I will be honest with you—last winter was like no other I had ever experienced.

I signed a publishing deal in December 2018 and was tasked with handing in a completed manuscript by March 1st—only two months later. It was stressful, but it was also invigorating and wonderful. More importantly, it made the winter go by in a virtual blink of an eye.

For this, more than anything else, I was thankful. I’ve been told that I am the moody-and-sensitive type—and the winter always seems to draw that out in me just a bit more than usual—so the reprieve was welcome.

Here we are, though, once again in the winter; and as I have no deadline looming over my head, it’s business as usual. The long hours at work, the angry cold temperatures, and the seemingly endless string of soul crushing dates all add right up to that moodiness I seem to be famous for.

However, at this stage in life, I look for answers in lieu of wallowing in the mud:

I put on a YouTube video with Anthony Robbins. Too hyper.

I put one on with Brené Brown. It wasn’t resonating.

I scrolled down to Dr. Wayne Dyer. I just couldn’t.

Then I found it! Eckhart Tolle. I let it play as I sit in the hot steam of a rejuvenating shower and it was as if winter just melted away.

Here are 10 quotes from the master himself to help you survive the winter blues:

1. “It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.”

2. “The sun never sets. It is only an appearance due to the observer’s limited perspective. And yet, what a sublime illusion it is.”

3. “Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be.”

4. “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.”

5. “Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to ‘die before you die’—and find that there is no death.”

6. “Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”

7. “All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry—all forms of fear—are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”

8. “Don’t seek happiness. If you seek it, you won’t find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness.”

9. “To recognize one’s own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence.”

10. “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have.”

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