289

We are more than our fears and our desires, but it doesn’t change the fact that they exist.

All of our stories revolve around this tension between morality and biology, between emotion and reason, between the mind and the heart.

On either side is neither victor nor defeat.

There is only meaning.

288

Whenever you feel like giving up, think of all the times you felt like giving up, but didn’t.

Whenever you feel as though you have nothing to say, think of all the times you did find something to say.

In your worst moments, remember who got you out.

It was you. And it was always only you.

Don’t fucking underestimate yourself.

287

What is this inadequacy welling up inside of you?

If it belies the gratitude that you say you have, then crush it. You have everything that you could ever need, and certainly a life that you would envy in the future.

It should neither devolve into unwarranted complacency nor unbridled desperation, neither laziness nor burnout.

286

From first to last

The peak is never passed

Somethin' always fires the light

That gets in your eyes

One moment's high

And glory rolls on by

Like a streak of lightning

That flashes and fades

In the summer sky

The more time you fret about time wasted in rest, the less likely you will get the rest that you need.

Perseverance matters. But you have to stay in the game. All that matters is you can impel yourself into action when it matters.

285

I need to find you.

But I don’t know how.

284

You’ve prepared and trained so diligently up to this moment. So be glad that you are now being tested.

Preparation and training never stop. But they are meaningless without performance.

283

In the moments you are least inspired to say anything, the more important it is that you find inspiration.

Stay vigilant, lest we succumb to complacency.

282

I don’t take life seriously in the sense that if my life, if all this—all this absurdity, all this beauty, all these things that I don’t understand and have yet to discover—ends tomorrow, I would still rest easy. I can detach at a moment’s notice from the chaos that pervades the world around me. But I take life seriously in the sense that I feel as though I’m called to do something—something important. I know that it is in my capacity to improve the lives of the people around me, to help them navigate this life, to help them see a certain truth.

Yes—there’s a chance that none of this may matter or make sense. There’s no guarantee that what I do in this life will make a difference. But I will absolutely fucking try.

If the choice is between the banal and the extraordinary, between delusion and truth, between misery and joy, between hatred and love, then the path is already clear.

I won’t apologize. I won’t hesitate. I won’t back down. And I will have no regrets if I fail.

281

In every moment—keep your mind open, and your heart heavy.

280

Blind hope seemed futile.

But were you not blind already?