So many nights, I stared out at the inky black ocean, believing that if I could only learn how to eat again and keep my hands out of my throat, that would be enough. I prayed hard and desperately to God and the sun and the moon and the ocean and the universe and every shelter dog I’d ever met, as if they were all genies, that I wouldn’t ask for anything more. But perhaps God isn’t a collection of genies, and perhaps it’s okay to hope for more than relief. To hope big. To hope for Sunny’s limitless capacity to love. Shannon Kopp
About This Quote

The ocean is a powerful symbol of hope and the darkness is a metaphor for depression. This quote is about Sunny's struggle with chronic pain, which he described as "like being locked in a cage with a shark that wants to eat you. I don't like to think of myself as a victim, because it makes me feel weak and I don't want to feel weak, but... it's like there's this thing inside of me that's always screaming." He often described the ocean as his enemy and he couldn't understand why God would make such a cruel place for him to live in.

Source: Pound For Pound: A Story Of One Womans Recovery And The Shelter Dogs Who Loved Her Back To Life

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