Jennifer

“If you choose to try to make a life with another person, you will live by that choice. You'd find yourself having to choose again and again to remain rather than run. It helps if you enter into a committed relationship prepared to work, ready to be humbled and willing to accept and even enjoy living in that in-between space, bouncing between the poles of beautiful and horrible, sometimes in the span of a single conversation, sometimes over the course of years. And inside of that choice and those years you'll almost certainly come to see that there is no such thing as a 50-50 balance, instead it will be like beads on an abacus, sliding back and forth, the maths rarely tidy, the equation never quite solved....”
― Michelle Obama, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

“MICHELLE, MA BELLE Paul McCartney had been awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in a ceremony in the East Room. For most of the evening, other artists performed his songs. But for the conclusion, McCartney went onstage to sing some classics. Then he sang “Michelle” to Michelle Obama. I didn’t realize how special the moment was until the next day, when I was talking to the President. What were the odds, he said to me, that an African-American girl from the South Side of Chicago would one day be sitting in the front row of the White House, as the First Lady of the United States, while a member of the Beatles sang her name? Wow, just wow, I thought. June 2, 2010”
― Pete Souza, Obama: An Intimate Portrait

“Watching the two taught me there is no real magic formula. Different things work for different marriages. And even if it seems bizarre to me, it can be the most perfect way for that couple.

I learned that being a unit is a must in any relationship. The family that does everything together, stays together.
I learned that *checking in* with your partner is something I'm going to adopt in my future relationship.

I learned that peace comes when you realize you don't have to fight the little things. And with that peace comes happiness.

That it's all about perspective, and all you have to do is sometimes flip it around in order to see it in a different way or lens.

Surrender.
It *is* the answer.
Once you let go, you realize there is nothing you can do to change what is happening outside of your orbit -- once you realize life will play out the way it wants, no matter how hard you try to make it something else -- that's when you can find true freedom....
When we stop trying to manipulate a situation into whatever desired outcome we need to have happen, life becomes a lot easier. You just flow. You *be.* That's what real surrender is.

I learned that taking chances can lead to something magical.”
― Colet Abedi, Uncaged Summer