Your Heart's Strength

“Your heart’s strength is measured by how hard it holds on. 

Your self-worth and faith is measured by finally letting go. 

However, your peace is measured by how long you don’t look back.”

~ Shannon L. Alder

Do Not Hold Your Breath For Anyone

“Do not hold your breath for anyone,

Do not wish your lungs to be still,

It may delay the cracks from spreading,

But eventually they will.

Sometimes to keep yourself together

You must allow yourself to leave,

Even if breaking your own heart

Is what it takes to let you breathe.”

~ Erin Hanson

The Single Greatest Lesson

“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches 

is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, 

and that as long as the sun still shines 

and people still can plan and plant,

 think and do, we can, if we bother to try, 

find ways to provide for ourselves 

without diminishing the world. ”

~ Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: 

A Natural History of Four Meals

My Dad Had Limitations

“My dad had limitations. 

 What my good-hearted mom always told us. 

He had limitations, but he meant no harm. 

It was kind of her to say, but he did do harm.”

~ Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

Two Separate Beings

“Two separate beings, in different circumstances, 

face to face in freedom and seeking justification 

of their existence through one another, 

will always live an adventure full of risk and promise.”

~ Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

They Hurt You

“They hurt you. You hurt 'em back. 

Or maybe it is the other way around. 

Whatever. 

Someday you might find a way to forgive each other. 

But it won't be like it used to 'cause that pain never really goes away.”

~ Brian K. Vaughan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You

You Want To Take Me

“You want to take me to a movie?" I asked.

"Well, not really," he said. 

"What I really want is for you to be my girlfriend. 

I thought saying that might scare you off.”

~Sarah Dessen, What Happened to Goodbye

He Doesn't Need To Be Reminded

“He doesn't need to be reminded you're great.”

~ Greg Behrendt, He's Just Not That Into You: 

The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys

We Know So Little

“We know so little about one another.

We embrace a shadow and love a dream.”

~ Hjalmar Söderberg, Doctor Glas

Better Put Your Heart

“Better to put your heart on the line, risk everything, 

and walk away with nothing than play it safe. 

Love is a lot of things, but “safe” isn’t one of them.”

~ Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass

Share Too Much

“Share too much and someone can hurt you.”

~ Dorothy Koomson, My Best Friend's Girl

How Would Your Life Be Different

“How would your life be different if…

You approached all relationships 

with authenticity and honesty? 

Let today be the day…

You dedicate yourself to building relationships 

on the solid foundation of truth and authenticity.”

~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

It Can Be Difficult

“It can be difficult to leave a long-term relationship, 

even when our inner wisdom tells us it's time to let go. 

At this point, we can choose to let go 

and endure the intense pain of leaving behind 

the familiar to make way for a new chapter in our life. 

Or we can stay and suffer a low-grade pain

 that slowly eats away at our heart and soul, 

like an emotional cancer. 

Until we wake up, one day and realize, 

we are buried so deep in the dysfunction 

of the relationship that we scarcely remember 

who we were and what we wanted and needed to be.”

~ Jaeda DeWalt

The More You Talk About It

“The more you talk about it, 

rehash it, 

rethink it, 

cross-analyze it, 

debate it,

 respond to it, 

get paranoid about it, 

compete with it, 

complain about it,

 immortalize it, 

cry over it, 

kick it, 

defame it, 

stalk it,

 gossip about it, 

pray over it, 

put it down, 

or dissect its motives,

 it continues to rot in your brain. 

It is dead. 

It is over.

 It is gone. 

It is done. 

It is time to bury it 

because it is smelling up your life 

and no one wants to be near 

your rotted corpse of memories and decaying attitude. 

Be the funeral director of your life 

and bury that thing!”

~ Shannon L. Alder

I Realized I'm In Love

“I realized I’m in love. 

It's always been right in front of me.”

~ Richelle Mead, The Indigo Spell