Exactly Where You Need to Be Quotes

“As people, as humans, we constantly make mistakes. But we're allowed to grow, to change. There's beauty in that.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Everything is terrible, but here's the difference: I'll be okay. The terribleness will pass, my tears will dry, and I'll be okay. Because I'm exactly where I need to be. Not here, in Kacey's bedroom with Samson Hodge to lean on -although that part is really, really nice- but in a moment where the only direction I can move is forward.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“I won't get sick of you." Sam brushes his thumb over my knuckles. "But if we spend more time together, I might fall more in love with you.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“As people, as humans, we constantly make mistakes. But we’re allowed to grow, to change. There’s beauty in that. At the very least, I owe my mom the chance to truly change, if that’s what she wants. Just as long as she supports my growth too. I’ll never be the little five-year-old girl who clung to her leg like a safety blanket ever again. But I hope she’ll love the current me all the same.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“We’re all messes, Florie. Some people are better at hiding it than others.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Lauren has told me, on more than one occasion, that growth doesn’t come from a place of comfort. That makes sense. Because I’ve spent most of the last two years comfortable. And I don’t have a whole lot to show for it. During my many sleepless nights, I can’t help but wonder: If I’m always comfortable and sheltered, how will I ever become the person I want to become?”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“And then I’ll find something—anything—to ease the anxiety caused by the distressing thought or worry. But by easing the anxiety, it only worsens it. Because it’s like I’m telling my brain, ‘Hey, this worry has value. We should pay attention to it!’ In reality, it’s just some random, irrational fear my OCD is tormenting me with. It’s a cycle. An exhausting cycle.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“We all have anxiety, right? Some worse than others. But OCD is like anxiety gone wild. My brain doesn’t really know what thoughts or worries have value, but it’ll latch onto something that causes me distress.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“I enjoy cleaning and organizing as much as the next person, sure, but that’s not what obsessive-compulsive disorder is about. More often than not, OCD is fighting against a monster that feasts on your worst fears. A monster that makes you doubt everything, from your actions to your thoughts to even your emotions. There’s no upside to OCD. No superhero cleanliness. No extra sense of awareness. Nothing.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Twenty years. I can’t even imagine being with someone for that long. Not because I don’t want it—I probably want it too much, in a pathetic and lovelorn kind of way—but more like I can’t imagine that future inside my head or align it with my reality. Can’t imagine someone who’d be willing to take all my bad with my good. Messy, anxious girls don’t get those happily-ever-afters, those love stories. We get the heartbreak. The boys who find us too much or not enough. That’s just the way it is.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“I don’t have a ton of interests or passions, since it’s kind of hard to think about the future when your future is on hold.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Maybe, if I’m being really honest with myself, I was sad when I found out Sam was staying in Idaho all summer. But it’s what I need. My feelings for Samson Hodge have become ingrained in me, like a bad habit. One I’m finally on my way to quitting. Because of Kacey. Because of me. Because I don’t get the guy or the happy ending. I don’t even get a love story.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“When the guidance counselor, provided by my homeschooling program, chatted with my mom at the start of senior year, he suggested I take a gap year. Put college on hold until things—aka my OCD—were more settled and under control. Mom agreed with him, and last year, I agreed too. But it’s hard to feel good about that decision when I’m helping my best friend pack her life away so she can leave me behind.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Turns out, when you have a mental health disorder, what you want doesn’t matter anymore. No, what matters is what everyone else—parents, therapists, counselors—thinks you’re ready for.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Maybe it’s weird, but I love true crime. Learning about all the worst-case scenarios, the survival stories, the tragedies, is almost calming. Probably because my obsessive-compulsive disorder feeds off all the unknown bad in the world. For me, the monster you know is always better than the one you don’t.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“My OCD is a speed bump, not a barrier, to happiness.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“My OCD is a speed bumb, not a barrier, to happiness.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“During my many sleepless nights, I can't help but wonder : If I'm always comfortable and sheltered, how will I ever become the person I want to become ?”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be

“Lauren the therapist always tells me that the only person I can compare myself to are the former versions of myself.”
― Amelia Diane Coombs, Exactly Where You Need to Be