Two by Two

by Nicholas Sparks

But assumptions are only as accurate as the person who makes them, and I was wrong about virtually everything.

“You’re not my patient. But even then, I’m not sure I could help.” “Why not?” “Because counseling isn’t about changing someone else. It’s about trying to change yourself.”

But how did it happen? And why? What changed the outlook of parents in my generation? Peer pressure? Living vicariously through a child’s success? Résumé building for college? Or was it simply fear that if their kids were allowed to discover the world on their own, nothing good would come of it? I don’t know. I am, however, of the opinion that something has been lost in the process: the simple joy of waking in the morning and having nothing whatsoever to do.

Surprise and disappointment, after all, often go hand in hand when it comes to raising children, and fewer surprises usually meant less disappointment.

“Why is it so hard to be a really good parent?” “You don’t have to be a really good parent,” she said. “All you have to do is be good enough.”

“Margaret Keane was an artist whose husband took credit for her work for years. They made her life story into a movie called Big Eyes.

it eventually dawned on me that acceptance is the heart of true love, not judgment. To be fully accepted by another, even in your weakest moment, is to finally feel at rest.