Cheryl Strayed

knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. 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

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

Which means you need to look sharp. If the words love, light, acceptance, and forgiveness are written on one side of the coin you’ve earned by creating the beautiful life you have in the wake of your ugly childhood, on the other side of that coin there is written the word no.