I have recently been questioning whether or not I need a change of pace in my life. I find change to be exhilarating, but my expectations always seem to be much higher than the reality. I get so excited about the prospects of something new—a new city, new apartment, new people.

But why am I so drained from my current circumstances and what can I do to prevent this mindset from becoming a way of life—moving from one place to the next, never finding exactly what I am looking for? Why am I in full-on meandering mode?

Reasons to leave always come in multitude, but reasons to stay are usually few. When I find myself trying to change my mindset, I fall back on quotes…quotes from strangers, celebrities, the unknown, and the occasional dictator. So here are some words of wisdom from those that find themselves either fighting their Gypsy hearts or embracing them full-on.

1.

You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be.
—Marianne Williamson

2.

When you’re trying to motivate yourself, appreciate the fact that you’re even thinking about making a change. And as you move forward, allow yourself to be good enough.
—Alice Domar

3.

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you are not going to stay where you are.
—Unknown

4.

I know for sure what we dwell on is who we become.
—Oprah Winfrey

5.

If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.
—Unknown

6.

We all change when you think about it. We’re all different people all through our lives. And that’s okay, that’s good, as long as you keep moving, as long as you remember all the people that you used to be.
—The 11th Doctor

7.

The greatest prison people live in is the fear of what other people think.
—Unknown

8.

I have chosen to be happy because it is good for my health.
—Voltaire

9.

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.
—English Proverb

10.

The trouble is, you think you have time.
—Buddha

11.

Sometimes you have to move on without certain people. If they’re meant to be in your life, they’ll catch up.
—Mandy Hale

12.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
—Unknown

13.

Better to live a day as a lion than a 100 years as a sheep.
—Benito Mussolini

14.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
—Isaiah 43:19

15.

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
—Henry Ford

16.

Meanwhile, all I wanted to do was run away.
—Carrie Bradshaw

17.

But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in.
—Junot Diaz

18.

People will kill you over time, and how they’ll kill you is with tiny, harmless phrases, like, “Be realistic.”
—Dylan Moran

19.

We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousand disguises on the path of life.
—Carl Jung

20.

If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
—Fred DeVito

21.

Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
—Unknown