We have the tools to shape our lives, but tools require a creator. We have to be willing to see what isn’t there yet and build toward it. So ask ourselves: Are we building? Where are we going?

She’s been to Portland plenty of times over the years, but most of those visits have been around the holidays—Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and other special occasions. This time, I wanted to do something a little different.

We can complain about the weather all day. We can focus on how inconvenient it is, how much one dislikes it, or how badly we wish it were different.

Many times, we get discouraged because we think life is entirely determined by our productivity. But when called to be patient, being patient, time is the only thing that can heal the internal.

I don’t really do interventions, but as I’m improving on things, I figured why not. Better to be open and honest than not at all.

The distance between where we are and where we hope to be becomes less a matter of destiny, magic, or whether we are somehow deserving of the outcome, and more a matter of movement.

So if all you can see right now is what’s missing, remember: you are not alone, and you have not diminished in value. You are simply moving through your story, just as I am moving through mine.

Not only have I been blessed to spend this time with her, but patience has also knocked on my door pretty hard this time around. I say that with the best intentions, of course.

I noticed a folded $20 bill lying on the floor. There was no one immediately beside me on either side of the bar, so I looked left and right, trying to figure out who it might belong to.

Though we come from different backgrounds, we still struggled with addressing these things that held us back. He looked at me and smiled and informed me to take it one day at a time.