323

One of the greatest fallacies of the human mind is in believing that one step, among millions of steps, doesn’t matter.

Logically, as it reflects the nature of our universe and the cascading nature of cause and effect, every step matters just as much as the next—all equally inseparable, indelible, and inevitable.

322

While I have an extremely open mind, merely being open does not warrant desire.

When I have already found my own peace and my own internal joy, I stand to gain nothing from desiring more and more.

I should no longer be afraid to say that enough is enough.

321

Detach yourself from desire. You don’t need anyone. And you don’t need anything.

Remind yourself that losing everything you have now might be, above all, a relief. Remind yourself that you have the capacity to see beyond merely how you feel. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come—to be among the few to reach a point in your existence where nothing more that happens in this life is a mystery, a surprise, or a source of misery. You understand the human condition such that you no longer have to wander aimlessly; now, I can merely wander, for the sake of wandering.

But use this not as an escape, nor an excuse not to try. All this is to remind yourself to not be afraid—to not be chained to the ephemeral, to our tenuous, transitory definitions of what is important. Against all odds, you are blessed to have the right mindset, and the right heart. Do not let yourself, under any circumstance, let your mind or your heart become mired in trivialities and the banal; you’ve moved far past that now, and that is not what you are called to do.

320

What matters is not if you fail or if you succeed; there are often factors out of our control that determine the outcome. What matters is if you try, and how you try.

Embrace success, but lest you forget that you need to fail in order to learn, or to gain any amount of resilience or perseverance in your spirit. And if these insipid, nonsensical, banal, and vapid struggles are capable of deteriorating its integrity, you ought to be concerned for who you will be when the world has called you to do something that actually matters.

319

To fear loss is to fear change. We can grieve, lament, and adorn respect to what has past, but we should never become attached to it.

Whether or not there is something to learn, we continue on regardless. It is not a source of grief; it is a stark reminder that nothing is truly ours in this world, and that we cannot understand the true purpose of any event until the conclusion of the matter.

318

I can now forego hatred and bitterness; why brew animosity towards the essential nature of others, or myself, when we didn’t choose who we fundamentally are? Our actions are not a mystery, a surprise, or anomalies in the course of the universe.

317

The most freeing thing I ever did in my life was realizing that there is no free will.

316

Amidst all the toil, all the strife, and all the struggle, there always remains solace in a heart of gratitude—for who you’ve become because of the suffering of the past, and for who you will be because of the suffering in the present.

315

Yes—there’s so much left to do.

But why are you daunted? Why do you despair at the thought of doing what you’re called to do?

Put your heart into your work, but do not be fooled into thinking the work must be completed merely because it is work; there are stories, there is meaning, and there is purpose behind it all, which makes any of it worthwhile in the first place. And we do not need to wait until the conclusion of the matter to embrace it.

314

If you can so easily extricate your mind from the expectations of others, why do you let your heart remain shackled?

You can be desperate, but not afraid. Grasp at the opportunity for love as if it was the last opportunity you would get in this life, but do not for a second fear what lies ahead.