Two towns away.

This is the first scene of the first episode of Parks and Recreation and honestly like HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN

HOW COULD ANY OF US HAVE KNOWN

Leslie Knope taught me four thousand and fifty four very important things but really they sum up to just a few:

Be kind. Even when you’re really mad. Even when you’re the maddest you’ve ever been. Yell at someone when they’re horrible to you but no low blows (except for that one time with Ben’s decapitated head on a stick in front of his weeping mother.) Apologize when you fall short. Pick someone else up when they do. Being kind is not the same as being nice; you don’t always have to be nice, but you should always try to be kind. 

Be brave. Try things that scare you. Speak up for yourself and your friends. Speak up to your friends when they’re causing you pain. If you try and fail, cry about it, then figure it out and move forward. Love people fearlessly, even after you’ve been hurt. Be earnest. Be present. Give yourself room to grow. Forgive yourself when things go wrong. Remember that tomorrow is a second chance.

Be yourself. Be as much of yourself as you want to be, all the time. Be loud, be intense, be ambitious, be defensive, be sad, be angry, be unapologetic about anything you are that isn’t hurting other people — and when other people tell you that you’re hurting them, apologize and be better (like leaving Ben 36 voicemails and then choosing to leave him only one and then arriving at the Smallest Park and asking what he wants oh my god season 4 was so good you guys). 

You’re not alone. Your friends love you because you love them. Real love is a two-way street that everybody should be sending waffle trucks down.

Nothing is forever. But the next thing is gonna be pretty awesome.

“This was love: a string of coincidences that gathered significance and became miracles.”