On being an adult

"I've always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner tool-box full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools--friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty--and said, Do the best you can with these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds, they're enough." Ann Lamott, Traveling Mercies