained because “they’re at that age”. (Don’t get me started on that one. That seems to be my doctor’s new excuse for any weird symptom I may have…”Well, you’re at that age.”) UGH! Guys, just take comfort in the fact that the hard days make the good ones that much better. Keep up the hard work and know that you are not alone, even if social media makes you feel like you are.

My last one is just a fun little one that I thought was fitting since this IS a photography blog circle. It also happens to be quite fitting as I have the most horrible memory. Maybe that’s why I like photography so much, because it helps me remember those moments that my brain doesn’t want to remember on its own.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Head on over to Lynne’s blog to see her awesome interpretation on the theme!