Women are capable of enduring a tremendous amount of disappointment and still have a good life.

But we are not what the other one needs, still he is certain that I will find great love in my life someday. He is sure of it. After all, he says, beauty attracts beauty.

My mother has made choices in her life, as we all must, and she is at peace with them. I can see her peace. She did not cop out on herself. The benefits of her choices are massive-a long, stable marriage to a man she still calls her best friend; a family that has extended now into grandchildren who adore her; a certainty in her own strength. Maybe some things were sacrificed, and my dad made his sacrifices, too-but who amongst us lives without sacrifice?

Who amongst us lives without sacrifice?

Bhuta ia, dewa ia. (Bali expression meaning Man is a demon, man is a god.)

Most of humanity, he said, have eyes that are so caked shut with the dust of deception they will never see the truth, no matter who tries to help them.

Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark.