note to self {1/29/13}
Kelley Clink
Know this: the second half of your life will be bittersweet. This is okay, as palates change with age. You will never stop missing people and animals and places in time that have left you. Your natural reaction will be to recoil, scramble, blame. This is okay, too. There are guides who can lead you back to your breath. Pema Chodron is one of them. Your best friends, worst enemies, and pets are others.
Know this: you are going to fail. You are going to fall hard and fast, flat on your ass. You are going to be embarrassed. You are going to be ashamed. You are going to be angry. This is better than okay. This is necessary. Fail as often as possible. The more you do it, the less it hurts. And sometimes, more often than you’d think, you surprise yourself. You succeed.
Know this: there is time. It doesn’t feel like there is enough, and maybe it’s not enough for everything. This has to be okay. This is something that will not change, no matter how many movies about gorgeous teenage vampires you see.
Know this: there are crumbs of comfort all around you. Soft sweaters, warm rooms, little squares of sunshine. Pay attention. Collect them. In the leanest of times they can sustain you.
Know this: you can get used to anything. This is the beautiful, terrible secret of life. You don’t want to, and you shouldn’t have to, but you can. You will.
