Everything in life has pros and cons: Doughnuts taste great, but they’re not great for our health. Summer brings more sun and fun, but it also brings sweltering heat waves. We live on the same planet as Rihanna, but we can’t be friends with her. When the good comes, we enjoy it, and when the highs give way to lows, we can sometimes panic. Luckily, it all gets easier when we learn to calmly ride those waves rather than fight the tides.
One coping mechanism that can help is shifting perspective. You can reframe problems as opportunities. Delayed flight? Great! More time to read your book. You can simply—and calmly—accept what you can and cannot control.
And, you can learn from the wise. Here are 15 quotes that will help you see things in a different light, so you can find your inner calm when you need it the most.
“I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me.” — Tracee Ellis Ross
“Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.” — Frida Kahlo
“I wish I could tell you it gets better, but it doesn’t get better.Youget better.” — Joan Rivers
“Don’t let the muggles get you down.” — J.K. Rowling
“Things present themselves to you, and it’s how you choose to deal with them that reveals who you are.” — Cate Blanchett
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” — Audre Lorde
“In order to create, the need to express has to be bigger than the fear.” — Juliette Binoche
“I literally cut myself off in the middle of negative thoughts like, ‘Bitch we don’t have time for this, come back.’” — SZA
“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” — Georgia O’Keeffe
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am.” — Sylvia Plath
“I’ll tell you what freedom is to me: No fear.” — Nina Simone
“Change is one thing. Acceptance is another.” ― Arundhati Roy
“Like the rainbow after rain, joy will reveal itself after sorrow.” — Rupi Kaur
“You just learn as time passes.” — Cardi B
“When the door closes you have two choices. Give up, or keep going. Let them shut you down or prove them wrong. We all start somewhere. It’s where you end up that counts.” — Rihanna
