The Return

by Nicholas Sparks

Life endlessly offers us chances to set new directions and in the process we grow and change; when we look in the rearview mirror, we catch a glimpse of

former selves who sometimes seem unrecognizable.

Because who is ever really fixed when it comes to mental or emotional health?

Life takes radical twists and turns, and hopes and dreams shift as people enter different phases of their lives.

Therapy, I’ve come to learn, is less about navel-gazing conversation than it is about learning habits for successful living, and then, most importantly, putting them into practice.

Stress tends to make things worse.” “Isn’t stress part of life?” “No question,” I admitted. “That’s what makes it impossible to cure.”

family is like your shadow on a sunny day, always there, just over your shoulder, following you in spirit no matter where you are or what you’re doing. They’re always with you.

But friendships, I’ve learned, aren’t like that. Things change; people change. Friends mature and move and get married and have children;

guilt is simply an emotion, and like all emotions, it will eventually pass. Unless you choose to hold on to it.”

But as scared as I was, and as wrong as I knew it was, there was part of me that wanted to spend time with you.

you can’t force a romantic interest with someone who doesn’t want one with you.” “But that’s the thing.

“Keep in mind that as hard as things are, it is possible to find things to enjoy and to be grateful for the opportunities that life presents.”

Health is the easy part; it’s remaining faithful in sickness where love really shines.”

The heart wants what it wants.

guilt is an individual battle, always waged alone.

“Forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget, or you stop wishing that you can change the past. Mainly it means that you accept the idea that you’re not perfect, because no one is perfect. And terrible things can happen to anyone.”

I used to believe that with love, anything was possible. Now I understand that sometimes love isn’t enough.

“I fell in love.” Because when I fell in love with you, I didn’t drift into it, it didn’t happen over time, it wasn’t anything that I even thought I wanted.

But then out of the blue,

you showed up. You called to me from the ground and I stepped from the ledge … and then I was falling, right up until the moment you caught me in your arms.

desire comes at a terrible price.

While I don’t know what the future holds for either of us, I want you to know that I’ll always treasure our time together, however brief. In a way, I want you to know that I’ll always believe that you saved me.

life’s twists and turns are impossible to predict.