"It is very difficult to accept the fact that there are no guarantees in life, no guarantees that life will progress as it should or that the people you care about will love you back, or even that they will treat you right. But trust in life does not mean trusting that life will always be good, or that it will be free of grief or pain. It means trusting that somewhere inside yourself you can find the strength to go forth and meet what comes, and even if you meet betrayal and disappointment along the way, to go forth again the very next day.

So often we reach out and offer that which we have to give, to someone who has no need for or does not recognize the value of our gift. Thus our gift goes un-received through no fault of our own, and this rejection causes pain. But the real tragedy occurs when someone comes along who has a need for and recognizes the value of what we have to give – but because the memory of rejection is still fresh on our mind, we are no longer reaching out.

It is said that man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue. Which is a nice way of saying that living is the healing. Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s strength. But very few of us are tough enough to be soft."

John Hope Bryant at age 18

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