“The pain had to be great enough for me to accept my reality, to hope that something different, and hopefully better, was out there and to do whatever came next to reach that point. It seems clear and simple when I write it down on paper. But I also know just because something is simple, it does not mean it is easy.”

“Through each crisis in my life, with acceptance and hope, in a single defining moment, I finally gained the courage to do things differently.”

“I knew if I stayed where I was, nothing would get better; nothing would change. If I wanted to ease the pain, I had to try something different.”

“Acceptance doesn’t mean that life gets better; it just means that my way of living life on life’s terms improves.”

“I could accept my circumstances, my life, people, and even events around me, without giving my approval or releasing my control over such. I don’t have to like what happened; I just need to accept that it indeed occurred.”

“I had to clear up my messy life. By letting go of the debris and filth, I have come to a deeper, more soulful beauty and clarity like an oasis in the desert. From that place of clarity, a vision of what I could have, what I could do, who I could be has emerged if I allow my heart to become a place of compassion, acceptance and forgiveness.”

“Deep down inside of me, way down deep, in a place previously unknown; I heard it: a solid, honest, compassionate whisper. It was quiet, very quiet. But it was clear. And it was true. “If you go back into that house, you will never come back out.”