My immune system has been struggling for the past couple of months.

Now that I'm feeling much better, well enough to write, I have to say "thank you" to my beloved readers.

I sent an emailing asking forgiveness for my impending absence so I could get some serious rest. I needed time away from the screen, from thinking.

The emails I got back were just the best.

People said, take your time, listen to your body, trust the pause, trust the stillness, that you would still be right here.

They said, and I quote:

“What if I accept you completely & utterly and you meet me where I am too. What if we lived in a world where rest is as valued as doing and in resting, we are doing and achieving more than we ever could by doing alone.”

I’d live in that world.

In honor of all that, these quotes.

It’s an eclectic collection that speaks the essence of recovery, springtime, and your coming back to life.

Most of these quotes were sent to me by my beautiful readers! I asked for help with this one, and people answered.

Here’s to all of us who have felt unwell or run down and tried to push through it. We know better now.

Here’s to those of us who need a break or a miracle or a total change of pace.

Here's to asking for help when you need a little, and trusting what comes next.

17 Quotes about Recovery, Springtime, and Returning to Life

1. "That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again." - Ali Smith

2. “Healing starts with your coming back to your own gravity centre, your essence.” - Lucie Isabelle

3. “Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.” - Nelson Mandela

4. “Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light, and that makes them beautiful.” - Jim Carrey

5. “The deep roots never doubt spring will come.” - Marty Rubin

6. "Through your deepest wound, Light enters." - Rumi

7. “Adversity is like a strong wind. It… tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.” - Arthur Golden

8. “One’s doing well if age improves even slightly one’s capacity to hold on to that vital truism: ‘This too shall pass.’” - Alain de Botton

9. “I show my scars so that others know they can heal.” - Rhachelle Nicol

10. “For all these years you’ve protected the seed. It’s time to become the flower.” - Stephen C. Paul

11. "The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently, or very frequently." - Gary Zukav

12. “Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise." - Maya Angelou

13. “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” - Jack London

14. “It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what." - John Galsworthy

15. “Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!” - Sitting Bull

16. “The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” - Eden Phillpotts

17. “In the study of the Way, each day something is dropped. Less and less do you have to force things, until finally, you arrive at the place of non-action, where nothing is forced, and nothing remains undone." - Lao Tzu

. . .

Tell me:

Do you have a favorite quote, mantra, or philosophy on recovery, healing, and making your way back to life again?

Share your favorites in the comments. I’d love to read them!

One last thing, an affirmation shared by one reader:

“I do what I need to do to keep my light, so that I can be a light for those around me.”

With love and fresh air,

Jen

P.S. Want to get words like these in your inbox? Sign up here and you’ll also get my Healing Brave Manifesto, totally free.