Tips for Living

by Renee Shafransky

Some days I could swear there’s a volcano in my chest. The energy I expend to keep it from erupting can exhaust me. I often feel depressed. But I make sure to renew my vow every day: I absolutely will not let anger destroy my life.

“You can feel your emotions without acting on them,” Dr. Feld had said. “If you bottle up anger, eventually it explodes. It’s called an emotion because it’s meant to move. Just breathe and let it.”

“Ne eshee byidi beda sama tibya nadyet. Don’t trouble trouble till trouble troubles you,” Aunt Lada would say. She’d be right.

The earth is a living thing, like an animal or a person. When it’s threatened, or attacked, it fights back.”

“Here’s a tip, kiddo. A tip for living. This world is rough, and it’s going to keep throwing things at you. Don’t let them break your heart.”

Here’s a big tip, kiddo. A tip for living. This world is rough. It’s going to keep throwing things at you.

Don’t let them break your heart.

Man, the killers are everywhere. You don’t have to go to Kabul.”

“In my experience, when you’re trying to solve a problem, it’s best not to overthink it,” I said.

“There was this giant door inside me and it was closed. We stood in front of it, you and me, and then we opened it together. The whole damn ocean was on the other side. We dove right in.”

If I weren’t so messed up, I could fall in love with a man like him.

“If twenty-five years as a journalist have taught me anything, it’s that people are like onions. Lots of layers.”

We’re such vulnerable creatures,

“How well you live makes a difference. Not how long.

what do they say luck is? “When opportunity meets readiness.” I feared that he was an opportunity I might miss.

“You don’t have to be a murderer to be a sinner, brothers and sisters.

The trouble with having a partner who lies and cheats is that it can make you question everything.

Anger’s importance. Anger told you when someone crossed your line. “Don’t tread on me,” anger said. You had to pass through anger, and the hurt underneath it, before you could get to forgiveness. Otherwise, it seemed to me, you skipped a step. But there was also plenty of danger there. How long could you hold on to that dark fire before it scorched all that was good in your life? And what was the best way to let anger out?

Do the best you can. Give it your all. And if things don’t come out well the first time, try again. As the Russians like to say: “The first pancake is always a blob.” And, furthermore, “She who takes no risks, never gets to drink champagne.”