15 Inspiring Quotes on Growth: Trauma Edition
When you can barely manage day-to-day life, the idea of growth can feel….like a joke.
Trauma manifested as depression and anxiety brings everything into hyper focus. Managing it is all about daily choices, and any change in routine can set off a downward spiral. In sharp contrast is the idea of growth, which is characterized by risk, change, and the unknown.
But something I realized after years of wrestling with depression and anxiety, is that I could fight these demons for the rest of my life and only just survive. If I didn’t have a meaningful life to trump their persistence, I would never escape this uphill battle to thriving. I needed to invest my energy in other areas beyond managing my mental and emotional health to grow beyond just surviving.
I needed to build a life worth living.
Related: What is Complex Trauma?
Growth can look like a lot of things, but ultimately it takes a leap of faith.
I often recommend 12-step programs as a resource for folks struggling with mental health because it’s a place where you can come as you are. While I will be forever thankful for the support of these groups when I had absolutely no one to lean on, anyone who’s been to these meetings knows they can often be a primer on the insanity of NEVER CHANGING.
It’s honestly one of the greatest gifts of these groups: to hear people refuse to change and thus suffer the same problems for months or years. It’s been enough to scare me straight more than once!
I hope you muster the courage to grow beyond the hand you were dealt and build a life you love. I’ve been in seasons where surviving was more than enough, but as that passes, I know there is more of life to experience.
Read these quotes to inspire you to step into thriving and growth…
Show Up
"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again." Abraham Maslow
“Thriving. That’s fighting. Surviving is barely getting by.” – Jillian Michaels
"If you don't make the time to work on creating the life you want, you're eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don't want." - Kevin Ngo
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Related: How to Build Community When You’re Alone
Stay the Course
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." - Amelia Earhart
"Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What's important is the action. You don't have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow." - Carrie Fisher
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick Douglass
Don’t worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. – Sherman Finesilver
Related: How I Know My Mental Health is Suffering + What I Do About It
Believe in Your Vision
"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." - Ella Fitzgerald
"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure." - Paulo Coelho
"Recognizing that you are not where you want to be is a starting point to begin changing your life." - Deborah Day
"You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness." - Diane von Furstenberg