Quotes from Brene Brown

In the absence of data, we will always make up stories. In fact, the need to make up a story, especially when we are hurt, is part of our most primitive survival wiring. Mean making is in our biology, and our default is often to come up with a story that makes sense, feels familiar, and offers us insight into how best to self-protect.

I'm slowing learning how to straddles the tension that comes with understanding I am tough and tender, brave and afraid, strong and struggling-all of these things, all of he time. I'm working on letting go of having to be one or the other and embracing the wholeness of wholeheartedness.

i am enough

Social success is growing into a person that other people can depend on.

We are the authors of our lives. We write our own daring endings.

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we are supposed to be and embracing who we are.

I'm not a parenting expert. In fact, I'm not sure that I even believe in the idea of 'parenting experts.' I'm an engaged, imperfect parent and a passionate researcher. I'm an experienced mapmaker and a stumbling traveler. Like many of you, parenting is by far my boldest and most daring adventure.

In my research, I've interviewed a lot of people who never fit in, who are what you might call 'different': scientists, artists, thinkers. And if you drop down deep into their work and who they are, there is a tremendous amount of self-acceptance.

At the end of my life I want to be able to say I contributed more than I criticized.

The question isn't so much "Are you parenting the right way?" as it is: "Are you the adult that you want your child to grow up to be?"

It's not about 'what can I accomplish?' but 'what do I want to accomplish?' Paradigm shift.

Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.

When you ask people about love, they tell you about heartbreak.

I don't just want someone who says they love me; I want someone who practices that love for me every day.

Courage is a value. My faith is the organizing principle in my life and what underpins my faith is courage and love, and so I have to be in the arena if I'm going to live in alignment with my values.

I can encourage my daughter to love her body, but what really matters are the observations she makes about my relationship with my own body.

The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you're enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect.

Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.

Dare to be the adults we want our children to be.

Who we are matters immeasurably more than what we know or who we want to be.

We're hardwired for connection. There's no arguing with the bioscience. But we can want it so badly we're trying to hot-wire it.

We use work to numb out. We can't turn off our machines because we're afraid we're going to miss something.

Normally, when someone we love is turning away from a struggle, we self-protect by also turning away. That's definitely my first response. I think change is more likely to happen if both partners have common language and a shared lens to see problems.

Our need for certainty in an endeavor as uncertain as raising children makes explicit 'how-to-parent' strategies both seductive and dangerous.