Gina Greenlee Quotes & Sayings

You can miss an experience by obsessing over how to contain it. — Gina Greenlee

Listening to your body does not imply a lack of grit but a willingness to honor true physical limits. Kenyan runners have a reputation for listening to their bodies but certainly do not take it easy on themselves; they are among the world's most gifted and accomplished athletes. — Gina Greenlee

All discomfort is not equal. Learning to listen will help you distinguish among effort, fatigue and pain. To what degree, under what conditions and over what period of time your body experiences these sensations will determine how you respond. — Gina Greenlee

Follow your heart. Then root its longing with the facts. — Gina Greenlee

As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to reconnect with a long-held love. — Gina Greenlee

The cruise was the conduit for what would become my third book. While I was traveling and writing for ctnow, women across the United States and from the Caribbean emailed not to ask about my geographic journey but my existential one. "How do you find the courage to travel on your own?" they wondered. "How do you keep from getting lonely? Don't you feel self-conscious eating out alone?" After the first 30 emails like these I thought, There's a book here. It would be eight years before I published Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments on the Road. But the inspiration for publication came during the cruise. — Gina Greenlee

Large bodies of goal achievement research encourage written goals for good reason. When we write down our goals, we transform what we imagine into reality. — Gina Greenlee

Be courageous: be still. — Gina Greenlee

At chaos' core lies the invitation. — Gina Greenlee

Taking risks to create the life you want is an act of trust. It means believing in your ability to create a new reality while you are in the process of creating it. — Gina Greenlee

Life only plants the seeds. It's up to us to help them grow. — Gina Greenlee

Each of us has our definition of adventure: ending an unsatisfying
relationship, returning to school, parachute jumping or training for a
marathon. Go ahead. Get your thrill on. — Gina Greenlee

From the depths of your well, tap your will. — Gina Greenlee

If you've nurtured your Spirit and trained your Mind as well as your Body you'll be prepared with everything you need to draft across the finish. Remember: all the training runs when you didn't feel like running but ran anyway and felt so good physically but also about yourself. Envision the flash of friendly faces waiting to greet you. Celebrate that you have more energy now than you ever dreamed. Revel in the uptick in personal productivity and self-worth. Yes, you will run a marathon. And you will finish. — Gina Greenlee

Ten years ago I wondered, "How does one travel around the world? How does one step out of a well-established life to follow the dream?" I've answered those questions. But now new ones emerge. — Gina Greenlee

What we seek when we wander usually leads us back home. — Gina Greenlee

If you built the box, you can also break it down. — Gina Greenlee

No map? No problem. Let commitment and determination lead the way. — Gina Greenlee

Call it walking meditation or a neighborhood stroll; by whatever name
suits you, rediscover the art of meandering. — Gina Greenlee

Forget black and white and try on gray. In hair color, wardrobe or life choices, it may feel more enlivening than you imagine. — Gina Greenlee

The notion of the perfect time is more than myth. It's the ultimate self-delusion. — Gina Greenlee

I knew I could always earn money from a job. What I didn't know was could I extend the dream of writing beyond my trip? — Gina Greenlee

Life lessons are not journeys traveled in straight lines but are crossroads
formed years and miles apart. — Gina Greenlee

In these pages, traveling "solo" does not necessarily mean "alone." The absence of other people often suggests regretful isolation. "Solo" by contrast, is a willful decision to be the architect of our own experience. — Gina Greenlee

Stay open. You may find your tribe where you least expect it. — Gina Greenlee

The alchemy of diamonds from the rough
is to mine every moment. — Gina Greenlee

An unlimited supply of wonder and trust, bolsters life lived as a process of discovery. — Gina Greenlee

When life events mimic shattered glass,
carefully locate the pieces then gently pick them up. — Gina Greenlee

It is not so much the grand dramas of our lives that transform us as it is
the tiny one-acts we produce in between. — Gina Greenlee

Travel in the direction of what you resist. On the way, you will meet a
version of yourself who has been seeking you. — Gina Greenlee

Allow seven months to responsibly train for your first marathon. This will minimize stress to your mind and body and give your existential nature time to incorporate a new way of being. — Gina Greenlee

The treasured vistas of our solo journeys are not always about the landscape. — Gina Greenlee

If you can run six, you can run 10," he said, noshing on an energy bar. "Run 10 and you can run 13. That's how it works. You have three to four more miles in you than you think. — Gina Greenlee

One of the most important ways for you to train, stay healthy and injury free is to listen closely to what your body tells you. — Gina Greenlee

Want more fizz in your life?
Shake things up. — Gina Greenlee

If it's true we only live once, then raise your red velvet curtain every chance you get. — Gina Greenlee

People across the earth are aching to serve as your ambassadors in one form or another. Let them. — Gina Greenlee

Fear not your flame as you flood your caverns with firelight. — Gina Greenlee

Endings are the embryos of new beginnings. — Gina Greenlee

When you feel yourself resisting differences, lean into them, instead,
and have fun with what happens. — Gina Greenlee

If we never challenge our shortcomings, we ensure that they remain our Achilles' heel. — Gina Greenlee

Embrace those parts of yourself that you've skillfully avoided until now. That's your true adventure. — Gina Greenlee

In the changing weather of life, rather than drift with the currents or be cast about in storms, be the wind at your own back. — Gina Greenlee

What's at the core of your desire to run a marathon? Couple this journey with value beyond miles. The meaning you ascribe to your effort crystalizes your motivation and fuels your commitment to stay the course and go the distance. — Gina Greenlee

If "Been there, done that" isn't your mantra,then make haste down your "bucket list. — Gina Greenlee

Keep moving. Your next big thing may be just around the corner. — Gina Greenlee

The gift of solo moments is that they are wholly ours. On or off the road, solo moments connect us inward to ourselves with heightened clarity and insight. They also direct our energies out into the world, magnetizing us to new people and experiences we may not have encountered under any other circumstance. — Gina Greenlee

A craving for company can yield the surprising discovery that the companionship we yearn for is with ourselves. — Gina Greenlee

Those who receive the blessing are those who see beyond its disguise. — Gina Greenlee

No matter. I was single, no children, a handful of plants and at 39, young enough to regroup. If I hit ground before I finished building my wings, I would not take anyone with me. — Gina Greenlee

If you don't ask, you don't get. But if you ask and don't get, ask again. — Gina Greenlee

The goal of your first marathon is to finish. You have no time goal. You're not endeavoring to win or place in your age category. Being a speed demon serves no purpose other than to court injury. Your only competition is you. — Gina Greenlee

The week before the marathon, sleep well. If normally you "get by" with five hours but require seven, make sure you get seven every night. The sleep you get the week leading up to the marathon is more important than the night before. The night before, you probably won't sleep well due to anxiety, excitement and anticipation. — Gina Greenlee

Body follows mind. If the mind compares itself to others this could lead to overtraining. Tune out what other runners do and how fast they run. Tune in, instead, to how your body wants to increase speed and distance. — Gina Greenlee

When life hands you lemons, why stop at lemonade? Create an entire product line. — Gina Greenlee

We often mistake letting go for giving up. Knowing the difference between
the two can make all the difference in the end. — Gina Greenlee

You don't have to spend a lot of money to feel like a million. A good night's sleep, a quiet walk by the river or a hug from a favorite person will do the trick. — Gina Greenlee

Once back home I would adjust my lens to the resolution through which I perceived the people and provinces of the globe. My daily commute, the supermarket check out line, neighborhood walks, pedestrian tasks of any job would inspire me as much as the stir of white linen canopies in Venice's Piazza San Marco; the velvety dunes of the eastern Sahara; Bali's kaleidoscope of color; my Vietnamese sisters. — Gina Greenlee

Sometimes our dreams are affirmed in the most unlikely ways by the most
unlikely people. That's why we need to speak our commitment out loud. — Gina Greenlee

Whether you need to make a call or answer one,don't put your passions on hold. — Gina Greenlee

The study book for life's tests is the whole of our experience. Though we may
feel unprepared, tests appear only when we are truly ready to ace them. — Gina Greenlee

Whether by plane, bus or carpet,
own the magic in your ride. — Gina Greenlee

The help we give to others creates the ripple of good feeling we give to ourselves. — Gina Greenlee

Rather than resist rest and gravitate toward constant motion, let's experiment with letting go. — Gina Greenlee

Tomorrow is promised to no one. Prioritize today accordingly. — Gina Greenlee

Imagine how fluid life would be if we each had an advisor who, with our best interest at heart, provided clear, objective and decisive guidance. When we trust our instincts, we do. — Gina Greenlee

If you are feeling constrained by a group that you belong to, ask yourself,
"How can I participate in this community and still be who I am? — Gina Greenlee

When actors encounter a mishap during a stage performance,
they transform it for good purpose by employing a technique called,
"use the difficulty." How can you "use the difficulty" in your life? — Gina Greenlee

As your training integrates Mind, Body and Spirit, enjoy the process. Your journey to the marathon finish will last a few hours. Your journey to the start will influence a lifetime. — Gina Greenlee

Trust what feels true even if that truth requires you to ignore what you know. — Gina Greenlee

Practice trust in small matters for huge returns in the large ones. — Gina Greenlee

No need to queue up; step forward and count yourself in. — Gina Greenlee

During those days of whirling about the globe, I had an epiphany: travel was the only area of my life where I had no expectations. I anticipated nothing while fully engaging each moment. What bred adventure, surprise and deep experience was not knowing, surrendering to now and letting go of control. — Gina Greenlee

Turn off the radio, TV, DVD, iPod, computer and cell phone. Then, listen. — Gina Greenlee

Develop the habit of initiating change. You'll be better prepared for whatever comes your way. — Gina Greenlee

Few experiences are more satisfying than becoming someone we always imagined we could be. — Gina Greenlee

When we establish human connections within the context of shared
experience we create community wherever we go. — Gina Greenlee

I know when people think of New York, they think of theater, restaurants, cultural landmarks and shopping," I told him. "But beyond the iconic skyline and the news from Wall Street, New York is a collection of villages. In our neighborhoods, we attend school, play Kick the Can, handball and ride our bikes. I grew up knowing the names and faces of the baker, the shoe repair family, the Knish man and the Good Humor man who sold me and the other kids in my neighborhood half a popsicle for a nickel. My father took me to the playground where he pushed me on the swing, helped balance me on the seesaw and watched as I hung upside down by my feet on the monkey bars. Yes," I told the interviewer, "people actually grow up in New York. — Gina Greenlee

Much of what we acquire in life isn't worth dragging to the next leg of our
journey. Travel light. You will be better equipped to travel far. — Gina Greenlee

No matter how many strikes are hurled at you, only you decide when you're out. — Gina Greenlee

Those who walk the talk get the work. — Gina Greenlee

If you can't remember when you last basked in your own glow, it means you're overdue. — Gina Greenlee

Often, the key to getting what we need is simply to let it in. — Gina Greenlee

Adventure, opportunity and reward extend beyond our field of vision, and are made known to us only when we test our wings. — Gina Greenlee

Like flowers blooming through cement,
we, too, can grow beyond our cracks. — Gina Greenlee

The trip changed all that. Stirring the murk of a life ill-fitting, Something More was perceptible though without name or form. Something More was the genesis of a map, not one handed to me but rendered with each step taken, a skill seasoned by a cruise gone bad. — Gina Greenlee

Our lives follow the stories we tell ourselves. — Gina Greenlee

Once flooded with light, our boogeymen diminish, no longer ogres in our imagination. We welcome internal dialogue for its treasures. — Gina Greenlee

New insights from being present are a gift. — Gina Greenlee

Putting the dream in motion involved significant personal downsizing, moving three times to trim housing expenses and continuing to freelance. I sold one piece to The New York Times Magazine, many more to The Courant, and another to The St. Petersburg Times. — Gina Greenlee

Be who you are. You may not always please but you will never go wrong. — Gina Greenlee

Till your inner garden and your outer landscape will flourish — Gina Greenlee

Uncertain about an aspect of training? Read, consult others and experiment. In the end, though, listen to the body and the Voice Inside. Instead of dousing it with music, podcasts or talk radio, let the Voice Inside play out and wind past rumination to rich sediment that informs what drives and scares you. — Gina Greenlee

Until that rainy Sunday at the movies 31 years ago, for me, companionship had been a mandate for life's good times. After Orca, it became a choice. My trip to the theater helped me to distinguish between loneliness (experienced by default), and solitude (choosing when and how to enjoy my own company), as I began a journey of engaging the world on my own terms. Over the years, that journey deepened as I traveled life's roads with increasing independence and confidence, whether I was attending graduate school at night while working during the day, buying my first house or changing careers. — Gina Greenlee

In 2006 I had begun the discernment process for locating my rightful geographic home. By the time my corporate pink slip arrived I had spent two years researching and taking recon trips to five different cities in southern California. Having crossed them off my list, in February 2008 I visited Sarasota, Florida, at the urging of a friend who winters in a neighboring town. Though Florida had never been on my radar, only minutes in Sarasota I knew I'd found home. — Gina Greenlee

Sometimes we have to break down to break through. — Gina Greenlee

Who you know only gets you in the door; what you know gets you the keys to the house. — Gina Greenlee

As you consider your next move, practice this definition of trust: the willingness to take steps while simultaneously waiting for "instructions. — Gina Greenlee

At times, productivity means doing nothing at all. — Gina Greenlee

If running a marathon excites you, create space in your life for it. Adding a new commitment means recalibrating different areas of your world. Logging more miles as your race date approaches means less time invested in other pursuits. Not forever, just during the months you train. Too, you will find how training fits into your world serves not only crossing the finish but other areas of life. — Gina Greenlee