Quotes by Vironika Tugaleva

I believe that the best leadership is loud authenticity. That is what the world needs now. We don’t need more plastic, Photoshopped perfection. I don’t want people to look at me and wish they could be me. I want people to be more accepting of their own failures, imperfections, and struggles because they are inspired by how I accept my own.

The more youve struggled, the more inspiring your story will be when you come out the other side. Do not give up. Todays struggle brings tomorrows wisdom.

Only when we face the impossible, and experience the unbearable, do we find out who we truly are.

There is no greater suffering than constantly measuring yourself and coming up short, except perhaps the realization that your suffering is hurting others. But where do we learn these things? Because, really, they are learned. We dont come crying out of the womb because of our birth weight or because we have no money in this brand new world. We learn to measure and we learn to attach our self-worth to those measurements.These patterns were stuck in arent just painful for us, theyre also distracting us. Every day, the gap between rich and poor grows while the people of developed societies do nothing, because we are too busy worrying about looking good. Were distracted, but not because weve chosen to be. Being distracted by our illusory inadequacy keeps us from changing the world. And believe me, we all have the power to change the world. If we only make the time. If we only free some head space.If you cant learn to love yourself for yourself (and how could you with such a paradoxical motivation?)... then do it for us. Do it for the world. We need you. We need your mind. We need your attention. We need your thoughts. Change your focus, and you will (not can, but will) change the world. You already matter. You just have to realize it for yourself.

To liberate yourself from your own self-judgment is to liberate others from it as well. To love yourself is an act of love for the world.

There is a difference between working hard to create a life that truly serves you and working hard to create a life that you’ve been told you should want.

Life is not a sport. Life is not math. There is no final end goal and there is no right answer. Just because your truth does not match someone elses truth does not make either of you wrong. Life is not a zero sum game. If I am right, that does not make you wrong. If you are right, that does not make me wrong either. A jar of vinegar can sit in a cupboard beside a box of baking soda peacefully, and we can allow those who disagree with us to exist alongside us without reacting to them. There is nothing to prove. There is enough room in the world for all of us.

There are few things more powerful than people united. What they unite over is not what matters. ... The most important aspect is remembering our existing connection, and, through that, allowing ourselves to feel at peace.

Temporary, but excruciating, pain is the price of healing.

When Im triggered, I think, This will last forever or What if this lasts forever? I get thoughts about how I should give up, run away, hide, protect myself. These thoughts, I cannot change. What I can change is how I respond to them. Will I unconditionally believe these ideas, or will I accept them as side effects of the temporary experience of pain? Will I act on each thought that arises in the burning fire, or will I hold myself gently and say, Itll be okay. I know it hurts. I love you? My power lies in these choices.

Every bit of pain can be a blessing if we choose to listen to its message.

Emotional pain cannot kill you, but running from it can. Allow. Embrace. Let yourself feel. Let yourself heal.

Your pain is trying to tell you something. It is not an accident, a curse, or an inconvenience. Pain is a form of self-communication.

When we get hurt, our bodies immediately start trying to heal that hurt. This works for emotions as well. If we were scarred socially, by an incident of rejection or bullying, we immediately start trying to heal. Like pus comes out of wounds, emotions flow from psychological wounds.And what do we really need at that moment? When we are out of that dangerous situation that scarred us, and we become triggered by some little thing - what do we need? Do we need someone to look at us and say, Wow, youre really sensitive, arent you? or Hey, man, I didnt mean it like that.? Do we need someone to justify their actions or tell us to take it easy, because the situation didnt really require such a reaction?And, from ourselves, do we really need four pounds of judgment with liberal helpings of shame? Do we need to run away, to suppress, to hate our over-sensitivity to situations that seem innocuous to others?No. We do not need all of these versions of rejection of a natural healing process. You would not feel shame over a wound doing what it must do to heal, nor would you shame another. So why do we do this to our heart wounds? Why do we do it to ourselves? To others?Next time some harmless situation triggers you or someone around you into an intense emotion - realize its an attempt at emotional healing. Realize the danger is no longer there, but dont suppress the healing of old dangers and old pains. Allow the pain. Dont react, but dont repress. Embrace the pain. Embrace the pain of others.Like this, we have some chance at healing the endless cycles of generational repression and suppression that are rolling around in our society.Fall open. Break open. Sit with others openness. Let love be your medicine.

To be hurt is, sometimes, a lucky thing—a fortunate interruption along a road that otherwise may have ended in blindly hurting others. When we heal from being hurt by a person, we realize the importance of not hurting people. Perhaps it is not the most fun way to learn this lesson, but it is a method of lifes teachings nonetheless.

A happy person is not without sorrow or grief. Happiness is the acceptance of pain, not the lack of it.

Happiness isn’t about pretending there’s no pain. It’s about accepting the pain as a part of healing and doing your best to nurse your own wounds with love and patience.

You work so hard to fix yourself, but maybe what you need isnt another tactic, another book, another expert, another five-step plan. Maybe, you dont need to be fixed. Maybe, whats really holding you back is the idea that you need to be fixed. Maybe you just need to let yourself play instead of always making yourself do homework.

At the end of the day, your relationships with the people in your life will be greater assets than any material things. Take time. Be present. Youll thank yourself for it later.

The most profound personal growth does not happen while reading a book or meditating. It happens in the throes of conflict, when you are angry, afraid, frustrated. It happens when you are doing the same old thing and you suddenly realize that you have a choice.