Kim Quindlen

Even when you do passive social activities, like going to the movies, you still worry about whether or not everyone is having a good time.

So keep the Instagram account. Have fun with it. But at the end of the day, jus remember it’s not real.

We never just sit anymore. We never contemplate. We don’t think. We don’t stare. We don’t look out a window and let our thoughts wander, unless there’s simultaneously music playing in our ears or a book in our lap or a phone in our hand or sometimes all 3.

Apply for a job you never think you’d get. Not even in a million years. Just to see what happens.

Do not give your partner any space. If you go more than 2 hours without texting them, they will most likely forget who you are, and that’s not a risk you should be willing to take.

The not-a-real-person-yet-but-we’re-all-hoping friend.

“Nobody looks stupid when they are having fun.”

There are definitely plenty of worse things one could be going through, but I must say that being gluten-free during Thanksgiving is not an ideal situation.

If I had done things differently, I’d be in a much better place right now.

You will stick to beer from now on when you go out drinking. You will only drink vodka on special occasions, like Christmas. Or Friday.

Relaxing doesn’t really feel like relaxing anymore.

They aren’t happier than you because of their circumstances. They’re happy because they’ve learned to maintain a steady and consistent state of optimism and thankfulness.

Your parents make you guys pose for the Christmas card picture, and all hell breaks loose.

What else can I eat to help me temporarily forget where I am?

You can remember their voice, but it sounds more like an echo of a memory as opposed to a real person, carrying on with their life.

I will be kind to myself about my body.

Excitement is supposed to go away.

Instead of calling each other’s ex’s by name, you use references like “Don Draper Wannabe” or “Hipster Beard.”