Mary Schmich Quotes

But when I first got cancer, after the initial shock and the fear and paranoia and crying and all that goes with cancer - that word means to most people ultimate death - I decided to see what I could do to take that negative and use it in a positive way.

Sure, I get the blues. But what I try to do, is apply joy to the blues, you know? I don't know if it's a technique, or just being bent that way, being raised by the folks I was raised by.

When I feel confused or depressed, I remember back to junior high and I silently repeat, 'This, too, shall pass.'

The good thing about having this illness is that it allows me to be a little bit crazy.

If things aren't going so well, I try to stay positive and not give in to negative thoughts.

I haven't been very good about dealing with disappointment. I suffer it, and then when that suffering becomes a kind of predation, then it's gone. Because the disappointment is not always realistic.

This is one technique - going into my shell - that has helped me get over my disappointments.

Fear is always there; it's a survival instinct. You just need to know how to manage it.

I've used my sense of humor as a coping tool. It's gotten me through a lot of challenging times.

I've never made a conscious effort to do anything about my psychological side. I just try to think positively and enjoy it.

Thinking about suicide is a potent consolation: it helps us to get through many a bad night.

Depression seems to be related to fear, anger and frustration. When you're in a bad mood, even if you meet with your friends, you don't take pleasure in their company. But when you're in a good mood, even if things go wrong, you can cope with them without difficulty. This is why putting yourself in a good mood, making a point of developing a sense of loving kindness gives you greater inner strength.

Whenever it gets too dark, think of the good things you have, the good times you've had. It will help. I promise.

Don't make it worse by thinking it's more painful than it actually is.

Dear friend, I feel great! I really mean it. I have to remember his for the next time I'm having a terrible week. Have you wer done that? You feel really bad, and then it goes away, and you don't know why. I try to remind myself when I feel great like this that there will be another terrible week coming someday, so I should store up as many great details as I can, so during the next terrible week, I can remember those details and believe that I'll feel great again. It doesn't work a lot, but I think it's very important to try.

Every morning I wake up and I tell myself this: It's just one day, one twenty-four-hour period to get yourself through. I don't know when exactly I started giving myself this daily pep talk--or why. It sounds like a twelve-step mantra and I'm not in Anything Anonymous, though to read some of the crap they write about me, you'd think I should be. I have the kind of life a lot of people would probably sell a kidney to just experience a bit of. But still, I find the need to remind myself of the temporariness of a day, to reassure myself that I got through yesterday, I'll get through today.

Most of our stress and suffering come not from events, but from our thoughts. Reframe from negative thoughts, and stress subsides.

There's many things in this world that will depress you, and make you good for nothing, if you take them seriously, and that cheer you up if you don't.

If you're having a bad day the main thing on the mental side is realizing that I'm having a bad day and thinking about why and then just kind of re-prioritizing and saying, "I'm going to let myself have this bad day, but tomorrow I'm going to get back on track." That's pretty much it. We all have them. You do have to let yourself have them and then go within and figure out why you're having it and prevent it from happening again.

When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad... you should do what I do! Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky! Some people are much more... oh, ever so much more... oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you!

The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but thought about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral. It is as it is.

The failure to think positively can weigh on a cancer patient like a second disease.

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought. They can be a powerful influence for good when they're on the positive side, and they can and do make you physically ill when they're on the negative side. I don't eat junk foods and I don't think junk thoughts! Let me tell you, junk thoughts can destroy you even more quickly than junk food. Junk thoughts are something to be wary of.

My philosophy involves imaging terrible things happening all the time, and getting used to it, so reality isn't so bad. And then you're always happy. You really just have to think yourself through it. That is how I've been able to come to happiness, but it is a subtle difference between scaring yourself all the time with terrible things happening, it's more about actually about making peace with it. That's my advice.

If things get too much for you and you feel the whole world's against you, go stand on your head. If you can think of anything crazier to do, do it.