Marisa Donnelly

Sometimes you just have to slow down. You have to take a moment to breathe, to say, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that right now,’ or ‘I’ll do that later.’ You have to give yourself the permission to say no, or walk away when you’re in over your head.

Love is something you discover when you’re chasing your passions, and too busy falling in love with yourself, with your life, with the things you do, to be looking for it.

And though I am but one,
I am strong.

“She likes tacos. There’s something about a woman that likes tacos.”

I don’t want an easy love. I don’t want a love that is fake and structured and boring—I want something real, messy, complicated, and passionate.

Hawaii: You can swim, surf, and do the hula—that’s enough said. But what makes you islanders attractive is your constant, happy-go-lucky attitude. No matter what time of day or night, you’ve got a big ole smile on your face.

I need to know what I mean to the guy I’m with.

I promised you all of myself that I could give.
And I promise to keep that promise.

See, that’s the thing we so often forget—our own strength. We see the world as big and unknown. We see the future as unpaved and scary. And for some strange reason, we see ourselves as small in comparison. But we’re not.

Stop doing whatever he’s doing just to give you eye contact when you speak.

A mama’s boy has a gentle soul and a big heart. He always puts others before himself, especially women. And he’s kind, so so kind.

“I want an extrovert. Period. Those types of chicks are more fun.”

Life is about picking yourself up when you fall. It’s about learning to smile when smiling feels like the hardest thing you can do. It’s about focusing on what you can do, on what you have, on what is good rather than bad.

You miss the way it was so easy to fall into a pattern with someone, how strange and wonderful it can be to shift your life into rhythm with someone else’s. But you don’t really miss him.

What do you fear?

To hate is to treat that person with spite, to fill your heart with sourness, to live a life that is bitter and angry. And with you, I can’t do that.

Make sure your person understands exactly how much they mean to you. If you need some ideas, here are some cute things to say to your boyfriend to make him feel loved: 

There’s no point in pretending I don’t care, and I didn’t care. Because I did. Because I do. Because I probably always will.