Colleen George

Before I became sick, I viewed accomplishing goals and meeting high expectations as requirements for creating a meaningful life.

When we compare our own pain to the pain of others, we often invalidate the very real feelings of pain we are experiencing, simply because we don’t think our own pain is as justified as the pain of others.

Healing does not happen in the past. Healing happens in the today and the tomorrow.

I see memories, heartbreaks, and joys, all poured into my essays of size 12 font.

It’s easy to just revert back to normal living. But we need to think of all of the vulnerable people who are counting on us to protect them.

When you feel a familiar little spark of joy move through your body, amidst a time of sadness and grief. 

I think we “grow up” in our twenties. We work on becoming (and figuring out) who we want to be. And as we move through these years, we try to decipher what we value, and what and who we wish to hold close to our hearts.

I guess I struggle to make peace with leaving behind something golden. 

Perhaps we can’t always find light in the face of death or loss. Perhaps sometimes, death is just an ending. A fragile, heart-wrenching ending. 

Know that your actions create hope. 

I don’t think our hearts are built to let our loved ones go so easily. 

You can’t put into words how painful it will be to lose them. 

I missed you. And I still miss you. But I learned that it was more painful to question our friendship and to question myself than it was to realize that sometimes people come and go, and that this is just part of life.

I forgive you.

We are afraid to care because caring means putting our hearts on the line. And the concept of letting others affect us deeply is terrifying.

So why do I try so hard to be “normal?” Why do I push myself so much when I feel like crap 70-80% of the time?

You don’t feel one hundred percent, but little by little, you do actually start to get a little bit better.

I guess whenever love is involved, we are never really ready to say goodbye.