A codependent person is one who has let another person’s behavior affect him or her and who is obsessed with controlling that person’s behavior. – Melody Beattie
Few things can frustrate us more than trying to make a person someone he or she isn’t; we feel crazy when we try to pretend that person is someone he or she is not. – Melody Beattie
I used to be afraid of pain, didn’t take a lot of risks, especially in love. I’m not as afraid anymore. I’m more spontaneous, more likely to say what I think. – Melody Beattie
The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals. – Melody Beattie
Live your life fom your heart. Share from your heart. And your story will touch and heal people’s souls. – Melody Beattie
Much of the time, the things we feel guilty about are not our issues. Another person behaves inappropriately or in some way violates our boundaries. We challenge the behavior, and the person gets angry and defensive. Then we feel guilty. – Melody Beattie
What do you do when life blindfolds you and spins you around? We think it’s our fault, that we’re to blame, when really we should be focused on being gentle with ourselves. – Melody Beattie
Twelve-step promotes spirituality, not religion. It gives a practical, day-to-day spirituality that tells me what I can and cannot control. There is room to be imperfect and to be someone who struggles to find God. – Melody Beattie
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. – Melody Beattie
There are almost as many definitions of co-dependency as there are experiences that represent it. – Melody Beattie
Letting go helps us to to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress. – Melody Beattie
Guilt can prevent us from setting the boundaries that would be in our best interests, and in other people’s best interests. – Melody Beattie
According to some Eastern religion, there is a belt that goes across the world, and I’ve heard that Minnesota is right in the heart of this spiritual-creative belt of energy. – Melody Beattie
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melody Beattie
Make New Year’s goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come. – Melody Beattie
In martial arts, every time you graduate, move to another level, you don’t forget everything you’ve done. You build on it, but it’s always there. – Melody Beattie
Few things can make us feel crazier than expecting something from someone who has nothing to give. – Melody Beattie
It’s hard to give up the self-esteem connected to being codependent and appearing ‘right,’ which is probably a survival behavior learned from growing up in a crazy family. It feels like you will actually disappear. – Melody Beattie
I gave three years of my life to take care of my dying mother who had Alzheimer’s disease. Being there for her every need for three years might have looked codependent but it wasn’t because it was what I wanted to do. – Melody Beattie
Don’t violate your own code of values and ethics, but don’t waste energy trying to make other people violate theirs. – Melody Beattie
