Unknown Caller

by Lisa Unger

That’s what heroism is, you know? It’s not goodness. It’s not bravery. Not just. It’s the courage to keep fighting, keep trying to be a light in the darkness even when you’ve failed at that already.

Forgiveness is not saying that certain deeds are acceptable or forgotten. Forgiveness is an acknowledgment that we are all deeply flawed, and some of us make terrible mistakes or do horrible things.

I see all the kids—the popular ones, the brains, the jocks, the punks, the burnouts. They are not who they will become. This moment, teenage life, it feels like the whole universe, but it’s only a millisecond.

“When you compare your messy three-dimensional life to the filtered and curated two-dimensional version of everyone else you see on social media, you’re not getting the whole picture. Real life is what happens between those posts. And you only know the version people show you on Instagram. It’s a fiction. And I guarantee every single one of those perfect people you see out there is feeling as lost and insecure as you are.”

Close down your social media feeds, and go out and feel the sun on your skin, play with your dog, listen to the birds.”