Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided… - Cheryl Strayed

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves...

Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn't long before I actually wasn't afraid.

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from teh one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave.

Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power.

Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid.

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves,

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told.O

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave.

He was the most ordinary man in all the world, and yet in her memory he'd become luminous, like the prince in a fairy tale.

You don’t have to get a job that makes others feel comfortable about what they perceive as your success. You don’t have to explain what you plan to do with your life. You don’t have to justify your education by demonstrating its financial rewards. You don’t have to maintain an impeccable credit score. Anyone who expects you to do any of those things has no sense of history or economics or science or the arts. You have to pay your electric bill. You have to be kind. You have to give it all you got. You have to find people who love you truly and love them back with the same truth. But that’s all.

When it comes to our children, we do not have the luxury of despair. If we rise, they will rise with us every time, no matter how many times we've fallen before. I hope you will remember that the next time you fail...Remembering that is the most important work as parents we can possibly do.