Sharon E. Rainey Quotes & Sayings

I was desperately searching for something to make sense; for the world to connect back with me. — Sharon E. Rainey

I knew if I stayed where I was, nothing would get better; nothing would change. If I wanted to ease the pain, I had to try something different. — Sharon E. Rainey

The routine helped the healing process. It gave me structure. It eliminated any sense of surprise, which at that point, I really didn't want anymore surprises in my life. Routine gave me the foundation for creat- ing a healthier life. — Sharon E. Rainey

With each challenging situation, each nightmare - each new piece of grit embraced and transformed - I came through with a more loving family, deeper friendships, and an even more profound relationship with God. — Sharon E. Rainey

Most teenage suicide attempts are cries for help; the teens survive, succeeding in bringing them the wanted attention. Mine was not a cry for help. I wanted to end my life and my misery. — Sharon E. Rainey

I thought by masking the depression with silence, the feelings might disappear. — Sharon E. Rainey

I had to clear up my messy life. By letting go of the debris and filth, I have come to a deeper, more soulful beauty and clarity like an oasis in the desert. From that place of clarity, a vision of what I could have, what I could do, who I could be has emerged if I allow my heart to become a place of compassion, acceptance and forgiveness. — Sharon E. Rainey

Forgiveness enables me to walk away from that pain, the loneliness and suffering. — Sharon E. Rainey

I could accept my circumstances, my life, people, and even events around me, without giving my approval or releasing my control over such. I don't have to like what happened; I just need to accept that it indeed occurred. — Sharon E. Rainey

My body craved sunshine; winter felt like an addict's withdrawal. — Sharon E. Rainey

I remember thinking I wanted to die rather than live through another February day of grayness; I didn't tell anyone because I knew it wasn't normal. And normal was all I ever wanted to be. — Sharon E. Rainey

When I left my first marriage, I left the insanity, the indifference, the negativity. In my world, LOVE MUST WIN. It can't just be the answer. It must conquer all evil, all hatred, all indifference. Yes, Love is the always the answer, no matter the question. But Love always wins. Love always conquers (if we allow it). — Sharon E. Rainey

We cannot fully heal if we cannot experience gratitude on a daily basis. — Sharon E. Rainey

It is important for me to focus on positive actions taken to heal instead of beating myself up over what I did wrong each day. It shifts my perspective, thus making my body and mind more hospitable places for healing and positive energy. — Sharon E. Rainey

With each opportunity before me, God presented me with a choice. I could accept His offerings, His wisdom, His grace. Or I could choose to hold onto the pain, the anger and the resentment a little longer. — Sharon E. Rainey

Most of all, I remember her laughing. It filled my ears. Her smile, her sparkling eyes, and her infectious laughter, along with the vistas, were limitless and unending and powerful. — Sharon E. Rainey

Life is messy. Grit and grace come at us fast, side by side. Sometimes the grit becomes overwhelming and diminishes our spirit. What's good seems lost and gone forever. This is a story about the pathway back to what's beautiful, when the way back seems impossible. — Sharon E. Rainey

Forgiveness does not mean I approve of or condone what transpired. — Sharon E. Rainey

I thought that day was the end of my life. It was the end of the world as I knew and understood it. I was taking another step into the unknown, again, onto a path unknown, grappled with fear and anxiety. — Sharon E. Rainey

I did the only thing I knew how to do: I built my own walls of silence to disguise my desperation and what later came to be recognized and diagnosed as depression. — Sharon E. Rainey

When we have loved, that loving part is the best part of any and every day. — Sharon E. Rainey

NO" is a complete sentence. It does not require an explanation to follow. You can truly answer someone's request with a simple No. — Sharon E. Rainey

I wanted to live more than I wanted to die. I didn't know how to live. I didn't know how I would be able to live life on life's terms. But I know God carried me to the end of that journey so I could start a new one. In those few days, God brought me to the point of willingness again, to start down a path with an unknown destination. — Sharon E. Rainey

We are exquisite souls housed in physical bodies. — Sharon E. Rainey

By first grade, my sense of worth was in direct proportion to what I learned and what I contributed back to the class. I had already become a human doing instead of a human being. — Sharon E. Rainey

In that instant, I realized that if I focused on the pain and misery, it would take me longer to heal. When chronic pain is my most often companion, it can be challenging to keep looking for the good. I needed to figure out a way to focus on the positive moments of each day. I needed to see where I was improving and healing. — Sharon E. Rainey

No more martyring myself. — Sharon E. Rainey

No one gave me the secret decoder ring on how to make friends. — Sharon E. Rainey

I call it an Aha! moment. It is the moment when I can hear, when I know, that an answer is being offered to me. All other sounds measurably fade, including the banter in my brain. It is when the answer travels from my heart to my head and says, "This is so." No questions follow, no objections interrupt; just the recognition that I must listen and follow. — Sharon E. Rainey

As a sufferer of depression for many years, I know the importance of trying to find positive experiences in each day, no matter how small. — Sharon E. Rainey

The pain had to be great enough for me to accept my reality, to hope that something different, and hopefully better, was out there and to do whatever came next to reach that point. It seems clear and simple when I write it down on paper. But I also know just because something is simple, it does not mean it is easy. — Sharon E. Rainey

Acceptance doesn't mean that life gets better; it just means that my way of living life on life's terms improves. — Sharon E. Rainey

This is where life as I knew it changed. This is where a new feeling slowly, eventually, permeated every cell of my body, changing the way I took in the world. My perceptions, opinions, everything changed the year I moved from Texas to Virginia. — Sharon E. Rainey

I'm not 'different' from anyone else. Crises and tough emotional periods are the grit around which my inner self has been formed. Some, I have come through with more grace than others. — Sharon E. Rainey

Extreme emotional pain has a profound effect on the body. I witnessed my already frail body become even more toxic and plundered. — Sharon E. Rainey

Through each crisis in my life, with acceptance and hope, in a single defining moment, I finally gained the courage to do things differently. — Sharon E. Rainey

Time heals even the deepest wounds. — Sharon E. Rainey

I am, by God's design, a "feeler." Everything in the world I interpret with my feelings. I am hyper-sensitive to others' hurtful words. I find it almost impossible to let what others say "just roll off my back." I personalize too much of what anyone says to me. This is definitely not a good characteristic, but it is how God created me. I have worked very hard through the years to change this, with very little success. — Sharon E. Rainey

I can't cure anyone. I can't guarantee they will heal. I can only tell them my story, remind them that they are not alone in their journey and offer a glimmer of hope for healing. — Sharon E. Rainey

Laughter lightens my heart and therefore heals my soul as well. — Sharon E. Rainey

As we each began our journey, we learned the importance of connecting, of laughing with one another (not at one another), of sharing our lives. — Sharon E. Rainey

When I could find something to laugh about for 30 minutes, my grief lightened just enough to make the day bearable. — Sharon E. Rainey

I have learned through repeated experiences that in order to heal, I MUST forgive. The forgiveness is not for the transgressor. The forgiveness is for ME. — Sharon E. Rainey

The Aramaic word for "forgive" means literally to "untie." Hatred and anger had bound me to my pain. The fastest way to free the self from an enemy and all associated negativity is to forgive. Untie those bindings; free yourself from that person's ugliness. — Sharon E. Rainey