Words worth keeping.

I wish I understood how powerful my mind is and was at that point in my life. I hid my talents under a bush for the sake of others people pride. I should not have done that.

You should follow your heart at all costs. I was taught to lead with my brain and not my heart. I am not sure that was the correct way to go about things. I should have followed my heart.

People are so afraid of failing or at least trying. I was afraid to go after what I really wanted to do in life for fear of failing at it. The truth is I failed at things I didn't really want to do. What would the difference have been.

The loneliest I am sometimes is when I'm in a room full of people. My true nature is introversion, and sometimes it's hard to be in a space full of people, but still feel alone. And I handle that differently in each scenario. I've gotten better as I've gotten older, but in terms of the loneliest, is in a room full of people. I think it's important that we understand who we are. We sit in our truth. We reflect. We forgive ourselves. It's important that we understand why we're lonely. I'm not sure everyone understands the reason for their loneliness.

I believed everyone is inherently good and I now know that not the case. I also thought bad people were inherently bad and that's not so true either. At the end of the day, I think we're all people, we're all human beings, and sometimes we do good, sometimes we do bad. That's what I've come to understand.

That most of the things I was ashamed of were just being human. I spent a decade hiding the ordinary parts of myself, pretending they were flaws instead of facts.

Show up before you feel ready. Readiness is a feeling that almost never comes on its own. You build it by showing up anyway.

To have people around you who know the real version of you and stay anyway. Everything else is extra.

That I cannot love someone into becoming who I need them to be. I can only choose who they already are.

That you will not always feel this way. That is not a promise about the future. It is just true. Feelings move. Even the ones that feel permanent.

My third grade teacher, who told me I had a gift for words at a time when nobody at home was saying anything like that. I have been writing ever since. She probably does not remember saying it.

That it is not something you decide to have. It is something that gets built in you by the hard parts, whether you want it or not. I had a hard childhood. I am grateful for what it made me, even when I am not grateful for what it was.

The years I spent being right instead of being present. My children were growing and I was in my head, making arguments nobody asked me to make.

That it is usually pointing at something that matters. I used to run from it. Now I try to walk toward it slowly and see what is there.

Do not say yes when you mean no. It costs you more than the thing you were trying to avoid.

That it is not enough on its own. You also need respect, and timing, and a willingness to be boring together on a Tuesday night.

I am proud of you. My father never said it to me so I did not know it was something you had to say out loud. I know now.

The way she makes room for other people. She does not take up less space to do it. She just makes the room bigger.

Not asking my father questions while I had the chance. He died knowing things about our family I will never know now. I think about that every time I tell my own story.