I appreciated a few good quotes over the last decades. I do not identify with many, but once every a few years, one quote hit me and spoke deep into my heart. And it usually stays with me for many many years.

When I first moved to the States, I was forced to work insane hours while still feeling crappy. It was also a period of time that I did not have any friends, so I felt very lonely for the first time in my life. One day I saw a magnet in the school gift shop saying ” Everything will be OK in the end. If it is not OK, it is not the end.” It really comforted me so I bought it. It was my first magnet, and I have gathered quite a collection by now. But I still need THIS magnet – it speaks to me softly when I feel struggle, acutely or chronically. I recently brought a handful of magnets that have healing powers to me to work and this is one of them.

Another quote I had at work is “the impossible is often untried”. I am a neuroscientist and my daily life is endless problem solving. This is a job that you almost never walk on paved road. Everyday is an adventure. Often times, I find myself standing still and thinking, “the next logical step is to do A, but there is no way I could accomplish it”. Three months into my current job, a very accomplished colleague was promoted and left my lab and I got to sit her old desk. I found this quote printed on a fortune cookie, taped on the edge of a shelf on her eye-level. I kept it till now and think it is the best advice that you could get in science and any job that requires creativity.

Recently, I was thinking about what to do next. I have been working a very challenging project that is close to a finishing line. And I am itching to find my next challenge. I am never a person who is very ambitious and have thought things through well from the start. I am more of a “follow-my-heart-and-there-is-a-path” kind of gal. Then I saw this quote –

Boy did it spoke to me! I know this quote is so popular that it has lost its charm to a lot of people by now. But never read well in English outside my work, this is the first time it hits me – even I have heard the first part of this quote. I loved it so much that I even ordered a car decal for my car – because not only I want to have it in my heart, I actually want to tell other people that I believe in it. I also ordered a leather luggage tag as a gift to someone at my work upon my departure, I think he would appreciate it.