An Optimist's Guide to Heartbreak (Heartsong, #1)

by Jennifer Hartmann

But, I suppose the trouble with hope is that it’s nothing more than a feeling, and feelings are fleeting. Names are eternal, but feelings don’t last forever. And neither do we.

Deceptive Cadence: When you think something is coming to an end, it’s actually the beginning of something beautiful.

“I just mean…not everything that makes us hurt needs to be forgotten or banished. It hurts because it mattered. And things that mattered once, will always matter,”

I know that life’s truest treasures live inside the unexpected moments. The little curveballs that sweep us off our feet and steal our breath.

Loss gives the scatheless scars. Loss is a vitality sucker. People mostly just exist after loss and sometimes they don’t even realize it. They stop noticing when the leaves change. One day, those leaves are green and vibrant, drinking in the dayspring, and the next moment they’re rusty brown, and then they’re dead. And we don’t notice. Those leaves have always just looked dead.

“I think that’s the difference between a disaster and an adventure,” he says. “It’s the people you experience them with.”

But there’s a fine line between adventure and disaster, and I’m terrified I’ll become lost in the blur.

But, in reality, the only long-term relationship I’m in is with my dogs. And carbs.

“I’m starting to realize…you can’t miss something you never had.”

And I’m convinced that laughter from that one person you don’t expect it from is like a symphony.

And I refuse to call it fate; I refuse to call it luck—but I suppose it’s for the best that I can’t love him either. The difference is…I say can’t. He says won’t.

Vulnerability is a gateway to attachment. Once someone unearths all your scratched, damaged bits, there’s no hiding them away again. They’re just there, out in the open, every flaw and defect on display. You lose a sense of control—and whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, depends on the person doing the unearthing.

Things that make us sad aren’t all bad. Sometimes, sad things serve as a gentle reminder that we still feel.

I tried so hard to shelter my heart from love. I tried to hide it, protect it, keep it safe. I buried it out of reach, too scared to let anyone hold it. But I forgot to fireproof it. And as everything around me burns, it cowers inside my chest, begging to be spared.

Love can be a fulfilling, enchanting thing, but it can be a thief, too. It can drain you, suck you dry, strip you bare. I decided that I would never give it a taste. It wasn’t worth it.”

A man unwilling to love when love makes a worthy case for itself, is a man who will only ensure a future of disappointment. Life’s too short to pursue disappointment.