Ranjani Rao Quotes That Will Inspire You to Live Your Best Life

1. A place can be a living, breathing thing. It can shimmer with joy or with maleficence. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

2. Could she be happy outside my daily, direct control? The answer was yes. It was a blow to my ego, but it was true. The epiphany lifted a great weight off my shoulders. Even though I could not understand the grand scheme of things, I could see what was truly important when I applied a simple filter—my child’s well-being—to the situation. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

3. I decided to create a home from scratch, something that would reflect my tastes and preferences with a combination of objects and energy that would add up to a safe and inviting space for the people and experiences I wanted to welcome into my life. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

4. I did not have a crystal ball to predict my future success, but I had proof from my past efforts. For now, that was enough. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

5. It felt important to acknowledge our small successes, to stop and observe the tiny pockets of sunshine that broke up the boredom of our monochrome days and made us smile. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

6. Life was incomprehensible. I could no longer say with certainty that one event, one person, or one place would make me happy. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

7. Music connected me with something outside myself, even if only for a moment. For that moment, it held my fears at bay and with each passing day, helped me climb up from the dark pit that had once seemed bottomless. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

8. No one cared that my little world had come crashing down. I could cry if I wanted to, but I still needed to hold up the small piece of it that depended on me. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

9. No one is ever guaranteed a smooth life, so to expect as much is foolish. To be daunted by the challenges thrown at me was natural, but I knew what lay ahead was not insurmountable. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

10. Nourishment comes in many forms. So does happiness. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

11. One simple step of parking my attention on something constructive and using my strengths helped me build self-esteem. Instead of considering myself to be a failure, I could see myself as a success, even if in only a small way.

12. That first choice to leave an unhappy home had put me on a path strewn with more choices. Such was life. I had to accept it without looking for certainties. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

13. The memorable days are few. Most days are a blur of chores and errands and activities that don’t really add up to anything significant. But there is value in savoring the simple joys that each day brings. There is power in being able to choose not just your home and its contents but how you see your life and its context. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

14. There was a reason I was here. Not just for a break from my life but for a chance to reexamine it. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

15. To gain confidence, to put myself firmly on a path to independence, I needed to practice making small choices. I decided to begin by making this cavernous house into a cozy home. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

16. When the walls reverberated with the innocent laughter and joy that children bring to the present moment without the baggage of the past or worries about the future, a great weight lifted from my shoulders. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

17. An empty room can be an instrument for introspection. It was a reflection of the void created by the decision to distance myself from a relationship that had defined me to others and to myself. If I was not a wife, who was I? I was removing a label that marked my place in a social system, but was I still me without that label? Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

18. Basic gardening knowledge tells us that plants located adjacent to each other in the same soil, with similar exposure to sunlight and equal access to water and nourishment may grow at different rates and in different ways. My siblings and I were very different—in personality and temperament, in our views and opinions, and in our dreams and ambitions for the future. How could I be expected to evolve at the same pace and in the same direction as a stranger with whom I had tried (and failed) to build a mutually enabling relationship? Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

19. Breaking one bond was not the end; it was the beginning. It wasn’t a thread that had snapped. The entire net of relationships built on the assumption of ever after had collapsed. As I kept falling down an abyss, it was not my life that flashed in front of me but an enactment of all my fears. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

20. Every day I used my power of concentration, indulged my pleasure in lifelong learning, and kept up my hope that this credential would further bolster my expertise. Stepping into each day with this focus turned my attitude from despair to anticipation. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

21. Faith is a funny thing. It holds out the option of surrender when everything else has failed. The power of prayer lies in its ability to give us permission to put down our burdens and trust that the universe will have our backs. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

22. From measuring my life in terms of milestones, I now tried to measure it in moments—those small pockets of time that float with great radiance even though they are embedded in the minutiae of life. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

23. In my new life I was chef, chauffeur, working woman, mother, daughter, neighbor, friend. Driving was just one of those things I had mastered. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

24. Meditation didn’t work any miracles. Miracles happen in an instant of faith. The skeptic in me demanded proof. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

25. Meditation made me sick.Meditation made me mad.Meditation made me sad.Meditation gave me hope.Meditation pointed toward a way.Meditation showed me not just how to live my life but also how to think about life itself. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

26. Shouldn’t there be more to a marriage? A clarity of purpose? A unity of vision? Team spirit? Common goals? A mutual love of things and each other? Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

27. Sometimes, wishes come true in strange ways. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

28. The light at the end of this seemingly never-ending dark tunnel that I had entered, was on the other side of understanding. The clarity I was seeking was within my reach. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

29. The tsunami of my personal life had opened doors to new possibilities, and the crumbling of my life as I knew it had also broken down pretenses and barriers. I was once again a child, learning the ways of the world and how to be in it. I was once again a bundle of potential. This clean slate helped me rewrite my life and rewire new connections. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

30. We had both accepted the unwritten rule of arranged marriage: love, if it arrived at all, would bloom with time. Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery