Shame cannot survive being spoken. It cannot survive empathy.

Courage - To tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.

I carry a small sheet of paper in my wallet that has written on it the names of people whose opinions of me matter. To be on that list, you have to love me for my strengths and struggles.

When the people we love stop paying attention, trust begins to slip away and hurt starts seeping in.

Healthy striving is self-focused: "How can I improve?" Perfectionism is other-focused: "What will they think?"

The difficult thing is that vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I'm willing to show you. In you, it's courage and daring. In me, it's weakness.

What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.