Richelle E. Goodrich

I understand it was Derian who spoiled everything. He purposefully tainted your view of me and forced you to go along with him. I know none of what happened was your idea or your desire, Eena.__he didn__ get up, but spoke from her curled position. Her voice was weak, still heavy with despair. __erian didn__ force me to do anything.___ut if he hadn__ influenced you, we would be enjoying a pleasant dinner again, telling stories and laughing. I__ sure that would be the case. You would be happy_and so would I.__ena chuckled without amusement.__ou have to admit we shared some very enjoyable evenings, didn__ we? There__ really no reason we can__ put this whole mess behind us and start from where we left off._ He sounded genuinely serious.__ou forget,_ she reminded him, __ heard your conversation with the Ghengats. This isn__ about Derian, it__ about you.___lright,_ he admitted with an acquiescent sigh, __o I__ not everything you__ hoped for. But really, what man can ever live up to any woman__ terribly high expectations?__his got her attention. She almost stood up to face him, but decided it wasn__ worth the effort. Leaning forward, she retorted, __xpecting a man to respect you, to be honest with you, and, oh yes, to not be a shameless murderer__ don__ think those are overly high expectations!__e shrugged, casually excusing his faults. __obody__ perfect.___hat do you want?_ she finally asked, exasperated.He squatted to her level and stated his desire. __ want you.__ena thought the expression on his face__he look in his weary blue eyes__ppeared strangely sincere. But there was one thing she had learned from all this: never trust a master of deceit.

The road of life is paved with daily successes, a great number of them penny and nickle triumphs. Sadly, these little feats are often seen as worthless__ven failures__ecause we dream of greater gain. Our greed keeps us focused on a gleaming pot of gold waiting at the end of some elusive rainbow. And, despairing a big loss, we fail to see the value in small achievements.

Since when is failure more appealing? Never give up.

It is a greater triumph for the fearful soul who tries and fails than for the fearless who succeed.

Sometimes the difference between success and failure is simply the degree to which you crave one over the other.

Many times what we perceive as an error or failure is actually a gift. And eventually we find that lessons learned from that discouraging experience prove to be of great worth.

I have lost my spark, I'm told, and should seek to rekindle it. _Respecting the messenger, I wonder if this is true. _I feel as if my spark endures, but having opened up to the world so bright, perhaps it no longer shines by comparison. _So, without a word, I slip back into seclusion to nurture my beautiful inner glow.

Some live for their own joy and pleasure. Some live to ease the burdens of others. _Then there are those who seem to exist for pain's sake only, that in the end the wrathful fire sent to consume their oppressors will be justified."~ In loving memory of Miss Annabelle Fancher

Just because a person successfully steers a voyage through hell doesn't mean he ever wants to sail that route again.

A sincere and warmly-expressed apology can produce the same effects as morphine on a suffering soul.

There are far too many silent sufferers. _Not because they don't yearn to reach out, but because they've tried and found no one who cares.

They urge us to study our history that we might learn from past tragedies and errors. But sometimes I think it's actually a good thing that humanity so easily forgets. The haze that eventually claims old suffering often enables us to move on.

There is no other company in the world I've found more pleasurable than my own. For no one else has ever been as accepting of me or as thoroughly entertained by my quirkiness. It is a sweet thing to like yourself.

Are you what others say and think you are? _Or are you who you are regardless of what others say and think?

It is a pleasurable thing to earn the admiration of others, but it is a far better feeling to honestly admire thyself.

It's none of your concern what others say or think about you. Your happiness is your own responsibility.

Believing in yourself means more than simply believing in your own ultimate success; it means believing you will survive failures, disappointments, rejections, and criticism but still persist.

Some days I feel like my worth is being reevaluated every five minutes.