You will come to know things that can only be known with the wisdom of age and the grace of years. Most of those things will have to do with forgiveness.
Cheryl StrayedRead
Each night the black sky and the bright stars were my stunning companions; occasionally Id see their beauty and solemnity so plainly that I'd realize in a piercing way that my mother was right. That someday I WOULD be grateful and that in fact I was grateful now, that I felt something growing in me that was strong and real.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the beauty of nature and the gratitude for growth and understanding over time.
Cheryl Strayed's quote highlights a moment of deep appreciation for both the beauty of the night sky and the lessons imparted by her mother. It suggests that through contemplation and connection with nature, one can recognize the strength of personal growth and cultivate a sense of gratitude for experiences that shape us over time.
In practice
During a speech about overcoming adversity, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of reflecting on personal growth.
You will come to know things that can only be known with the wisdom of age and the grace of years. Most of those things will have to do with forgiveness.
The obliterated place is equal parts destruction and creation. The obliterated place is pitch black and bright light. It is water and parched earth. It is mud and it is manna. The real work of deep grief is making a home there.
I walked all those miles, I learned all those lessons. It's as if my new life was the gift I got at the end of a long struggle.
There is a path toward the light. The one that goes blink, blink, blink inside your chest when you know what you're doing is right. Listen to it. Trust it. Let it make you stronger than you are.
Each evening, I ached for the shelter of my tent, for the smallest sense that something was shielding me from the entire rest of the world, keeping me safe not from danger, but from vastness itself. I loved the dim, clammy dark of my tent, the cozy familiarity of the way I arranged my few belongings all around me each night.
Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.
Esther, however, was the only woman who understood one very simple thing: in order to be able to find her, I first had to find myself.
There is no point in apportioning blame. What is done, is done.
Early bird Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird And catch the worm for your breakfast plate. If you’re a bird, be an early bird— But if you’re a worm, sleep late.
All things are ready, if our mind be so.
A fine genius in his own country is like gold in the mine.
Do not complain about growing old. It is a privilege denied to many.
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