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But the words we say don’t always mirror what we end up doing. Even if we are certain we mean them. The world shifts in ways we can’t predict. Dreams collide and break us apart. Love is not always enough.
I should’ve accepted the uncertainty of his words. I should have been patient. Instead, I rushed in. “Are you breaking up with me?”
aliens had watched the last hour of ANC, they might have assumed that the entire human race was a shouting, arguing circus of anger and hate.
Sometimes I was relieved for him, knowing that he didn’t have to leave the team he captained and the work he loved to be in this hellhole with me. Other times, my thoughts burned with anger. Our love was not enough—I was not enough—for him to choose me.
wondered why we often leaped to assume nefarious motives when faced with things we didn’t understand. Maybe it was because we were all afraid we’d look naive or uninformed if we leaned toward the positive.
“My husband’s seen it all working for the NYPD: break-ins, shootings, beatings, gang violence. So we can understand why someone might steal or do bad things. Maybe they’re hungry or have no money to live on. Or have a drug or alcohol problem. But why would someone pay for meals or the rents for people they don’t know? What’s in it for them?”
We’d grown so accustomed to hearing about crimes and thinking about the motives behind them that, when faced with someone doing the opposite of crimes, we were immediately suspicious of their motives.
My voice was steadier than I felt. “Sometimes things just . . . suck. Things happen that make us feel like this is going to be the way it is forever. And we get stuck in this bubble, feeling like we’re the only one going through this crap. But we’re not alone. Tell me what I can do to help.”
And we know all things work together for good.’ Romans 8:28.”
It didn’t say all things were good. It said they all worked together for good—even the bad and even the disappointing.
“Don’t change, Kate,” he said. “You’re not naive. You’re . . . hopeful. We could all use a little more of that.”
“Yeah, this definitely sucks. But you haven’t been naive. Bad stuff like this happens, but it doesn’t take anything away from all the good things that are going on too.”
But seeing what that woman did made me wonder if maybe good things are happening all the time, but we focus most of our attention on what’s broken.”
“Why are we obsessed with hearing about a fight, but when people do good things, we act like it’s something trivial?”
“What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?”
I felt like I belonged to these people. To this moment.
The good guys outnumbered the bad guys by at least ten to one.
“Maybe we have to be okay with not understanding. To let go of our need to find answers for every question. Maybe some questions don’t have answers.”
It starts with understanding that everybody is struggling, even people who don’t appear to be suffering on the outside.
Loss. Grief. Brokenness. Hurt. Worry. Everyone around you, the people you share the grocery line with, sit next to at work, meet on social media, and see across the kitchen table. They’re all wrestling with something. And we all have the power to help.”
“I don’t believe in miracles.” Her tone was sharp. “Not the things we hope will happen magically. But we can create miracles for each other, person to person.”
