Top 37 Berrien Quotes
#1. Parenthood always comes as a shock. Postpartum blues? Postpartum panic is more like it. We set out to have a baby; what we get is a total take-over of our lives.
Polly Berrien Berends
#2. I began to recognize that there was a part of me that was stronger than I ever could have imagined. I didn't know how I was still standing. I surprised myself. I was waking up to the fact that I was in charge of my own life and it was my choice whether to sink or float.
Elizabeth Berrien
#3. I believe I gather strength from the generations of women who came before me - that together we all hold the suffering of the world.
Elizabeth Berrien
#4. It is true that the grief journey is very lonely, but it is also up to you to decide just how lonely you will make it.
Elizabeth Berrien
#5. I began to feel that nature itself was nurturing me, reminding me that life still offered beauty and calm, and that I was also made out of these elements.
Elizabeth Berrien
#6. The intense roller coaster of emotions will gradually lesson over time. But there is no timeframe for the grieving process, and it will not be rushed, no matter how fast you'd like to "get over it." The reality is that there is no getting over it; you can only walk through it.
Elizabeth Berrien
#7. Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it.
Polly B. Berends
Polly Berrien Berends
#8. Most of us would do more for our babies than we have ever been willing to do for anyone, even ourselves.
Polly Berrien Berends
#9. Mothering while grieving should involve being understanding and keeping a gentle attitude toward yourself as you work to balance your own needs and your child's. You become stronger by remaining aware of your own well-being, which in turn makes you a stronger person for your child or children.
Elizabeth Berrien
#10. If your children see that you are seeking, they will seek-the finding part is up to God.
Polly Berrien Berends
#11. We cannot spare our children the influence of harmful values by turning off the television any more than we can keep them home forever or revamp the world before they get there. Merely keeping them in the dark is no protection and, in fact, can make them vulnerable and immature.
Polly Berrien Berends
#12. We can see that the baby is as much an instrument of nourishment for us as we are for him.
Polly Berrien Berends
#13. I would still rather feel things and live life to the fullest rather than hide in a cave and attempt to protect myself from the uncertainties of the world.
Elizabeth Berrien
#14. It is okay to release your feelings when you feel the waves coming. It's all part of the process of having to let go of your relationship with your loved one as you once knew it. And remember, letting go is not the same thing as forgetting!
Elizabeth Berrien
#15. I used to feel afraid of the future, always assuming the worst. But now I've realized that my worst fears have already happened, and I've survived them! I've walked into the fire and made it out alive. Only the loss of a close loved one could have "woken me up" to reality in the same way.
Elizabeth Berrien
#16. The child does not begin to fall until she becomes seriously interested in walking, until she actually begins walking. Falling is thus more an indication of learning than a sign of failure.
Polly Berrien Berends
#17. Each loss brings growth with it, and learning to handle new experiences and taking charge of your needs is part of the transformative process.
Elizabeth Berrien
#18. The truth is, we never know what life will bring us and we don't have as much control as we might think we have. But we CAN choose how we walk through life and how we spend our time.
Elizabeth Berrien
#19. Suddenly we have a baby who poops and cries, and we are trying to calm, clean up, and pin things together all at once. Then as fast as we learn to cope
so soon
it is hard to recall why diapers ever seemed so important. The frontiers change, and now perhaps we have a teenager we can't reach.
Polly Berrien Berends
#20. We never truly "get over" a loss, but we can move forward and evolve from it.
Elizabeth Berrien
#21. Some of the choices you make might not always turn out to be the best ones, but at least you are learning as you go.
Elizabeth Berrien
#22. Learning to live again wholeheartedly includes letting love flow freely in and out of your heart.
Elizabeth Berrien
#24. Especially with our first child, we tend to take too much responsibility
both credit and blame
for everything. The more we wantto be good parents, the more we tend to see ourselves as making or breaking our children.
Polly Berrien Berends
#25. The gain is not the having of children; it is the discovery of love and how to be loving.
Polly Berrien Berends
#26. The trouble with most problem-solving books for parents is that they start with the idea that the child has a problem. Then they try to tell us how to fix the child, or else, after blaming the parent, they suggest how we can fix ourselves.
Polly Berrien Berends
#27. The parent is the strongest statement that the child hears regarding what it means to be alive and real. More than what we say or do, the way we are expresses what we think it means to be alive. So the articulate parent is less a telling than a listening individual.
Polly Berrien Berends
#28. Everything that happens is either a blessing, which is also a lesson, or a lesson which is also a blessing.
Polly Berrien Berends
#29. Whenever the child is given the notion that he needs to be entertained, learning comes almost to a halt.
Polly Berrien Berends
#30. There is nothing like feeling truly "awake" and aware of my life and what it means to me. So I look ahead and think, "There is still so much to be done, and I will continue to make the most of it.
Elizabeth Berrien
#31. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it.
Polly Berrien Berends
#32. Remember to view yourself and your humanness with a kind heart.
Elizabeth Berrien
#33. You have to do what feels right for you. Do not let anyone influence you otherwise. It is your mind, your heart, and your own internal wisdom that will lead you in the direction you need to go.
Elizabeth Berrien
#34. My list of things I never pictured myself saying when I pictured myself as a parent has grown over the years.
Polly Berrien Berends
#35. Once you have walked down the grief path, what you have gained on your journey may turn into invaluable advice for someone else.
Elizabeth Berrien
#36. A child needs both to be hugged and unhugged. The hug lets her know she is valuable. The unhug lets her know that she is viable. If you're always shoving your child away, they will cling to you for love. If you're always holding them closer, they will cling to you for fear.
Polly Berrien Berends
#37. We do not have to get our children to learn; only to allow and encourage them in their learning. We do not have to dictate what they should learn; only to discern and respond to what it is that they are learning. Such responsiveness is at once the most educational and the most loving.
Polly Berrien Berends
Famous Authors
Popular Topics
Scroll to Top
