Transitioning to an empty-nester isn’t always easy. You’ll need to reinvent yourself a little after the children have moved out, and even as you let go of your changing role, you’ll always be a parent. So, rather than feeling sad (which is natural), read through these great empty-nesting quotes.
As an empty-nester, you can look forward to more time to take care of yourself, plan road trips, and take romantic getaways. You might even decide to take a long-stay vacation as a winter “snowbird” or leave the country altogether and become an “expat”. The most important thing to adjusting is your mindset.
If you’re stuck, these empty-nest sayings will help you come to terms with your feelings, possibly even inspire you to embrace this new phase of life. Because, who knows? You may discover as I have, the best is yet to come!
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Empty-Nesting Quotes About Reinventing Yourself
1. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”.
—Albert Einstein
2. “You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal Or To Dream A New Dream”
—C.S Lewis
3. “Be open to what comes next for you. You may be heading in one direction and then life brings you another that might be a good thing.”
—Natalie Cane
4. “When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.”
5. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
6. “Whatever you do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
7. “The afternoon of life is just as full of meaning as the morning; only, its meaning and purpose are different….”
—Carl Jung
Empty-Nesting Quotes About Letting Go
8. “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
9. “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.”
—Ann Landers
10. “Sometimes love means letting go when you want to hold on tighter.”
—Melissa Marr
11. “You will never achieve what you are capable of if you are too attached to the things you need to let go of.”
—Unknown
12. “Letting go does not mean not caring about things. It means caring about them in a flexible and wise way.”
—Jack Kornfield
13. “To raise a child who is comfortable enought to leave you means you’ve done your job. They are not ours to keep, but to teach how to soar on their own.
—Author Unknown
Funny Empty Nest Quotes
14. “Adolescence is perhaps nature’s way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.”
—Karen Savage and Patricia Adams
15. “When mothers talk about the depression of the empty nest, they’re not mourning the passing of all those wet towels on the floor, or the music that numbs your teeth, or even the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down the shower drain. They’re upset because they’ve gone from supervisor of a child’s life to a spectator. It’s like being the vice president of the United States.”
—Erma Bombeck
16. “You see much more of your children after they leave home.”
—Lucille Ball
Quotes About Parenting As An Empty Nester / Child Leaving the Nest Quotes
17. “Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.”
—The Dalai Lama
18. “A wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.”
—Elizabeth Gaskell
19. “I wish I could freeze time or go back in time and watch my kids grow up all over again because it is just going by too fast.”
—Robert Rodriquez
20. “It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.”
—Ann Landers
21. “A wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.”
—Elizabeth Gaskell
22. “The ‘empty nest’ comes quickly. Do not squander your most previous privilege of participating in the lives of your children.”
—Unknown
Positive Quotes for Empty Nesters
23. “Your child’s life will be filled with fresh experiences. It’s good if yours is as well.”
—Dr. Margaret Rutherford
24. “The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the empty nest is learning to put myself first.”
—Kim Alexis
25. “It’s not only children who grow. Parents do, too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.”
—Joyce Maynard
Final Thoughts on Empty-Nesting Quotes
As an empty-nester myself, I realize how difficult this transition can be—for some parents more than others. But there’s another way to look at things by considering the wisdom of these authors and empty-nesting quotes. With any luck, you’ll be inspired to begin living your best life!
If you like inpirational quotes, you may want to have a look at these quotes, too:
- Best Inspirational Quotes About Travel You’ll Want to Remember
- Best Inspirational Gardening Quotes To Make You Think
Which of these empty nest syndrome quotes resonate with you? Did we miss a quote that you think belongs on this list of empty-nesting quotes? Please let us know in the comments below!
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