Change is hard, difficult, painful, and often messy

Making amends is not only saying the words but also being willing to listen to how your behavior caused another’s pain, and then the really hard part…changing behavior.

The more severe the dysfunction you experienced growing up, the more difficult boundaries are for you.

The greater the pain associated with love, the more likely a person is to be attracted to others who will inflict this pain…for isn’t this what love is? Hurt people tend to hurt other people.

It is one thing to know about your dysfunctional habits but quite another to change them.

If you are looking for love under rocks or bringing home water moccasins, you might be confusing love and pain.

Sitting on the hot seat of change requires much courage, patience, and persistence.

If we want to improve, first we have to recognize our own maladaptive coping skills, called codependency, then change.

Change will not successfully happen unless the emotional component is solved.

Putting labels on others creates a black hole of disregard where judgment thrives and schisms deepen.

Being real is being true to you.

What are you doing with life God has given you?

Fear gives people their humanity. Fear of loss.

Because zombies can’t go out into the sun, most of them tend to be afraid of anything that can go into the sun and live to tell the tale.

Life is definitely about taking chances, living every minute with zeal, and then laying back and regretting nothing.

Feeling sorry for myself was an art.

Take chances make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.

The ideal thing would be to have a 100 percent effective AIDS vaccine. And to have broad usage of that vaccine. That would literally break the epidemic.

A democracy is predicated on an educated citizenry. You cannot have a democracy with people that are more interested in what Nicole Kidman is doing or whoever the latest fashion model is.

Leadership is not something you do to people. It's something you do with people.

Love is a beautiful dream.