Dwelling on him would make him a bigger part of my life than I want him to be.

The thing is, the only real sign of life is growth. And growth requires pain. So to choose life is to accept pain.

It's almost as difficult to believe that someone with so many trials could harbor such hope, as that there are those with so much advantage who harbor such hopelessness.

. . .and every native has a story of winter – stories that usually begin, You call this a storm? And grow in the telling like battle tales shared by graying war veterans. It’s a peculiar character flaw to those of us from cold climates that we feel superior to those who have the sense to live elsewhere.

There are two kinds of people. Those who climb mountains and those who sit in the shadow of the mountains and critique the climbers.

Feelings can be like wild animals-we underrate how fierce they are until we've opened their cage

We plan our lives in long, unbroken stretches that intersect our dreams the way highways connect the city dots on a road map. But in the end we learn that life is lived in the side roads, alleys, and detours.