Resilience

We are not born with a certain amount of resilience. It is a muscle, and that means we can build it.

There are times to lean in and there are times to lean on.

We are more vulnerable than we ever thought, but we are stronger than we ever imagined.

You'll find your way. I did, and have more or less lived to tell the tale, and I sincerely doubt I was half as clever or talented or prepared as you are today.

In some ways, you've always been a creature of chaos. The complications of Act II, which will tip all you have been before into chaos, have been set up and abetted by really clever foreshadowing in Act I, by all those slippery you's over the years.

Act III is everything. No matter the strength of the foundation, the assorted catastrophes of the Second Act, if we don't have Act III, we're really in trouble. Will the heroine pull it out in the end, or does she falter?

The universe may seem like a lonely place sometimes, but there are as many you's as there are stars in the sky. Maybe one of them will step up at the right time and tell you what to make of it all.

Don't be afraid of fear. Throw caution to the winds, look fear straight-away in its ugly face, and barge forward. And when you get past it, turn around and give it a good swift kick in the ass.

The trick is to listen to your instinct, grab the opportunity when it presents itself, and then give it your all. Like a hangover, neither triumphs nor disasters last forever. They both pass and a new day arrives.

It's hard to fail 10 times in a row.

There is always something left to love.

The real world doesn't reward rule followers the way the educational world does and the real world is not always merit-based. The institutions and organizations we yield to and trust in to support our success, whether they be employers or government, are flawed.