Sometimes I think I love too hard, and it freaks people out and drives them away. Am I the reason for the agonizing pain and heartache in my life? Should I try my hardest to remain detached and elusive and show distance if I ever eventually, someday,  start becoming interested in someone, so I will be desired?  Should I withhold fun dates and surprises and subdue my creative and romantic energy? Will anyone ever enjoy and want me for me and every aspect of who I am and what I have to offer? Will someone ever walk into my life and decide to never leave? Is it all wishful thinking?…

41 days after I poured my heart out in a letter, I finally received a response. “I needed to put myself back together again,” she wrote, “and jumping into a relationship was not the way to do it. If I regret anything, it’s that. I should have known I wasn’t ready.”

Life, even amid the absurdity of human suffering, still has meaning. Suffering, as absurd as it seems, points to a greater story in which, if one will only construe himself as a character within, he can find fulfillment in his tragic role, knowing the plot is heading toward redemption.