“Whooo! I got fired from that telemarketing place. No, they gave me no notice at all…just a couple of warnings. This may sound like a cop-out, but some of my job probs are not my fault. I lay some of the blame on the people who hire me. I’m just not good at lying to people over the phone or, for that matter, face-to-face. Oh, sure, maybe I lie to myself, but that’s where I draw the line. Integrity, Eileen, is a lost art.”

“I got clear, Eileen, that my expectations about life are simply way too high. Because we are all being force-fed a lot of false hopes, Eileen, about romance, weight management, success, sex, life – you name it… My seminar leader said to me, “Chrissy, you are a classic ‘false hope’ case…”, because not only do I not have a very firm grasp on reality, but I also have a sort of loose grip on my fantasies, too… Oh, you can’t be afraid of insights, even the big ones. If they don’t suddenly make you understand everything, don’t you see, it’s a step if they leave you confused in a deeper way.”

“Oh, how they lied about this health club. Talk about false hopes. “The place to get thin and meet good looking men.” The good-looking men here are mostly looking at themselves… But I keep coming because I tell myself that I’m really keeping fit. The truth is I pig out one week and starve the next. I have gained and lost the same ten pounds so many times over and over again that my cellulite must have deja vu.”

“I’d do better at something creative, and I feel I am somewhat creative, but, somehow, I lack the talent to go with it. And being creative without talent is a bit like being a perfectionist and not being able to do anything right. All my life, I’ve wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific. Not that I lack ambition. I am ambitious, in the sense I want to be more than I am now. Go for the burn! But if I were truly ambitious, shouldn’t I already be more than I am now. Of course, a sobering thought, what if right at this very moment, I am living up to my full potential?”