“My prayer is an attitude of pure gratitude for having the opportunity to experience life on this earth with all its pain, heartache, worry, and turmoil; coupled with this gratitude is the thankfuln...”

“Making amends is not only saying the words but also being willing to listen to how your behavior caused anothers pain, and then the really hard partchanging behavior.”

“Shame is a powerful feeling. There is a tremendous difference between making a mistake and believing you are a mistake...If I dont see myself as being a mistake then it is I who must take responsib...”

“Others hide from being real by filling the air with words; the more words they throw out, the less actual communication happens and they are left with only an illusion of connection. This is the in...”

“Mature adults gravitate toward new values and understandings, not just rehashing and blind acceptance of past patterns and previous learning. This is an ongoing process and maturity demands lifelon...”

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

“once sailed neither the ship nor the shore ever remains the same again.”

“We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.”

“One day spent with someone you love can change everything.”

“Man is not suffering by external forces as much as his own dysfunctional mind and self inflicted negative stimulus.”

“I suppose it must be admitted that I was raised in a "dysfunctional" family, but in truth, I do not think I had any sense of that as I was growing up. Probably part of the reason was that all of my...”

“One needn't stop dysfunction just evince and reflect. ”

“There are orphanages," he exclaimed to himself, "for children who have lost their parents--oh! why, why, why, are there no harbours of refuge for grown men who have not yet lost them?”

“Its the great surprise of my life that I ended up loving [my father] so much.”

“It pleased Aliena that they were all together: she and Jack and their children, and Jack's mother, and Aliena's brother, and Martha. It was quite like an ordinary family, and Aliena could almost fo...”