1. nothing comes in pairs. you either sing in the church choir or you scream in the bar basement but you cannot do both, and when there’s mud on your face and blood on your hands, only the street rats will remember your name.
2. even stainless steel boys and granite girls can be broken, and no matter how much armor you strap on, there will always be chinks. you can’t do everything. you can’t save everyone. you will learn this the hard way, because there is no other way.
3. everything comes in pairs. they'll love you when you’re flying high but they also have to love you when they’re feeding you whiskey while you stitch up your wounds, hand you the bottle and thread your needle and tie it off for you because your hands are shaking. that kinda love is hard to come by, and harder to be ready for. that kinda love is rare.
4. you either die young, or alone, and you do not get to choose. this decision has been made for you, by your actions, by your attempts, by your failures and successes. your path was drawn up long ago, written in pen on the treasure map to where you end up, and although you may think it’s up to you, you will soon realize: nothing is.
5. there is a weight on your shoulders a thousand souls thick, and you carry it like you carry the names of everyone you failed, and the burdens of all the loved ones you have lost.
(+1. you will save the world, again, and again, and again, and each time that weight will grow lighter, and each day the sun will shine brighter, and when your time comes, whenever it comes, you will be ready, and you will be brave.)