Be the Quality of Person You Want to Be - Even When Others Aren't

"You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather." - Pema Chodron

Do you agree with Pema's wise quote, you just want to know how to do it?

In my popular keynote (and upcoming book) Talking on Eggshells, I share dozens of ways to think on your feet and keep your cool - no matter what.

I share what to say - and not say - in sensitive, stressful, high-pressure situations.

I share how to communicate with proactive grace and treat people with respect so they're motivated to respond in kind.

Talking on Eggshells also features more than 200 quotes that remind us to, as Pema Chodron says, "pull people into our peace instead of letting people pull us into their storm."

If you're having "one of those kind of days," these quotes might come in handy.

They can help you be the quality of person you want to be - and the quality of leader, parent and partner the people around you need you to be - no matter what.

21 Quotes to Help Us Be a Quality Person - No Matter What

1. “When things go wrong, don't go with them." Elvis Pressley
2. "Some people dance in the rain, other people just get wet." - Dolly Parton
3. “Stop trying to make people happy, you're not chocolate." - coffee mug slogan
4. "Life may give you a cactus, you don't have to sit on it." - Joyce Meyer
5. "On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree." - W. S. Merwin
6. "If you're feeling helpless, go help someone." - Aung San Suu Kyi
7. “Never say anything to yourself you don't want to come true." - Brian Tracy
8. “Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway." - Emory Austin
9. “The world is full of good people. If you can't find one, be one." - Mother Teresa
10. “Your greatest work of art is the story you tell about yourself." - Tara Conklin
11. "Do not let people pull you into their storm. Pull them into your peace." - Pema Chodron
12. “The big thing is to know what you want." - Earl Nightingale
13. "When you're sad, learn something." - Merlin
14. “The opposite of anger is not calmness, it's empathy." - Mehmet Oz
15. "It's not ever going to get better than right now - until it gets better right now." - Esther Hicks
16. "How you spend your days is, of course, how you spend your life." - Annie Dillard
17. "The time is always right to do what is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
18. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't." - Thomas Edison
19. “Whenever possible, be kind. It is always possible." - Dalai Lama
20. "I have found if you love life, life will love you back." - Arthur Rubenstein
21. "Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are." Jose Ortega y Gasset

And this gem from Clarissa Pinkola Estes:

“I too have felt despair in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or un-mended in the world.

Do not focus on that. Do not make yourself ill with overwhelm.

Let us be a light for each other and not lose heart.

Remember we were made for these times.”

What are you keeping a chair for? What are you focusing on and giving your attention to?

As Victor Frankl (author of the classic book Man's Search for Meaning) says, "We may not control what happens to us, we control how we respond to it."

And as Albert Schweitzer said, "In influencing others, example is not the main thing. It's the only thing."

Someone's got to go first. Someone's got to set an example of dignity and decency.

Why not you?