--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What have I done, dear God, to deserve…" description: "\"What have I done, dear God, to deserve this perpetual feeling that I'm almost ready to begin something really new?\" — Theodore Roethke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/theodore-roethke-4077_dear_what-have-i-done-dear-god-to-deserve-thi_2306531.jpg" --- # What have I done, dear God, to deserve this perpetual… ![“What have I done, dear God, to deserve this perpetual feeling that I'm almost ready to begin something really new?” quote by Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/theodore-roethke-4077_dear_what-have-i-done-dear-god-to-deserve-thi_2306531.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/theodore-roethke-4077_dear_what-have-i-done-dear-god-to-deserve-thi_2306531.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/theodore-roethke-4077_dear_what-have-i-done-dear-god-to-deserve-thi_2306531.jpg) > “What have I done, dear God, to deserve this perpetual feeling that I'm almost ready to begin something really new?” [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Anxiety about starting anew can feel like a spiritual trial. **In simple terms:** Feeling unready for change creates inner turmoil. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty as part of growth. Themes spirituality anxiety change self‑doubt motivation Mood contemplative hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career transition - artistic projects - life decisions Key Concepts existential dread creative block personal evolution Questions to Reflect On - What inner beliefs hold you back? - How can you reframe fear as motivation? A Different Perspective Fear may paralyze progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) ## Related quotes > [“in a world full of temporary things you are a perpetual feeling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/in-a-world-full-of-temporary-things-you-are-a-perpetual-feeling/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [“We can start working with time, if you wish, till you can fly the past and the future. And then you will be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/we-can-start-working-with-time-if-you-wish-till-you-can-fly-the-past/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Women, whatever their profession, tend to have a harder time feeling ready for a job, even though in most cases they are more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-bash/women-whatever-their-profession-tend-to-have-a-harder-time-feeling/) [Dana Bash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-bash/) > [If I'm physically feeling ready, then fear does not enter my mind. 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Wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-lively-understandable-spirit-once-entertained-you-it-will-come/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I came to love, I came into my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-came-to-love-i-came-into-my-own/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [I bleed my bones, their marrow to bestowUpon that God who knows what I would know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-bleed-my-bones-their-marrow-to-bestowupon-that-god-who-knows-what-i/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/all-finite-things-reveal-infinitude-the-mountain-with-its-singular/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [We think by feeling. 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This torment is my joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/love-begets-love-this-torment-is-my-joy/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [“I Knew a Woman" I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; Ah, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/i-knew-a-woman-i-knew-a-woman-lovely-in-her-bones-when-small-birds/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [A mind too active is no mind at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/a-mind-too-active-is-no-mind-at-all/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) [Explore all 116 Theodore Roethke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) ## More Dear quotes > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [O lands! O all so dear to me - what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/o-lands-o-all-so-dear-to-me-what-you-are-i-become-part-of-that/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Most beautiful is the sight of those near and dear to us when our original kinship makes us of one mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/most-beautiful-is-the-sight-of-those-near-and-dear-to-us-when-our/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [Oh, dear Hazel.” Aphrodite folded her fan. “Such optimism, yet you have heartrending days ahead of you. Of course war is coming. 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