Simon Van Booy Quotes

I would never say out loud that I am raising my children alone, but a lot of the time it has felt like that.

I was divorced when my children were young, so I was a single mother for a while. It's so hard to have to do every little thing yourself and be forced to navigate the rocky emotions of motherhood alone.

I am someone who worries a lot. I'm always worrying 'what if?' Now I'm a mum - there will be worries for the rest of my life, but they're not about me anymore.

I'm terribly prone to anxiety. I get very depressed and I get very anxious and my anxiety is almost always about my children.

I'm always working, and I'm a single parent, so I don't think I have time for stuff most normal people do.

My mother was a single mom, and she was a claims adjuster at an insurance company. She actually dropped out of school - she was going to become a registered nurse - because she had to take care of me and my brother.

I grew up while I was in college. I learned how to take care of myself. I learned how to prioritize things. I learned how to get things done.

Becoming a dad has been a big change for me - I didn't have any responsibilities before. I obviously practised every day, but there was that luxury of things like watching movies when I wanted or waking up whenever I wanted.

I waste at least an hour every day lying in bed. Then I waste time pacing. I waste time thinking. I waste time being quiet and not saying anything because I'm afraid I'll stutter.

I'd be smiling if I wasn't so desperate. I'd be patient if I had the time.

Is our time up and on to the next fire / Got my fingers burnt and cut into the wire.

I get nervous the more time I have to think about something so I deliberately don't give myself too much time between jobs. I take a big break and then I start working again usually.

I really felt that I had to stay level, I had to control, I had to know what I was eating, I had to know what I was doing, I had to work out. All that stuff is very powerful and it really helps, but now I don't do it out of survival. At first, I was just trying to survive. I assumed at some point I'd be screwed otherwise.

Stay busy and take care of your own business.

I think that there's a lot of anxiety out there in people wanting their children to be part of the mainstream, to achieve based on the well-worn yardsticks.

Nerves, stress and the pressure to perform are a part of life. You don't have to conquer these feelings; just learn to live with them.

Seven years after becoming a lone parent, I feel qualified to look anyone in the eye and say that people bringing up children single-handedly deserve, not condemnation, but congratulation.

The fight will last as long as I allow it to last.

I hear people say they're going to write. I ask, when? They give me vague statements. Indefinite plans get dubious results. When we're concrete about our writing time, it alleviates that thin constant feeling of anxiety that writers have - we're barbecuing hot dogs, riding a bike, sailing out in the bay, shopping for shoes, even helping a sick friend, but somewhere nervously at the periphery of our perception we know we belong somewhere else - at our desk!

You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.

The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional. Anxiety is not a sin; it's an emotion. So don't be anxious about feeling anxious. Anxiety can, however, lead to sinful behavior. When we numb our fears with six-packs or food binges, when we spew anger like Krakatau, when we peddle our fears to anyone who will buy them, we're sinning.

To some degree, you control your life by controlling your time.

If I used being busy as an excuse not to run, I'd never run again. I have only a few reasons to keep on running, and a truckload of them to quit.

Stop putting it off! Procrastination breeds guilt, guilt breeds depression, and depression breeds failure.

Successful people have control over the time in their life. A shoemaker who owns his own shop gets up one morning and says, "I'm not opening." That's a successful guy.