Do you want to be loved, or do you want to be yourself?

Which one do you act according to? Being loved often requires people-pleasing. Being yourself means to not people-please by sticking to your honest opinions.
"No matter how bad things get, we'll never have this day again."
TV-series FROM.

Encouragement during bad days.
"Take care of her, she'll be alone now."
TV-series FROM.

I try to say this to myself, about myself, as encouragement to not be so harsh.
"Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, but you do the right thing anyway.""
Neil Gaiman

Encouragement to not surrender, even when you feel deeply anxious. See the fear as proof that you are being brave, pushing your limits, and growing.

"Lose weight, dress better, play hard to get, act confident, get out there more - in other words, fix yourself if you ever hope to find love. That’s not self-improvement. That’s self-punishment in camouflage. And self-punishment doesn’t lead to healthy love [only blame for our imperfections]."
Ken Page, Deeper Dating: How to Drop the Games of Seduction and Discover the Power of Intimacy, 2015, pp. 3-4.

The aspects of ourselves that we try to fix or cover up often end up being what we need to accept and embrace to find love.

“If you happen to have read another book about Christopher Robin, you may remember that he once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher Robin, I don't know which) and that he used to call this swan Pooh."
From AA Milne's intro to Winnie the Pooh.

I adore how they switch around "or the swan had a Christopher Robin", playing with the idea of who's truly the fortunate one to have the other as their friend.

Quotes I like