One of my favorite modern therapists is Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I have been a long time listener after first discovering her in the 1980’s on KABC radio. She just completed her 50th year in broadcasting.
Doctor Schlessinger was one of the first, and highly successful Radio Talk Show Therapists/Personalities.
Her wisdom is a combination of pit bull stubbornness, a large does of traditional moral values mixed in with common sense. Her no-nonsense advice reflects her training as a psychologist, a family therapist and the 50 years of listening to peoples’ problems during her call-in talk show.
She pulls no punches when she gives advice.
Some people love her. Others don’t. She doesn’t care. She provides honest, objective and time-tested advice. She doesn’t bend her wisdom to fleeting and/or contemporary philosophy. She is not afraid to tell people the things that others want to say…but never do.
Some of my favorite quotes from Dr. Laura:
“You can come back from anything but death.”
Pretty straightforward assertion. Many times in our life we will face a comeback from adversity. You too can be a comeback story. Never give up. Never surrender. If you haven’t had one yet, brace yourself.
“It doesn’t matter how we were raised. We choose to become the person we want to be.”
Many of us carry along with us our “history” (our childhood, hurts, hangups and failures) as if it should define our future. You can change your trajectory at any point in your journey. Nobody has control of where they started. But we all have control of where we choose to go from here.
“Too many people make the past their identity and spend the rest of their lives accumulating sympathy for their past pain.“
Much like the previous quote, only you can choose how you react to your mistakes, foibles and regrets. The more you hold on to them and use them to define you, the longer it will take you to reach your true self. Despite our past circumstances, we all have responsibility for our future actions. Don’t use your past as a crutch. Use it as a fuel to spark your future. Your are more than what happened to you. You are in the process of “becoming”.
And finally, one of her oft-used quotes when talking to somebody about the need to make a difficult life decision they probably have been delaying….
“Is this how you want to live the rest of your life between now and dead? We only go around once.”
No explanation required.
For more of Dr Laura’s quotes check out this link: https://www.azquotes.com/author/13103-Laura_Schlessinger#google_vignette