104 Quotes & Sayings By Ashly Lorenzana

You know all that sympathy that you feel for an abused child who suffers without a good mom or dad to love and care for them? Well, they don't stay children forever. No one magically becomes an adult the day they turn eighteen. Some people grow up sooner, many grow up later. Some never really do. But just remember that some people in this world are older versions of those same kids we cry for. Ashly Lorenzana

The end of a relationship is not always a failure. Sometimes all the love in the world is not enough to save something. In these cases, it is not a matter of fault from either person. Some things cannot be, it's as simple as that. Ashly Lorenzana

People accuse me of falling in love easily. It just means that I'm able to see the beauty in most of the people who cross paths with me and I appreciate it for what it is and also for what it isn't. Love is imperfect. Falling for someone's flaws is just as necessary as falling for their strengths. And people like myself, who fall into love easily, are sometimes the loneliest souls around at the end of the day. Ashly Lorenzana

We judge others instantly by their clothes, their cars, their appearance, their race, their education, their social status. The list is endless. What gets me is that most people decide who another person is before they have even spoken to them. What's even worse is that these same people decide who someone else is, and don't even know who they are themselves. Ashly Lorenzana

People leave imprints on our lives, shaping who we become in much the same way that a symbol is pressed into the page of a book to tell you who it comes from. Dogs, however, leave paw prints on our lives and our souls, which are as unique as fingerprints in every way. Ashly Lorenzana

Everyone lies to themselves, but many people do it with good intentions. They want to believe what they tell themselves, it is oftentimes the best possible version of reality for them. Although it may not be accurate, it is a mural of their desires, aspirations, optimism and passion. These people usually either need time or a new experience to discover the truth. People who lie to themselves for different reasons are oftentimes trying to avoid something or escape blame for things they have done. Ashly Lorenzana

It's okay to disagree with the thoughts or opinions expressed by other people. That doesn't give you the right to deny any sense they might make. Nor does it give you a right to accuse someone of poorly expressing their beliefs just because you don't like what they are saying. Learn to recognize good writing when you read it, even if it means overcoming your pride and opening your mind beyond what is comfortable. . Ashly Lorenzana

When you want to share something with another person more than anything, it is one of the most difficult things to realize that you can never have it. Accepting this realization is even more difficult. Loving someone does mean saying goodbye to them in some cases, though we will fight that until the oftentimes bitter end before doing the right thing. Ashly Lorenzana

No one truly knows what they will do in a certain situation until they are actually in it. It's very easy to judge someone else's actions by what you assume your own would be, if you were in their shoes. But we only know what we THINK we would do, not what we WOULD do. Ashly Lorenzana

I believe in energies. Good energy has served me well. Being fair with others, compassionate towards them, remaining humble, and making a difference to someone are just a few of the things that I have seen create good energy. Beautiful things. Human things. I do my best to surround myself with these types of things, to generate an atmosphere thick with such energy. It has kept me safe in many situations. I have taken risks in the past, and managed to avoid harm by the protection of the good energy I have created around me. I believe that ugliness creates more ugliness. And no matter how touched by ugliness you are, you do not have to give in to it and start spreading it beyond yourself. I have seen this sickness and what it does to a person, and those around them. Ashly Lorenzana

It’s hardly ever that I am hurt by something in only one dimension. Ashly Lorenzana

It took me years to stop feeling the guilt she made sure I kept feeling about what happened with him. He is a sick person that molests children, but I felt so bad about it for so long. I couldn't talk to a single person about any of this. No one. And she made me feel so bad about it all that I felt I shouldn't talk about it, even if there was someone. I felt ashamed and thought I was an awful person. Sometimes I still do. My mother abandoned me in the worst ways possible. Ashly Lorenzana

I was unhappy there and going through a rough transition, so I was desperate for any friend I could find that I could talk to. I thought that's what he was. We had this secret from my mom, who I didn't like much at the time. It was a harmless secret, so I didn't feel bad about it. All we did was go to the movies and hang out doing fun things all day. It wasn't until much later that the warning signs began, but I was still too young and stupid to see them for what they were at the time. Basically, he was patient as he built up the trust between us. He became a close friend and convinced me that he was on my side somehow. He took total advantage of my ignorance and totally betrayed me a few years later, when he slept with me. After my mom found out, she went psychotic and all she gave a fuck about was what had been done to her. She didn't care about anything except for how hurt she was by what had happened. She blamed me and him equally, telling me that sixteen years old was old enough to know better. Even though I never initiated a goddamn thing with him, and never would have. Even though it happened in the apartment she and I had gotten together, that he was not supposed to be staying in. Ashly Lorenzana

Fame is not so impossible for people with charisma, passion and talent. Being famous just means you have fans, and even one or two is enough to make you someone special. Ask a music fan who the best guitarist of all time is, and while one group insists that it was Jimmi Hendrix, another group swears that it was Eddie Van Halen instead. There will never be a time when everyone on this planet agrees on something like that, but luckily that's not important. All that matters is that both sides remain loyal, which they will assuming you continue to be who you are and do your thing. This is all that you need to be immortalized. Ashly Lorenzana

Money is necessary in everyone's life. Why? Only because people have decided that it should be. It didn't have to be the way that it has become. If nothing came at the price of money, it wouldn't need to exist. Ashly Lorenzana

The sickest part of this whole story is that I tried really hard to make up for what I thought I did to her, after she started talking to me again. I loaned her money whenever she needed it, I gave her rides whenever she called and needed to get somewhere, I did my best to pretend like David wasn't in the room with us when I was at her house, I did whatever I could that I thought might show her that I loved her and cared about her, and I never meant to hurt her. It took a while before I realized that would never happen. She'd never love me like a mom is supposed to. She would never be there for me like I tried to be for her. She would never apologize for anything or admit that she was wrong. Ashly Lorenzana

In some ways, forcing me to leave was the best thing that could have happened to me. In other ways, it was a disaster. I'm still glad they did it though, because I think I might have just died if I had stayed at the coast. Although I ended up there a couple years later, when my mother relapsed on a whim, I think I needed that two years away from that horrible little coastal town where time is frozen and ideas creep forward too slow to notice any progress. . Ashly Lorenzana

Even though he had admitted to her that he used to watch me shower through a hole in the bathroom wall back when I was thirteen. She blamed us both for what we had "done" to her. But it sounds like she got over being mad at him pretty quick. She later told me that she had to go back and have sex with him one more time, just to make sure that there was nothing left between the two of them and to get some closure. That almost made me want to vomit. The only interaction between us after that was her showing up at the courthouse when I had to sit in front of a grand jury of twelve strangers and tell them what had happened. She came into the waiting room where I was sitting and started screaming that I was a whore and that I'd fucked her husband. She had to be escorted out of the court by two officers. That's what I got from her. Ashly Lorenzana

I know that my grandmother certainly did nothing to warrant my mother stealing all of her jewelry that my grandfather had given her as gifts over the years, just so she could peddle it for heroin on the street. Those were precious metals and gems that could never be replaced, and each one had a story behind it. A love story between my grandparents, that my mother flushed down a proverbial toilet so that she could shoot up, throw up and pass out. Ashly Lorenzana

My mother was obviously never there to take the blame she deserved. She left me to absorb it all in her place. She was far too busy in her own world, that incidentally revolved around herself. I'm pretty sure she dated a new guy every few months for most of my childhood. Some would last longer and show up again later after disappearing for a while, like the last day of a cold or flu before you start feeling better. Ashly Lorenzana

They say blood is thicker than water. It's also more treacherous, prone to betrayal, full of shit and quite honestly, I wouldn't put much weight into it at all. Ashly Lorenzana

You never know what lurks just beneath the surface of my fragile sanity. Ashly Lorenzana

Nothing in the tangible word that isn't living has any value beyond a dollar amount. Considering that dollars can only buy more tangible and inanimate objects, it would seem a far more worthwhile goal to instead learn to place value on the treasures of the mind. Memories, knowledge and skill together are the only things we will ever actually own. Ashly Lorenzana

Yeah, I'm a drug addict. And a prostitute. The whole world knows. Not because I robbed my own family. Not because I ended up behind bars. Not because I've been hassled by the cops when soliciting customers from a local street corner. Not because I'm shooting up in the public bathrooms at your city park. Everyone knows because I told them all. I never tried to hide any of it. I never felt the need to. . Ashly Lorenzana

How much of what is there do you allow yourself to see? Ashly Lorenzana

I'm not crying out for help, but I am sharing my experience in the hopes that readers will get something out of it. I'm not the one who gets to decide what that is, if anything. I'm just starting the "journey" if you will, so I can't possibly know yet what the "message" of my life really is. I only know what has happened so far, and how I've felt up until this moment. I agree that reading about the pain of others is concerning when they are still hurting and in the same situation as when they wrote about it. But what can you do? You can reach out, ask how you can help and be there to listen. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. You can't love someone who doesn't love themselves enough to take care of themselves and stay out of bad situations. Believe me, I know this. Ashly Lorenzana

I think it's better to be comfortable in your skin than to be miserable being who you are. Sure, the meth is horrible. It ruins people from the inside out. It's a waiting game --- it's not a matter of if it destroys you, but rather a matter of when it will. I've made it this far. I'm not sending a message that it's "cool" to be on drugs and tell everyone about it. I don't sum myself up as a drug addict and a hooker. That's not what I am. Those are juts things I do, they don't define me. Jobs and addictions do not make us who we are. . Ashly Lorenzana

What is the point of our lives? There isn't any. I can't seem to decide how much horror and how much joy lies within that simple truth, but I know it is both of those things at once. Ashly Lorenzana

The only unique contribution you can offer the world is to be who you actually are and no one else. Ashly Lorenzana

My sadness is beautiful. It infuses everything I do. It is at the core of my identity and always has been, just as happiness is in some people. I refuse to be told that it's a flaw. I will not mute it with medications for the sake of society. I will hold it close to me and celebrate it rightfully while the rest of the world fails to see it for what it is and it will be their loss. Ashly Lorenzana

No original thought still exists. People are original, each one of them. The same ideas that others had before you are waiting for you to bring them back to life in a new way. The part of who you are that is left behind within these old ideas is what makes them original all over again. Ashly Lorenzana

The next time you wish you could find the right words to say to someone who is hurting, just remember that dogs are a man's best friend without ever speaking a word to them. Simply be present and have sympathy. Ashly Lorenzana

I'm falling apart, one part after another. Falling down on the world like snow. Half of me is already on the ground, watching from below. Ashly Lorenzana

Trees lose their leaves in blizzards like these. Ashly Lorenzana

We may seem fine, even when the pain remains right there beneath our surface. Ashly Lorenzana

It's so hard to find the place somewhere in the middle of the best and worst I've felt. Ashly Lorenzana

Just remember that those who feel profoundly depressed are those whose happiness is likewise intense. What's so wrong with that? Ashly Lorenzana

It's always almost Autumn, down here at Rock Bottom. Ashly Lorenzana

If you love yourself the most at your happiest moments, there is no reason not to be fond of who you are in the dark. Ashly Lorenzana

Anything that lights your world leaves it dark once it's gone. Ashly Lorenzana

While it's true that I am guided in life by my feelings and emotions, that certainly does NOT mean that I trust them. Emotions are reactions to things based on all of a person's prior experiences and we forget sometimes just how limited those are. Ashly Lorenzana

Dogs are how people would be if the important stuff is all that mattered to us. Ashly Lorenzana

I think there were times when I was so afraid of losing you that I forgot I even had you at all. Ashly Lorenzana

Don't be scared of scars. They just tell stories that are hard to hear. Ashly Lorenzana

Most of the pain we feel is nothing more than a story that needs telling. Ashly Lorenzana

I'm pretty lost in becoming all this frost. Bitter, like Winter. Strung-out like a string of pearls. Ashly Lorenzana

The parts of me that hurt the worst want me to write something for them, but I can't. I don't know what to say. I'm lost in all this sadness, and so are they. Ashly Lorenzana

A selfless act out of even the purest desire to do for others, will be selfish in the satisfaction and happiness it brings to one doing it. Ashly Lorenzana

I don't possess these thoughts I have --- they possess me. I don't possess these feelings I have --- They obsess me. Ashly Lorenzana

I have been known to think outside of all rules. Even my own. Ashly Lorenzana

If you're going to do something, strive to do it better than anyone else. Do it all the way. If you're going to half-ass it, why bother? Ashly Lorenzana

Love is an awfully personal thing for most of us, so why isn't hate? Ashly Lorenzana

What you should actually be trying to figure out is how to tell your story. The one that is every bit as unique to you as your fingerprints. This is the truly amazing feat because you are literally the only person capable of doing that. Only you know all the parts to your story and only you can pass it on for others to hear if you choose to. Ashly Lorenzana

The fact of the matter is that you should really stop concerning yourself with writing a book because anyone can write a book that totally sucks. There is nothing special about that. Ashly Lorenzana

It might be depressing, but it's also the truth that no one has the power, the money, or the resources to save everyone on the planet from going hungry, living in poverty or allowed basic human rights. But consider the other side of this: there are people in this world who truly WOULD do all of these things for everyone if only they could. There is hope after all. Ashly Lorenzana

You cannot force things apart that are bound at the heart. Ashly Lorenzana

Morality and legality have nothing to do with one another. I'm more than fine with breaking a law if it disagrees with my values and morals. Ashly Lorenzana

Even if you think you're doing well and have it all figured out, there is a voice you will always inevitably hear at some point which nags at you and says "but wait..." Don't ever dismiss it, listen to what it has to say. Life will never be close enough to perfect, and listening to that voice means stepping outside of yourself and considering your own wrongdoings and flaws. Ashly Lorenzana

There is nothing worse than having an enemy who is a total loser. It's incredibly frustrating when seeking revenge against one, because you come to the realization that there is really nothing you can do to make the person's life worse than it already is. They have nothing to take, there is no way to screw them over if you have been their victim. It's maddening. Ashly Lorenzana

There is nothing wrong with revenge. The wrong has already been done, or there would be no need to even the score. Ashly Lorenzana

Two wrongs don't make a right, but neither does one. Revenge may seem petty by day, but on some nights she becomes Justice. Ashly Lorenzana

It is through justification of one's actions that a completely guiltless life is possible. Ashly Lorenzana

99% of all addicts are liars and thieves. This might sound unfair and even close-minded, but it's the truth. There are some exceptions to the rules, but they are incredibly rare. Most people are no match for their addictions. They will be driven to do things they would normally never have considered all in the name of getting high. Sad, but true. So if you're thinking of trying drugs, keep in mind that all the people you will be dealing with are likely to steal from you and lie to you at your own expense. . Ashly Lorenzana

I can pretty much guarantee that you will at some point find yourself doing something that at one point you swore you'd never do. You'll do it for the sake of getting high, either directly or indirectly. Trust me. It will happen. You might think you know yourself better than anyone, but you have yet to become acquainted with your addiction. It will introduce itself in ways that you never thought were possible. Ashly Lorenzana

A lot of people who find out about the things I do immediately figure I'm just a pathetic "druggie" with nothing to say that is worth hearing. They talk endless bull shit of "recovery! " They make it sound like some amazing discovery...don't they know I'm far too busy trying to recover me? Ashly Lorenzana

Everything either is, was or will be. Time doesn't really exist. It's just something we have made up that makes it easier for us to grasp the universe. Ashly Lorenzana

The world is big in some ways, and so small in others. Ashly Lorenzana

Everyone has a unique problem of their own, an issue that follows them throughout life and never goes away. You discover it early and go on to struggle with it for the rest of your life, almost until it eventually becomes an old enemy that you lose the will to fight or hate anymore. And just as every person has their own void, their own haunt or their own unanswered question..they also have the power to turn it into a legacy every bit as profound as they make it. Ashly Lorenzana

Remember that every person who you come into contact to on any given day has a story that is probably far more amazing than you will imagine and no one is going to just offer up their entire life's worth of experiences to you because you want them to. It takes time to draw someone's story out from within them. It takes trust. It takes sincerity and dedication. Keep in mind that each and every interaction you have with all those people on a daily basis is a unique opportunity to develop any kind of relationship with that person that the two of you might want to be a part of. It doesn't matter how you meet them or what it is that you do with them. It can be as mundane as waving to them in the morning as they leave their driveway, or it can be as huge as saving someone's life in a moment of uncertainty and sacrifice. Each person has the potential to become a friend or a lover or to simply teach you something important and then slip back into the endless rush of other bodies moving about the planet around us. Don't pass these chances up too often, or you'll get lost in the tide yourself. Ashly Lorenzana

There will be a time when you are forced to follow your heart away from someone you love. Ashly Lorenzana

I don't think I've ever dared to write down what I see in the ruins of me, or tell in any detail the scars and all their secrets. Ashly Lorenzana

How good something is should never be determined by its cost, designer, origin, or its perceived value by others. Ashly Lorenzana

Hope is a Heaven to keep you out of Hell. It's hard work believing that it's there. Ashly Lorenzana

Some people like living in black and white worlds. Let them stay there. Appreciate all the colors you see in your world though. Ashly Lorenzana

Phones with numerical keypads worked best for dialing phone calls. Incidentally, phone calls tend to be the primary function of a phone. 'Smartphones' completely ignore these basic facts, resulting in some of the least intelligent devices I've seen yet. Oh the irony. Ashly Lorenzana

â€â€¹You can always tell when someone deserves the praise and recognition they receive, because it humbles them rather than inflating their ego. Ashly Lorenzana

Storytellers don't show, they tell. I'm sticking with that. Ashly Lorenzana

Your whole life and the story of your journey is the landscape picture on the front of the box of a 1, 000 piece puzzle. The pieces are each a small sticky note that ends in mid-sentence. You simply need to figure out where each one starts and ends. Ashly Lorenzana

How many pages will it take to tell your story? Ashly Lorenzana

About a month after she found out about that, I got pregnant for the first time. I knew I didn't want to have a baby at all, and wanted to get an abortion. But the day I found out, I wasn't sure what to do first. I felt alone and lost and needed someone to call who I could tell. I needed help. I wasn't sure if she would talk to me again so soon after what had happened. I decided to take a chance and try calling her. When I told her, she said, "Well, an abortion is only like $500, so go turn a couple of tricks and get it taken care of, " before she hung up on me. I probably should have called someone else, but I didn't know who else to call. Ashly Lorenzana

Drugs don't really fix anything, except for everything. Ashly Lorenzana

Sooner or later in life, we will all take our own turn being in the position we once had someone else in. Ashly Lorenzana

Drugs suck more than anything else I have ever liked so much. Ashly Lorenzana

Don't kid yourself by saying that one time can't make you addicted. It can. I believed it couldn't too when I first tried meth. I was so, so wrong. The worst part about it is that you won't realize what has happened immediately afterwards. Addiction is a gradual process and it doesn't happen overnight. But trust me when I tell you that one time is all that it takes to set this into motion. It can and it will. Ashly Lorenzana

No one is fighting for my freedom unless they are doing it on my soil. Ashly Lorenzana