Connor Franta Quotes

You have control over your thoughts; thoughts do not have control over you. They're like little dirt specks on the windshield of life that you simply need to wipe away. […] We give dark thoughts our power. Why would we ever think that mere thoughts are stronger than us? They're not. We can outwit them. Rule them. Survive them. They represent internal stormy weather ... and all storms pass. [...] You know that positivity exists - you only have to sift through the rubble a bit.

Once the innocence was wiped clean from my eyes, I saw life for what it is: complicated.

In my experience, if you let your scars own you, they will. Don't give them that power. Don't let them stunt your growth and progress.

I can't pinpoint the exact moment in time when I realised I was falling in love, but my move to California had a lot to do with it. Once immersed in an openly gay environment, I quickly understood that men loving men (and women loving women) was normal. It was BEAUTIFUL, in fact. […] And let's just say in West Hollywood, you see a lot of gay people. They're everywhere, unashamedly being true to who they are, and who they love. It was the single most refreshing thing to witness. […] Those couples became a symbol of hope to me, and to see them firsthand made me think it was possible for me to be like them. To love. To be happy. It was actually possible to dream of the future. The future I wanted to have.

Knowing what I know now, there are a few things I would love to tell my younger self: have faith in yourself and what you're doing, keep on trekking, and trust that everything will fall into place. It's okay not to know where you're headed, so long as you keep moving forward. Just pick up the pieces along the way, accrue knowledge, keep learning, and keep going. [...] Eventually, you'll reach a place in your life where you'll stop, glance over your shoulder, see the completed circle, and finally understand the reason why your journey took you down a strange path.

Hard choices are never easy and nearly always stressful, especially when they affect the trajectory of the rest of your life. Growing up is full of many little steps, hops, and big leaps, none of them easy. Pushing myself to move out of my comfort zone was the best decision I've ever made. There are many bites to take out of this big wide world, and the opportunities are endless. The only thing holding you back from experiencing them is yourself and the false limitations you've imposed on yourself. Just you. No one else. Big leaps take time.
Sometimes you just have to leap and have faith in yourself. I headed to LA and placed all my bets on this one trip, believing it would open a new chapter in my life. That was all I could hope for.

Nothing is permanent.

And all of this is unfolding before my very eyes on an average day, begging the question: WHY. IS. EVERYONE. IN. SUCH. A. DAMN. HURRY? Why the constant rush?

It's strange to think we're brought up in a world that judges us for putting ourselves first. Somehow, to think of ourselves first and others second has come to sound so incredibly selfish - and that just makes my stomach churn and my teeth grind. How unfair! How misguided! Because here's what I've learned (and what no one seems to teach us in life): you have to make YOU a priority and think in terms of what's good for yourself and your higher interests.
[…] Instead of thinking of an action as selfish, with all the negative connotations that this word carries, I view it more positively as "looking after myself."

[…] I'm not sure what flipped that switch, but once it was turned on, I had the powerful realisation that I could do anything and be anyone I wanted to be. […] Confidence is something we can all wear. Take it from me, it can be learned and acquired over time. Confident people were not born confident. […] The more we work on a trait that we wish to develop, the stronger it gets, like a muscle. The more we believe something about ourselves, the more we reprogram our thinking. The more we dwell on the positive, the less the negative can touch us. None of us are stuck with the hand we are dealt. We can shuffle the deck and deal the cards out again. No one can tell you who you should be. You need to be the person you want to be.

Don't allow yourself to settle for just anything in your life. Strive to obtain your every want and desire, as long as you're not harming others.

I would rather have one amazing best friend than a hundred decent regular friends. It's not about quantity, it's about quality. True friendship is counted in memories, experiences, and troubles shared; it's a bond built up over time in person, not a virtual tally on the Internet. It finds you; you don't find it. A relationship forms, you discover common interests, and you realize this bond is the closest thing to romance that is possible. Yes, that's it: true friendship is a relationship without sex or attraction. It doesn't judge, gossip, flake, and get envious. It stands by you through thick and thin. It supports you at your lowest ebb and celebrates with you at your highest point. It allows you to be yourself, good and bad. And it's a two-way street: you give and take equally. Whether it's the friends who have walked with you or the friends who await you in the future, the value of true friendship is golden.