Sarah Ban Breathnach Quotes & Sayings

Conscious choice is creative. Unconscious choice is destructive. That is how we end up living other people's lives. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Second thoughts have aborted more dreams than all the difficult circumstances, overwhelming obstacles, and dangerous detours fate ever could throw at you. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

It's a perfect moment to quietly meditate on the cosmic Great Mother who can inspire us all; the divine, feminine Spirit of nurturance known as The Goddess, so revered in ancient times and being rediscovered by women today. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Joy is your birthright. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Make peace with the knowledge that you can't have everything you want. Why? Because it's more important for us to get everything we need. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

As we become curators of our own contentment on the Simple Abundance path ... we learn to savor the small with a grateful heart. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

It doesn't really matter whether we reflect the light through our authentic gifts or whether our authentic calling is to spread it. What matters is that tonight is that the world is dark, cold, and bleak. Your flame burns so brightly. Share your Love and warmth with others. Watch the Light return. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Being Grateful. That is the first step on the path to Joy. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Everyday epiphanies encourage us to cherish everything. Today a new sun has risen. Everything lives. Everything can speak to your soul passionately if you will be still enough to listen. "You have to count on living every single day in a way YOU believe will make YOU feel good about YOUR life," actress Jane Seymour suggests, "so that if it were over tomorrow, you'd be content. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

The way you reach that awareness is through an inner journey that brings about an emotional, psychological, and spiritual transformation. A deep inner shift in your reality occurs, aligning you with the creative energy of the Universe. Such change is possible when you invite Spirit to open up the eyes of your awareness to the abundance that is already yours. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

When I think about my father, the first image that comes to mind is holding his hand as he drove me to the train station six weeks before he died; I had never noticed how beautiful his hands were until I saw them, for the first and last time, entwined in mine. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Ironically, gratitude's most powerful mysteries are often revealed when we are struggling in the midst of personal turmoil. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

I wish I'd known from the beginning that I was born a strong woman. What a difference it would have made! I wish I'd known that I was born a courageous woman; I've spent so much of my life cowering. How many conversations would I not only have started but finished if I had known I possessed a warrior's heart? I wish I'd known that I'd be born to take on the world; I wouldn't have run from it for so long, but run to it with open arms. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Today you may not be familiar with the happiness habit. But like any new behavior, happiness can be learned. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

One of the most important milestones we'll all hit along the way is the moment when we finally own our unique point of view and realize how priceless it is. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing. Believe in yourself. And believe that there is a loving Source - a Sower of Dreams - just waiting to be asked to help you make your dreams come true. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Some holiday traditions are sacred. In our house one such tradition is the annual Christmas classic cinema celebration. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Always remember that striving and struggling precede success, even in the dictionary. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Greet everyone you meet with a warm smile. No matter how busy you are, don't rush encounters with coworkers, family, and friends. Speak softly. Listen attentively. Act as if every conversation you have is the most important thing on your mind today. Look your children and your partner in the eyes when they talk to you. Stroke the cat, caress the dog. Lavish love on every living being you meet. See how different you feel at the end of the day ... — Sarah Ban Breathnach

One way of celebrating the Solstice is to consider it a sacred time of reflection, release, restoration, and renewal. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

We're not meant to fit in. We're meant to stand out. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

When we appreciate how much we have, we feel the urge to pare down, get back to basics, and learn what is essential for our happiness. We long to realize what's really important. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Observe how gently but surely the natural world renews itself daily. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

After self-nurturance, listening to the whispers of our hearts is probably the hardest task we've ever attempted. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

The biggest surprise on the soulful journey to authenticity, whether as a philosophy or a spiritual path, is that the path is a spiral. We go up, but we go in circles. Eash time around, the view gets a little bit wider. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Self-nurturance, or learning to bask in bliss, is an acquired art form. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Sometimes when we awaken from the bad dream of disowning ourselves, we think that the sojourn to self-discovery is a new one. But it is an ancient quest. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

We can stop waiting for life to become perfect and start working with what we've got to make it as satisfying as we can. We can accept, bless, give thanks, and get going. Today, we can begin to call forth the riches from our everyday life. Today we can move from lack to abundance. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Turning fifty is an entirely different matter altogether. At fifty, the madwoman in the attic breaks loose, stomps down the stairs, and sets fire to the house. She won't be imprisoned anymore, — Sarah Ban Breathnach

It's hard to tell our bad luck from our good luck sometimes. And most of us have wept copious tears over someone or something when if we'd understood the situation better we might have celebrated our good fortune instead. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

In order for us to awaken and "to begin to understand the gorgeous fever that is consciousness, we must try to understand the senses," Ackerman urges. "The senses don't just make sense of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Success in life is not how well we execute Plan A; it's how smoothly we cope with Plan B. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Let's choose today to quench our thirst for the 'good life' we thinks others lead by acknowledging the good that already exists in our lives. We can then offer the universe the gift of our grateful hearts. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Consider the track record of your naysayers. How many dreams have they successfully brought into this world? — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Begin today. Declare out loud to the universe that you are willing to let go of struggle and eager to learn through joy. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Today is not the day you quit. Nor is it the day you cry. Today you know that you have all the passion and wisdom to find that quiet center of solace, serenity and strength necessary to create and sustain an authentic life. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Despite all the doom and gloom that constantly assaults our senses, there is a way for us to ransom our lives and reclaim our futures: it consists in turning away from the world to recognize what in life makes us truly happy. For each of us, what that is will be different. But once we obtain this inner knowledge, we will possess the ability to transform our outer world. "You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself," the pilot and writer Beryl Markham reminds us. We cannot let this continue to occur. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

There are several occasions in the course of any woman's day when, without question, screaming is the appropriate response ... — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Real Life - the real life of joy we are meant to be living - begins when we restore a sense of reverence to our daily affairs. Today, search for the Sacred in the ordinary with gratitude in your heart and you will surely find it. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Human beings, as far as I can tell, seem to be divided into two subspecies
the resigned, who live in quiet desperation, and the exhausted, who exist in restless agitation. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

I truly believe that regret is the only wound the soul does not recover from, and so I'm trying to live without regrets ... Each day is another chance to be swept away. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Money ... it's both the most complicated and the most passionate relationship in our lives. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

How could I expect more from the universe when I didn't appreciate what I already had? — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Choice is destiny's soul mate. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Dare yourself to believe in your creativity, wherever it may lead you. Trust that where it leads, is exactly where you're supposed to be. Your authentic self knows where you're headed. Don't wrestle with Spirit, collaborate with it. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

And what we can see if we look deep within is that the authentic self is the Soul made visible. Do not try to remake yourself into something you're not. Just try making the best of what God made. The sacred art and craft of nurturing our souls and the souls of those we love is Simple Abundance soulcraft. Begin today by turning on the Light. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

We think that it's the big moments that define our lives-the wedding, the baby, the new house, the dream job. But really, these big moments of happiness are just the punctuation marks of our personal sagas. The narrative is written every day in the small, the simple, and the common. In your tiny choices, in these tiny changes. In the unconsidered. The overlooked. The discarded. The reclaimed. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

As the season of believing seems to wind down let me gently remind you that many dreams still wait in the wings. Many authentic sparks must be fanned before passion performs her perfect work in you. Throw another log on the fire. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

All we need is the awareness of how blessed we really are. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Forgiveness is a form of gratitude. When we forgive others, we show them the mercy that we have often received and been thankful for. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Self-sacrifice is one of a woman's seven deadly sins (along with self-abuse, self-loathing, self-deception, self-pity, self-serving, and self-immolation). — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Invite Divine Order into your life today and a more serene tomorrow will unfold. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Regret is the only wound from which the soul never recovers — Sarah Ban Breathnach

When you first awaken or before drifting off to sleep, quiet your mind, lift up your heart, muse, mull over, make discoveries. Consider, conceive, create, connect, concede that it all starts within. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Don't wish today away. Don't waste it. Redeem one hour to be grateful. Let your thanksgiving rise above the din of disappointment - opportunities lost, mistakes made, the clamor of all that has not yet come. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Spiritual beings do not sweat life's small stuff. They also know that most of what drives us crazy in life is small stuff. The only thing that isn't small stuff is the reason you're on earth in the first place: to find that portion of the world's lost heart that only you can ransom with your love and authentic gifts and then return it, so that all of us can experience Wholeness. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

The only person in all the world who can give you pleasure, or deny it, is yourself. No matter how much we love someone, the decision to experience pleasure, and to make room for it in our lives, is an internal one. If you are resistant, you could be around the most joyous people in the world and be miserable. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Many of us have unconsciously erected barriers to protect ourselves from failing or succeeding. We may think we're protecting ourselves by denying our creative impulses, but all we're doing is burying our authentic selves alive. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Making the absolute best of ourselves is not an easy task. It is a pleasurable pursuit ... but it requires patience, persistence, and perseverance. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

The simpler we make our lives, the more abundant they become. There is no scarcity except in our souls. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Not every one of our desires can be immediately gratified. We've got to learn to wait patiently for our dreams to come true, especially on the path we've chosen. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

I approach my work with a passionate intensity, acting as if its success depends entirely on me. "But once I've done my best, I try to let go as much as possible and have no expectations about how my work will be received by the world." — Sarah Ban Breathnach

It is difficult to experience moments of happiness if we are not aware of what it is we genuinely love. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

So it is with the concerto of our lives. Individual notes must be learned and played and practiced before we achieve harmony. And above all, we must learn how to pause. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Since the choice of what we curl up with is often crucial for our solace and sanity, we need to learn how to nurture the talent of selection. Book browsing is a meditative art ... Books are as essential as breathing. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Become aware that you already possess all the inner wisdom, strength, and creativity needed to make your dreams come true. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers
But above all
The world needs dreamers who do. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

No one needs to know that you've shut the world out and are meditating as you stroll down the street. Twenty minutes to a half-hour every day is a good amount of time to restore a sense of serenity. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. - SOMERSET MAUGHAM — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Always remember, it's simply not an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Never forget that the most essential fashion accessories, the ones no woman can afford to do without, come from within. A generous heart, a spontaneous smile, and eyes that sparkle with delight can be part of any woman's signature look once she awakens to her authentic beauty. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Making it look easy is the hardest thing in the world to do. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

When you learn what you can live without, you are able to ask life for the very best because you possess the gift of discernment. You are able to create an authentic life because you are able to make conscious choices. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

[I]t doesn't matter whom you love or where you move from or to, you always take yourself with you. If you don't know who you are, or if you've forgotten or misplaced her, then you'll always feel as if you don't belong. Anywhere. (xiii) — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Your heart will always tell you what's working and what's not. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

There's no doubt in my mind that sleep deprivation is the hidden number one cause of arguments and cybersex. I'm convinced that countless good relationships end and bad ones begin because of chronic fatigue. Never make a major decision until after you've taken a nap. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

The greatest secret to living a happy, fulfilled life is the realization that everything is created in our minds before it manifests itself in the outer world. We must believe it before we can see it. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Every day offers us simple gifts when we are willing to search our hearts for the place that's right for each of us. (January 15) — Sarah Ban Breathnach

This moment is your life. It is the process of living, the journey, that is life itself, and we often wish away our lives by focusing only on what tomorrow could, should, would bring. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Harmony is the inner cadence of contentment we feel when the melody of life is in tune. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

I am grateful for what I call well-spent moments: Making a tuna fish sandwich with the works. Taking at least a half hour to eat it outside. Ironing my vintage tea towels while watching old black-and-white film noir movies and sipping one martini with extra olives - a quirky combination, but it works. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Success doesn't have to pull, tug, or chafe if we wear our real size. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

I truly believe that we each have a House of Belonging waiting for us. Waiting to be found, waiting to be built, waiting to be renovated, waiting to be cleaned up. Waiting to rescue us. Waiting for the real thing: a grown-up, romantic, reciprocal relationship. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

No matter which route you take, within twenty-four hours the day will be over. Tomorrow should be better. But if it's not, nor the next day, or the next, then know that it's okay to ask for help from friends, a support group, a therapist, a doctor, or your Higher Power. Dark days come to all of us. Yet discouraging days bring with them golden opportunities when we can learn to be kind to ourselves. Believe it or not, today offers you a hidden gift, if you're willing to search for it. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Let us each grasp a new idea this year. Let us grasp the awareness of what it is that makes us truly happy. Let us consider our personal preferences and learn how to recognize, then embrace, moments of happiness that are uniquely our own. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. - BUDDHA — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Deliberately seeking solitude-quality time spent away from family and friends-may seem selfish. It is not. Solitude is as necessary for our creative spirits to develop and flourish as are sleep and food for our bodies to survive. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Only dreams give birth to change. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Start moving, a step at a time, step after step. The positive momentum will take you from there. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

To find this greater truth about God, Spirit, and the sacred, we must often set aside the limiting impressions from our childhood. In many instances these images of fear only serve to hold us back in our search for authentic spirituality ... Open up your mind and heart to a concept of Spirit who looks out for us, loves us, sheds light on our path, and wants nothing less for us than unconditional happiness. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Start thinking of yourself as an artist and your life as a work-in-progress. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Trust that through the balm of simplicity your frazzled and weary soul can discover the place where you ought to be. Every day offers us simple gifts when we are willing to search our hearts for the place that's right for each of us. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Change is the essence of life; change is the great challenge, the great constant. Change is the ultimate teller of tales. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Writing is the most personal form of prayer. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Turn away from the world this year and begin to listen. Listen to the whispers of your heart. Look within. Your silent companion has lit lanterns of love to illuminate the path to Wholeness. At long last, the journey you were destined to take has begun. — Sarah Ban Breathnach

Little changes [and] little choices add up to be revolutionary changes in your life. — Sarah Ban Breathnach