Care to Read With Me?

Such a great book! You will enjoy her journey, her witty commentary, and her flawless description of life as it transformed her. Some of my favorite quotes from the book are below. I hope you enjoy “Year of Yes” as much as I did.

“I want to be clear: I know that I said that I am not a person who can see a problem and not solve it. But I don’t mean that in a “heroic Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus” way. I mean it in a sad, control-freak, “the toast crusts must be cut off to the same exact millimeter measurement every time” way. Meaning I’m not easygoing about these things. That’s not how I’m built. That’s not how any type A, obsessive, workaholic control freak is built. Obviously. I’m a doer. I do. So. When I say I’m going to do something, I do it. When I say I’m going to do something, I really do it. I throw myself into it and I do. I do my ass off. I do right up to the finish line. No matter what. No. Matter. What. This is all made worse by the fact that I’m competitive.”

“I’m not just some dork telling you to pretend to be Wonder Woman. It’s a real thing. My online network tells me to power pose like Wonder Woman and reminds me of the actual studies that say that power posing like Wonder Woman for five minutes not only improves self-esteem but even hours later improves how others perceive you. Let me say that again. Standing around like Wonder Woman in the morning can make people think you are more amazing at lunchtime. Crazy. But true. How awesome is that?”

“The truth is, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to know. You just have to keep moving forward. You just have to keep doing something, seizing the next opportunity, staying open to trying something new. It doesn’t have to fit your vision of the perfect job or the perfect life. Perfect is boring, and dreams are not real. Just . . . DO.”

“Find a cause you love. It’s okay to just pick one. You are going to need to spend a lot of time out in the real world trying to figure out how to stop being a lost loser so one cause is good. But find one. And devote some time every week to it…Volunteer some hours. Focus on something outside yourself. Devote a slice of your energies toward making the world suck less every week. Some people suggest that doing this will increase your sense of well-being. Some say it’s just good karma. I say that it will allow you to remember that, whether you are a legacy or the first in your family to go to college, the air you are breathing right now is rare air. Appreciate it. And don’t be an asshole.”

“I am never more sure of myself about a topic than when I have absolutely no experience with it.”

“Look. I will not be told what size to be. I do not care about anyone else’s judgment about my body. I am not interested in anyone else’s ideas of what I’m supposed to look like. I believe everyone’s body is theirs and everyone has a right to love their body in whatever size and shape and package it comes in. I will fight for anyone’s right to do so. I will kick ass and take names if I have to. Your body is yours. My body is mine. No one’s body is up for comment. No matter how small, how large, how curvy, how flat. If you love you, then I love you.”

“Everything sounds like crap until you are in the right mind-set. Everything sounds like crap while you are still busy listing reasons you should get to eat that whole cake.”

“People like being around whole, healthy, happy people.”

“And your tribe can be any kind of person, anyone you identify with, anyone who feels like you, who feels like home, who feels like truth.”

“Once I said Yes to difficult conversations, once I said Yes to saying No, I made an interesting discovery. That discovery was: happy, whole people are drawn to happy, whole people, but nothing makes a toxic person more miserable and destructive than a happy, whole person. Unhappy people do not like it when a fellow unhappy person becomes happy.”

“For the last eleven years, there has been one name on my Ride or Die list who only exists inside the walls of Seattle Grace Mercy West/ Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. I’m not insane. I know she isn’t real. I just don’t care. Cristina Yang will always be one of my Ride or Dies….I mean that I am going to miss Cristina Yang so much that my heart hurts. In the Year of Yes, this is one of the things that worries me the most. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope.”

“Because it’s not merely about surrounding myself with people who treat me well. It’s also about surrounding myself with people whose self-worth, self-respect and values inspire me to elevate my own behavior. People who require that I stay truthful and kind and not totally crazy. Not eating every single thing in sight. Not hiding. Not saying no. I want Ride or Dies who make me want to be a better person.”

“Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”