But my experience is that people who have been through painful, difficult times are filled with compassion.
More important than talent, strength, or knowledge is the ability to laugh at yourself and enjoy the pursuit of your dreams.
Life is a process, and you just take it a day at a time, and you can't live in tomorrow, and you can't reach back and be in yesterday. No matter how much you want to, you just have what's right there in front of you.
I can look at the future with anticipation. And it's comforting to know that someday, as Christians, we'll be able to look back and have a little more clarity on why certain things in life happened.
Anybody who's ever gone through a hard time - any outsider's perception, no matter how much information they're given, they have no idea what the person's life is like.
I count myself really fortunate that I have some lifelong friends. The best thing about a friend is when you are being your own worst enemy a friend can help snap you out of it.
Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there's shadow - no, not just shadow, but fullness. You've got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that's real.
All I ever have to be is what you made me.
Get outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel big or tiny? Because there's something good about feeling both.
I think what I mostly realize is just that life is unpredictable. So don't be afraid, but just enjoy the day you're in. Really make the most of it.
I refuse to believe that we're only here to live and die.
You do your best, you do all this stuff, but the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
If it all just happened overnight, you would never learn to believe in what you cannot see.
There's a beauty to wisdom and experience that cannot be faked. It's impossible to be mature without having lived.
If you went to your closet today, would you pull out the same outfit you wore 10 or 15 years ago? You wear feelings and faith differently as well.
The more time you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes.
[Sunbathing nude] was a liberating experience. It felt unbelievably crazy to take off all my clothes and play in the sun. I've not had that much fun in so long.
You have to treat people gently because we're all in a process. What might seem like a good idea to somebody at 21 is probably not going to seem like a good idea at 50, but you don't know that until you get there.
I think for a woman, the hardest thing about growing old is becoming invisible. There's something very front and center about being young.
I think our culture encourages all of us to always put our best foot forward. I think it's a good thing. I think it's nice to rise to the occasion, to be kind and considerate, and have self control.
The secret to overcoming a feeling of loneliness is not going outside to meet people. That will only keep you from being alone. The secret is going inside yourself, to realize your true kinship with God and with all the human beings that he created.
I've found that music allows years to fold like an accordion over each other, so I guess you don't feel the passage of time as much.
How we absorb music is unique. I know what I do. When I'm listening to music, I tend to find myself in a song. That's what really makes you connect is if you feel what that song is saying.
Its true. Im a simple person. Some people tend to live from trauma to trauma, and that energizes them. I have a hectic schedule, but my mind seeks simplicity - like being in nature, a long bike ride, or sitting on the back porch.
There is not a formula for the way that God heals. There's not a timetable.
