Friday Favorites: Top Quotes to Live By for a #GirlBoss

I am a huge believe in words. They are so powerful and inspiring. This is one of the reasons why I personally love writing. Growing up, a lot of people portrayed me as being shy – which in some ways, I definitely was. That’s when I really fell in love with quotes and words – mottos to ‘live by’ you could say. At times, I felt like a lot of people just didn’t understand who I was, so I would return to my inspirational quotes to help me get by and feel more relatable. Even though I have a much more open personality now than when I was younger, I would say that I’m overall just an analyzer – and I always have been. I have always taken a step back and read the situation (or the person) before I completely ‘let go’ or let someone in. That’s just who I am.

A lot of times when I have the feeling to get inspired or even if I am just longing for a few words that I can relate to for motivation, I will get on Pinterest & begin searching my board, ‘he said, she said’. It’s basically a board I’ve collected over many years of quotes I have related to at some point in my life, along with a few artsy pictures that I feel like speak for themselves. So, today I’m sharing some things I’ve pinned on that board that always encourage and push me to be the best version of myself and to make things happen.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much this resonates with my life and how much I fully believe in this quote. God calls us to forgive everyone .. even those who have done us wrong, which can be really hard. Like many of you, I’ve had my fair share of difficult trials in life – being betrayed in relationships, people doing wrong to my family, losing a best friend during some of the toughest times in my life, and then of course, there are the rumors that people will spread from the time you enter middle school until the time you graduate college. Experiences like this in my life were the times when I actually almost stopped caring about everyone and everything in my life – even my biggest dreams. I held some really big grudges – for years. But then I finally realized that those people didn’t even care if I held a grudge. The people who I wasn’t forgiving could have cared less if I gave up on my goals – actually, they probably were hoping that I would. I was literally only hurting myself. Forgiveness is for YOU, sister – not for the other person. Once I finally realized this and prayed for the strength to forgive those who had done me (or those I love) wrong in the past, I felt such a huge weight off of my shoulders. These people that you worry about and hold a grudge against are not worth stressing over. Instead .. try to forgive them, pray for them, and even try to have love for them as your brother or sister in Christ. Sometimes, this can be really hard – trust me, I still struggle with this from time to time. But we can all remember the quote above and try to become fully healed together! Once you have done this, you will be one step closer to the best version of yourself & you will be able to focus on what really matters in life instead of focusing on others who probably don’t even think about you. (Harsh, but true.)

Some may think this quote is kind of ridiculous, but to me this pretty much says it all. I’ve referred back to this quote from Audrey Hepburn so many times that I practically have it engraved into my brain. Audrey Hepburn has and always will be one of my biggest style icons & role models. I always refer back to this one when I need a positive reminder to just stay true to myself and stick to what I truly believe in. There are going to be others who don’t agree with your beliefs, and that’s okay. Just remember, to ALWAYS stay true to you!

This one is personally a biggie for me right now because I recently have been working on this in my own life. There comes a time in your life when you are just sitting there dreaming about what career you really want, where you want to live, who you want to live your life with, wishing you spent more time with loved ones, wanting that handbag or those pair of heels, longing for more one-on-one time with God, etc. etc. etc. And friend, I’m here to tell you – you can make it happen. Whatever it is that you keep thinking about every single day is something that is obviously very important to you. The next time that importance comes to mind, instead of just ‘wanting’ it to happen or dreaming about it, think of a way that you can realistically make it happen. Set your priorities in place and take action! All of this that you long for or dream about isn’t going to happen on its own. I had a recent experience with something like this (I’ll be sharing details in a post about this within the next couple of weeks.), so I began thinking of ways I could make my own thoughts and dreams come to life. One of the biggest things that helped show me the way in which I should go about making these thoughts actually become reality was prayer. I had in my mind what was really important to me, I had begun doing all I could possibly do to turn these thoughts into action, but really the prayers are what helped me the most. I don’t want to spoil anything for my upcoming post about this, but I will just say that all I did was talk to God on my drive home one night. It was a different kind of prayer than what I normally pray – it was like I was just talking to one of my girlfriends .. it was casual I guess you could say. I just needed a hint – a clue in which direction I needed to go. A wink from Him letting me know what path to travel down – and boy was He faithful! I cannot wait to share this with you all. 🙂

Of course, y’all know that Elle Woods is right up there with Carrie Bradshaw on my list of all time favorites. This is one of my favorite quotes from the movie Legally Blonde because it is just real. I have to remind myself of this constantly. It could be someone that we are really close to or someone who is a stranger who has given you a reason to lose the faith in them, but either way, you must not let that happen. Always try to see the best in everyone – whether you like them or not. Never try to find the flaws in people! Instead, try to find the light shining through them. It may be dim, but I choose to believe that we can help it shine brighter if only we have faith in that person and strive to show them some of God’s love. When you do this, it actually helps you just as much as it will help the other person. Along with this, you most definitely have to have faith in yourself. I struggle with this a lot. I always tend to be more positive and optimistic about others, but when it comes to myself it can be hard for me to be that way. I’m a perfectionist to a degree, so I tend to be really hard on myself. Even in my thoughts. But I’ve learned over the years that the second I lose faith in and stop believing in myself, I might as well give up. I’ve finally learned that I am such a better version of myself when I have confidence and believe in me. The mind game is over half of the battle. If you can trick your mind into believing that you can do something, chances are that you probably will. Never lose the faith – you got this, sister!

We’re all guilty of this & I’m talking to myself here too. My sister has always said that ‘life is all about choices’. Well, I link these thoughts together because you choose your happiness in life. There are going to be really annoying, tough, exhausting, frustrating, sad, aggravating moments in life. But that doesn’t mean you have a bad life, right? There are bad moments at times, but you can either choose to move on and finish out the rest of your day on a happy, positive note or you can milk it all day and be a debbie downer – which no one likes being around that (can I get an Amen?). Life is way too short to dwell on the negative moments. CHOOSE happiness – it’s a pretty dang good life!

This somewhat relates back to the quote about choosing what is really important and then making it happen. This is a quote that I repeat to myself almost daily. Not in a rude, mean way towards others but rather, as a way to really motivate myself. Unfortunately, there are going to be people in your life that are just sitting there waiting for you to fail or those who tell you that you’re crazy for thinking you can accomplish such a big dream. My answer to this: prove them wrong!! If there is someone like this in your life, use that as fuel to work even harder and make things happen for yourself. I promise that it works. And when you do prove them wrong, just remember it was never your problem that they didn’t want to see you succeed. It’s not worth your time dealing with people like that, so just let your actions and successes speak for themselves.

Along with this quote is this post from a fellow fashion blogger who has been such an inspiration to me – We Wore What. She recently posted this letter on her blog and I just had to share it with y’all because it just goes to show that this thought process actually works.

I’ll leave you with this … Since writing this letter, Danielle of We Wore What is now a complete style icon. She has more than ‘made it’ in the blogging / youtubing / fashion world, she has her own lines of clothing, has profited over $1,000,000 yearly, has grown an Instagram following of over 1.5M and just this year, she made the 2017 Forbes 30 under 30 list. (!!!!)

 Whether you are a friend, my mom, a #GirlBoss in the making, or a fellow fashionista reading this, I hope that you now feel so inspired to be a good person and to go out & make things happen. With God on your side, a lot of coffee, a little inspiration, a big dream & the ambition to give it all you’ve got, I promise you can make anything happen!

Have a fab weekend, fellow #GirlBosses! Thanks so much for stopping by today.

xo, P

**Photos: Sarah McAffry, Inc.