Almost no one can take on an entire future in one step, much less while reeling emotionally.

The most reliable ways to make oneself miserable are attempting to change people and not attempting to change circumstances.

First group impressions can mask a lot of individual variations in the members.

Once given, a gift is yours to use, store or dispose of as you see fit.

Awkwardness is when there's a risk of a perception gap between what you mean and what you appear to mean.

Relationships are complicated, but happiness in a relationship isn't: It's just wanting exactly what you have. Wanting something else is dispiriting.

For me, the greatest source of frustration was trying to work with a willful child when there was something else I wanted - say, to get the child to go to bed so I could have my own time. Just the promise of the time, and feeling that promise slip away, was enough to introduce a whole other element of stress into the encounter.