Crystal Aura Gaze

My mom had a lot of little sayings that she would repeat to us — and they came with a lot of wisdom. Some of these are quotes that she took from friends or other people. But she made it her own!

Everything is worse at night.

When I was having a lot of anxiety about something, it was often at night, or when I was trying to get to sleep. Mom always reminded me that things tend to feel better in the morning verses night.

At night, it’s easy to blow things up. There’s this pressure to feel like you have to have it all figured out. Life just feels a lot heavier and darker.

When you wake up the next morning, somehow it’s easier to manage your anxiety. You get a full nights rest, the day is new, and the sun is shining.

So when you’re having a lot of anxiety about something, better to address it in the morning than late at night.

It’s not all about you.

It may sound harsh, but it’s actually extremely helpful advice. It means — don’t take everything personally. When someone has offended you, it doesn’t have to imply an attack on your character.

Everyone is living in their own worlds. People are often not aware of how they’re being perceived. You shouldn’t take every misunderstanding as a deliberate attack.

This advice takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. I know that this was something I struggled with a lot as a kid, but through understanding this message, it’s made my life feel much lighter.

Don’t make it your life’s work.

When you’re dealing with a problem, you don’t have to make it your life’s work. You can come back to it later. You don’t have to pour your heart and soul into every little matter.

She might also say this when she was asking you to do something, “don’t make it your life’s work, but can you…” And it’s a great way of asking for help without any added guilt or pressure.

Put it in your popper…

Basically it means, “think about it…” She would say this when she had an idea or wanted to make plans for something.

It was like a low-pressure way of coming up with something. It means, you don’t have to answer to this or commit to this right away, but just think about it… It’s like planting a seed in the brain.

It all comes out in the wash.

This came from her college professor, I believe, and she would actually say “warsh” instead of “wash” because I guess that matched their accent!

This means, don’t dwell on little mistakes. It may seem like a big deal right now, but looking at the big picture, it doesn’t really matter.

If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry.

I know it’s a common phrase used by many, but this is something that Mom would particularly say very often.

There’s a thin line between laughter and crying, as they both come with a lot of emotion. If you’re going to feel emotional about something, you might as well have a laugh about it.

It’s saying, just because I’m laughing, doesn’t mean that I don’t care. I’m forcing myself to laugh as a way of not letting myself cry. She would preface this when she started laughing about something that really wasn’t funny.

The saying also reminds you to not take life so seriously. It’s easy to cry about every little thing — but sometimes you just have to laugh. Because life is ridiculous!

Do you have any other sayings from Mom — or from your own mom, dad, or grandparent?