Hopes For 2021 Quotes

All I ask the new year for is to fall silently into the spaces that the last one left empty. Filling them with a hope that tells me gently at dawn that my simple love can cure even the most extraordinary heart and that my broken past is enough for each tomorrow that follows. Maybe it will even remind me that all the mistakes I will collect over the next year are not as bad as the chances I missed in the last one.

2021: Happy New Year! Me: ... 2021: What's wrong? Me: I'm not sure I'm going to be happy this year. 2021: You will. Me:

A person who gets lost in a dark forest waits with great hopes that the sun comes and saves him! And a person who gets lost in the gloomy days of a dark year also waits with great hopes that the New Year comes and saves him!

I have my dark days, and I have my days of hope about all of it, but to be honest, those days of hope are a bit of a forced hope. — Kip Moore, from “Kip Moore: Moore Authenticity” by Tricia Despres, American Songwriter (vol. 36, no. 3, March / April 2021)

The Green Rose by Stewart Stafford Through fractured eyes, I see the rose I once plucked, In another man's hands. And mistakes that cannot be unmade, Sins that must go unforgiven, A resigned reluctance to surrender all hope. Those fingers enwrapping, The slender stem, That only holds spiky thorns for me now. I watch and reminisce, So close and familiar, Yet so alien and barren. I turn and walk away, Leaving the green rose, In place on the grave of what once was. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.

apply his seven principles to my own life. Live one day at a time (Matthew 6:34). Be content with what you have (Hebrews 13:5). Value time (Psalm 90:12). Practice the golden rule (Matthew 7:12). Keep occupied (Ephesians 5:15, 16). Keep your faith (1 Corinthians 16:13). Focus on God’s promises, especially the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13, KJV).

BLACK AND WHITE Oh Princess of the Sun. Daughter of nature. Love of the trees. Your eyes are with tears but love only flows through its canal You who defeated death with a kiss and old age was given as a crown. You walk in the streets of fate with hope as a sceptre. Olawaremilekun, the goodness that expresses grace. Your beauty still marvels the sons of men. Poem by Victor Vote for Princess Abisoye Oluwaremilekun Atinuadewa ©️2021 by VVF

Because here's a thing I've come to understand of late: context really does affect flavor. A place, its atmosphere, the people within it, their mood (and ours) genuinely change the way things taste. A restaurant lasagna has to be twice as good as your mother's or that one you had on that trip to Italy -- for it to be remind you of it even a little. A rack fo smoked pork ribs will never taste as good on a ceramic plate atop a tablecloth as it does from within a Styrofoam box on the hood of your car, downwind a roadside smoker, I hope that I never find out what Waffle House tastes like while sober, eaten in broad daylight.

In order to find what the concept of God is pointing to, you must let go of your image of God and every concept you have about God. You must dare to be void of all concepts and enter into perfect Emptiness, perfect stillness, and perfect silence. You must forget everything you have ever learned about God. It won‘t help you. It may comfort you, but such comfort is imaginary; it is an illusion. Let go of all the false comforts of the mind. Let them all come to an end. The end must be experienced full yin Stillness. When you let all images, all concepts, all hopes, and all beliefs end, Stillness is experienced. Experience the core of Stillness. Dive into it and surrender fully. In full surrender to Stillness, you directly experience That to which the concept of God points. In that direct experience, you awaken from the dream of the mind and realize that the concept of God points to who you truly are. (p. 20-21)

NAOMI, THE GODDESS OF OASIS It was a cool evening when destiny called, Naomi. The call that will revive the hearts of the children of men. Destiny presented herself like a Rose. With thorns that makes the crown. Destiny is beautiful. An enigma of peace that ponder the hearts of men. She adores herself with the blood of motherhood. Smiling in tears and with care she nurtures every soul. She's nature's friend, the waters that pushes with the wind and moves in path with her lings. Her nature is beauty and her songs nourishes the soul of men. Her light illuminates their Hope's and tears are wiped with her smiles. Oh daughter of the great land of Ozoro, the pride of her mother land. The rainbow rose that illuminates the garden of doubts. May your voice sends peace to the wailing hearts. May your day never grow dark on the mornings and may your evening be the time your waistline is with tiring and your love round about you. Great daughter of the forest kingdom. Enigma of royalty. Pride of her love. Queen of the Desert Kingdom. Goddess of Oasis Poem by Victor Vote to Atabeh Rezi. ©️2021 by VVF

When you have an honest heart, you do not get engaged nor get involved with any smear campaigns nor black propaganda! When you have an honest heart, you do not malign nor take advantage of generous people who helped and trusted you! When you have an honest heart, you do not shit on people whom you used and abused for three years! Do not fall into a political naïvety and become a victim or a doormat nor have your generosity and honest heart be used and abused by unscrupulous political movers, abusive, aggressive political harridans who scam gullible generous hearts by asking donations, funds, services, foods, urgent favours, and after using you and abusing your generosity, trust, and kindness; whereby these unscrupulous and deceptive political movers, abusive, aggressive political harridans intentionally and maliciously create forged screenshots of evidence convincing their audience or political groups that you are a mentally ill person, a brain-damaged person as they even brand you as "Sisang Baliw," or crazy Sisa, a threat, a risk, a danger, they maliciously and destructively red-tag your friends as communists, and they resort to calumny, libel and slander against you, to shame you, defame you, discredit you, blame you, hurt you, make you suffer for having known the truth of their deceptive global Operandi, and for something you didn’t do through their mob lynching, calumny, polemics mongering, forgery, and cyberbullying efforts. Their character assassination through libel and slander aims to ruin your integrity, persona, trustworthiness, and credibility with their destructive fabricated calumny, lies, identity theft, forged screenshots of polemics mongering, and framing up. Amidst all their forgery, fraud, libel and slander they committed: you have a right to defy and stop their habitual abuse without breaking the law and fight for your rights against any forms of aggression, public lynching, bullies, threats, blackmail, and their repetitive maltreatment or abuse, identity theft, forgery, deceptions fraud, scams, cyber libel, libel, and slander. When you defend human rights, you fight against corruption and injustice, help end impunity: be sure that you are not part of any misinformation, disinformation, smear campaigns and black propaganda. Do not serve, finance, or cater directly or indirectly for those dirty politicians. Those who are engaged in abusively dishonest ways do not serve to justify their end. Deceiving and scamming other people shall always be your lifetime self-inflicted karmic loss. Be a law-abiding citizen. Be respectful. Be honest. Be factual. Be truthful. You can be an effective human rights defender when you have clean and pure intentions, lawful and morally upright, and have an honest heart." ~ Angelica Hopes, an excerpt from Calunniatopia Book 1, Stronzata Trilogy Genre: inspirational, political, literary novel © 2021 Ana Angelica Abaya van Doorn

It doesn't matter who you are or black or white Jesus loves you and it doesn't matter who is against your way. God said I have a plan on his/her Life not to harm or destroy but to give hope and future. I sincerely believe 2021 is going to be a supernatural year in your life.

8 more months for 2020 Not a lot, but still plenty... 9 months in 2021 I just know I have to be done. Chaos now, balance hopefully soon. Not all doom and gloom. It's been 17-18 years of my lifework. Of me being an outstanding Court Clerk!!

EVERYBODY IS SCARED OF 2021. EUROPEANS ARE LOSING JOBS, BUSINESS AND HOPE.” The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism, Jagatguru Mahasannidhanam, His Divine Holiness Bhagavan Nithyananda Paramashivam reveals that we manifest not what we desire but what we believe in. Humans always operate from the space of fear and greed and that is what will be manifested in their reality. He further adds, “ even if one person makes the effort to have a shift in his/her thinking and have higher cognitions and thus raise their consciousness, there will be a shift in the entire humanity.” Inspired by the vision of The SPH for the whole of humanity, Kailasa’s Department of Education have been holding various conventions and summits to promote the wellbeing of global citizens mentally and physically. One of them includes the Paramashivoham program, the longest, non-stop, back-to-back program currently in its 22nd Season. Using powerful, time tested, guaranteed amalgamation of spiritual tools such as Darshan where one mirrors the neurons of the cosmic principles truths, learning about the cosmic principle truths and its direct application to live an empowered and enlightened life, manifesting those truths as part of you where as a byproduct, one starts manifesting spiritual powers just by sheet initiation from The SPH.

Last Star Standing (Feb. 18, 2021) It's set in the near future - 2094 - and follows an alien invasion - so it HAS to be marketed as science fiction - but it's really about the narrator's tough, terrifying, but ultimately life-affirming personal journey. The book hit me, about three years ago, when I was meditating. This is something I do very badly! - but I have had amazing experiences - swirling colours, images - and, in this case, a character. I found myself looking down, from the Earth's surface, about a hundred metres, down a metallic shaft, at a young man imprisoned in a metal chair. It was Aiden, my narrator, and - from that bizarre introduction - he wouldn't leave me alone. With sinking heart I realised that I was being asked to write - at least technically - science fiction, of which I'd read exactly three - 1984, Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and The Handmaid's Tale. The idea was crazy and I fought it tooth and nail. But Aiden fought back. He wanted his book to happen. He wanted to BE. And - long story short - he won! It's jst been published. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it. If you enjoy it, I hope you review it. And I very, VERY much hope, in these tough times, it really does offer a little escape! Spaulding Taylor

The Waiting Room by Stewart Stafford The waiting room lay empty, Gloom-prowled, leather-studded seats, A ceiling fan spun lonely circles above, Keeping no one in particular cool at all. Portrait of a rose in a shadowy alcove, A pair of empty street scenes framed, Mirroring the deserted room where they hung, Creating the vacuum of an infinity void. A wreath of hope on the door, The first patient of the day lumbers in, Where there's one, there'll be others, Smiles from all at the start of the day. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.

THE END OF THE YEAR PRAYER This is the month of December, the last month of the year 2021 and I can’t be grateful enough to my Heavenly Father for His priceless mercy and grace throughout the twists and turns of the entire year in the name of Jesus. Father God thank you for being my unshakable pillar and the father that I could crawl to when I am drowning in the pool of trails and tribulations. Thank you Lord Jesus for your faithfulness and your unfailing love. Hold us with your gentle hand and walk us through the last lap of the year 2021, fill us with peace, joy and strength as we are plodding slowly towards the coming new year and help us to make the right decisions and help us to serve you like never before in the mighty name of Jesus. King of glory, remember those who are lying in the sickbeds and heal them with your blood in the mighty name of Jesus. Remember those who are feeling alone, scared, discouraged, abandoned, tortured, and disappointed. I ask you the God of hope to fill them with all joy and peace, again and again(Romans 15:13) in Jesus name. Heavenly Father remember those who are feeling misjudged, mistreated and labelled by others. I ask you Lord to bless them with love, peace, joy and favour in the name of Jesus. King Jesus, remember those who have no place to live, cushion them under your wings of protection. Remember those who have nothing to eat and those who have no clothes to wear. I ask you Jehovah Jireh to make a way where it seems to be no way and provide for every need. Put smiles on their faces and help them to keep their faith in you Jehovah. Remember those who have lost their loved ones and give them comfort, strength and joy. Thank you Lord for your mercies, your mercies are new every morning. Father God, we ask you to take control of our lives and help us to overcome this ugly monster(corona virus) which keeps raising its head up in different forms of evilness. Heal and deliver every single individual who is infected or affected by it in the mighty name of Jesus. You are our only hope and our lives depend on you Jehovah and our future is in your hands, help us to talk the talk and walk the walk and help us to finish this year stronger than ever before and help us to enter the year 2022 with clear minds and wise decision making. I thank you in advance King of glory and I will be forever grateful in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

All through the Bible, the presence of Moses is felt. And though he’s not mentioned until Exodus 2:2, he had written the book of Genesis, God’s authoritative and foundational story of who we are, how we got here, why things are as bad as they are and, yet, why we can hope anyway.

The Easter Vigil by Stewart Stafford Nightfall on Easter Saturday, A church in darkness, Flickering fire through stained glass, Hope so close yet out of reach. The Paschal candle is lit outside from a small garden bonfire, And, in reverent procession, brought indoors, The flaming beacon makes its entrance at the rear of the congregation, The mother candle bows, bestowing blazing brows on the humbler candles of those assembled. The welcoming brightness gently spreads among the pews, Confusing darkness now a sea of light, United in illumination, And He is there. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.

I’ve often traveled alone on the path of life’s journey. But always knew the bindings that bond people and families together were never further than a stone’s throw. Lightning struck and life vanished in a flash. And the beacon of hope and comfort has been extinguished forever. – Until another rises. RJ Intindola – (Gandolfo) – 2021

In order to find what the concept of God is pointing to, you must let go of your image of God and every concept you have about God. You must dare to be void of all concepts and enter into perfect Emptiness, perfect stillness, and perfect silence. You must forget everything you have ever learned about God. It won‘t help you. It may comfort you, but such comfort is imaginary; it is an illusion. Let go of all the false comforts of the mind. Let them all come to an end. The end must be experienced fully in Stillness. When you let all images, all concepts, all hopes, and all beliefs end, Stillness is experienced. Experience the core of Stillness. Dive into it and surrender fully. In full surrender to Stillness, you directly experience That to which the concept of God points. In that direct experience, you awaken from the dream of the mind and realize that the concept of God points to who you truly are. (p. 20-21)

tips. Yet at its most ideal, the worth of the genre lies in exploring the tensions of our interior journey vs. our exterior itinerary, in examining our expectations (and hopes and biases) of a destination vs. the reality of what we found, and in measuring the person we are at home vs. the person we become abroad.

1 Minute Wisdom for Lightworkers in 2021 They will first ridicule you for your independent thinking and observation. Then they will collude, and censor, you for being troublesome and delusional. Then they will attack and slander you to defend their pre-programmed beliefs and ideologies. Then they will lie, in the hope that your different perceptions, have no truth. Then they will ignore you, in the hope that your messages will soon die off. Yet…because of their fixed mindset, they will seldom fully awaken to the “canary in the mine”, until it’s TOO LATE. And then they will shun you in an effort to avoid being reminded, how short-sighted, and delusional, they were. Forgive them – for they are still too unconscious to awaken from their dream. But keep your light shining bright to illuminate the path, just in case, some do awaken from their dark slumber.

If there are certain moments when I question the value of travel writing, I also know that it's important for the traveler to eventually return to where he or she came from, to write and try to capture the experience of being an outsider in an unfamiliar place. Yes, much of travel writing is soulless and transactional, listicles and charticles and "if you go" tips. Yet as its most ideal, the worth of the genre lies in exploring the tensions of our interior journey vs. our exterior itinerary, in examining our expectations (and hopes and biases) of a destination vs. the reality of of what we found, and in measuring the person we are at home vs. the person we become abroad.

That opposition is politically and ideologically diverse. Alaa and his comrades are part of the left, internationalist, anti-sectarian, youth-led movement that is part of a global confrontation with transnational capital and its national organs, a movement that has seen expressions from Tahrir Square to Occupy Wall Street. And because this strain has refused to fully surrender its hopes for a liberated Egypt, it too has faced the wrath of the vengeful regime of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The blame lies with the perpetrators—not with the millions of overwhelmingly unarmed activists who tried to stop these juggernauts. Yet Alaa’s model here should remind us, wherever we reside, that though it may not be our fault, it is our duty to make time in our organizing and theorizing to confront our defeats. Not to wallow, but because such confrontations are our only hope of seeing the new terrain of struggle clearly.

Marijuana, up to now, gives me little reason to adjust that opinion. Pot can be responsibly legalized. Instead, we are choosing the route we took with opioids: a now-legal, potent drug is being made widely available and marketed with claims about its risk-free nature. Big Pot is only a matter of time. Altria, which owns Marlboro, is moving into legal marijuana. The final absurdity is that as we face climate change’s existential threat, we make a weed that thrives under the sun legal to grow indoors, with a huge carbon footprint. Pot may well have medical benefits. Opioids certainly do. But supply matters. So does potency and marketing and distribution. The opioid-addiction crisis should have taught us that. I’m sympathetic to the idea of decriminalizing drugs, as well. Yet I believe it misunderstands the nature of addiction and ignores the unforgiving drug stream every addict must face today. One reason overdose deaths during the coronavirus pandemic skyrocketed is that police in many areas stopped arresting people for the minor crimes and outstanding warrants that are symptoms of their addictions. Left on the street, many use until they die. Certainly the story of that death toll is as complex as those of the people whose deaths are counted in it. But I suspect we’ll come to see the last ten months of 2020 and into 2021 at least in part as one long, unplanned experiment into what happens when the most devastating street drugs we’ve known are, in effect, decriminalized, and those addicted to them are allowed to remain on the street to use them.

I was in love with not the fight but only the victory.

How do we make sense out of life when ‘lost’ is actually a critical part of the path to our destination? Get Will to be released 2021.

Lately, I've used this technique with the hate that comes at me online. Most people in my position don't read negative comments or emails. The have someone else screen and then erase them. I see hate as just another fuel source. I see the beauty and power in it, and I never let it go to waste. When the negative comments come it, and they always do, I capture them in a screenshot and speak them into my microphone. In 2021, I posted an image of my swollen left knee, which inspired a flood of negative comments... They were trying to salt my wounds. They wanted me to feel the sting, which I did, and hoped it would bring me down even further. It didn't. I loved those comments. I loved them so much I made a mixtape. I printed them all out, recorded myself saying each one, and then I looped that bitch. Whenever I have a bad day, I listen to it. Sometimes I walk around the house savoring it in full stereo. p63

Lately, I've used this technique with the hate that comes at me online. Most people in my position don't read negative comments or emails. The have someone else screen and then erase them. I see hate as just another fuel source. I see the beauty and power in it, and I never let it go to waste. When the negative comments come in, and they always do, I capture them in a screenshot and speak them into my microphone. In 2021, I posted an image of my swollen left knee, which inspired a flood of negative comments... They were trying to salt my wounds. They wanted me to feel the sting, which I did, and hoped it would bring me down even further. It didn't. I loved those comments. I loved them so much I made a mixtape. I printed them all out, recorded myself saying each one, and then I looped that bitch. Whenever I have a bad day, I listen to it. Sometimes I walk around the house savoring it in full stereo. p63

It is a documented fact that the January 6th, 2021, US Capitol insurrection and the preliminary efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election contained a sizable conservative Christian presence, and had the acquiescence, ‘prayerful support,’ and fondest hopes of many Christians. This reveals the double-edged power of despair over the loss of a close election by their guy/their side, and a demonized reading of the Democratic Party that has swept through many conservative Christians. It was a counterrevolutionary effort to win this battle once and for all. It also reveals a substantial fringe of reactionary Christians slipping free of the constraints of our democratic system and the rule of law.

intelligence and communication of trees, see Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (Alfred A. Knopf, 2021) and Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World (Greystone Books, 2016).

The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021).

In 2021 the company inserted three thousand filament-like electrodes, thinner than a human hair, that monitor neuron activity, into a pig’s brain. Soon they hope to begin human trials of their N1 brain implant, while another company, Synchron, has already started human trials in Australia. Scientists at a start-up called Cortical Labs have even grown a kind of brain in a vat (a bunch of neurons grown in vitro) and taught it to play Pong. It likely won’t be too long before neural “laces” made from carbon nanotubes plug us directly into the digital world.

Honourable Breeze - a behavioural haiku from the chapter, “Poetic Justice” Honourable Heart? You were spreading smear campaigns. Is that honesty? Honourable mind? You committed forgery. Your cyber libel. Honourable soul? You intentionally hurt, Con, scam, and slander. Honourable mouth? Your habitual offenses Fraud, lies, bullying. Dishonourable. Politicians’ instrument: Machiavellian. Justify your end? with your Machiavellian ways? Note: crime does not pay! Crowned thorny cactus, you pretend to be “yellow,” Ask funding from them. Thorny toxic lies, You discredit whom you scammed. Your: libel, slander. Manipulator, Fraud, bully, provocateur, Machiavellian! Politicians served: You’re a very good person. Thorny irony. People you slandered, Scammed, libeled, deceived, abused. Forgery you did. Your former victim, From twelve or ten years ago: said, “you’re a devil.” “Move away from her,” Your past victims had warned me. I thanked their warning. Warning was too late. Thorny, toxic harridan: you used and abused! Honourable Breeze? For people who benefit from your deceptions. Honourable Breeze? For dirty politicians, Donations and votes. Honourable Breeze? for needy politicians: delivered service. Delivered service? At the expense of others, you manipulate. Manipulations, your catch-me-if-you-can games, Your confidence games! Politicians’ smears, means won’t justify your end, Machiavellian bitch! ~ Angelica Hopes, an excerpt from Life Unfolds © 2021 Ana Angelica Abaya van Doorn

Peacefully, and patriotically make your voices heard.

There is hope for a better tomorrow if we love one another.

硕士学位渥太华大学毕业证购买【咨询微信ubc1986】办加拿大渥太华大学毕业证出售UO文凭办渥太华大学学历办渥太华大学文凭办UO学历出售UO学位证书毕业证。 KSJKSSJKSKJSHKSJS The new buttons on the Apple TV remote are key to functionality. They include a power button — imagine that! Yes, power control is something which you could get the old abominable Apple TV remote to do, but it required a secret learned combination of long-presses and swipes. And a mute button, something which I specifically was hoping they would add as it was a core reason why I kept my old, actual LG TV remote alongside the Apple TV remote all the time. Now the only reason I could think of to need that other remote is to change inputs. And I’ll be doing that less now that the Apple TV has a good remote. So yeah, it’s a much better remote.

THE BIRD, MFONISO Not with the eyes of an eagle, for it sees and preys But the eyes of a pelican has your nature be built The selfless blood to revive those dying even if it hurts Your elegance with the tweeting melodies Your lips with the news of hope Let the flowers bow as you make flaps to land Your eyes with the flashing flowers Roses beneath your print blossom For nature got envy when your cheeks part Your tears waters every soul from a distance Your feelings are theirs in reflection And Empathy bows to your glow Daniel amongst the lions Oh Mfoniso, bird speaks great tidings Poem by Victor Vote for Mfoniso Daniel ©️2021 - VVF

THE NIGHT PRINCESS Africa cry out for a part and she answers The light beneath Hope's The tears of the nights that wail for the freedom of her offsprings Let Africa awaits her turn and nature has been defeated once again Oh great daughter of the East, the moon through which the sons of men awaits grace. Onyii, the princess of the night. The night fears your radiance and the sun is envious of your glow. Let the wind roar for the earth is proud that a soul never envisaged will walk on its surface. Nwoji, let the soil know you stepped on it. Poem by Victor Vote for Onyii Nwoji ©️2021 by VVF

Early in the pandemic, there was a broad belief in the scientific community that, although there would be some mutations of COVID, they wouldn’t cause a big problem. By early 2021, scientists knew that variants were emerging, but they appeared to be evolving in similar ways, leading some scientists to hope that the world had already seen the worst mutations that the virus was capable of. But the Delta variant proved otherwise—its genome had evolved to make it far more transmissible. The arrival of Delta was a bad surprise, but it convinced everyone that even more variants could show up. As I finish this book, the world is facing a sweeping wave of Omicron, the fastest-spreading variant to date—and in fact the fastest-spreading virus we’ve ever seen.

In 2012, President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law. This bill, among many other things, included the ability for private companies like Gumroad to sell shares to the general public, making it possible for almost anyone to invest in the business. On March 15, 2021, the legal limit for regulation crowdfunding went from $1.07 million to $5 million. These new rules also allow for “testing the waters,” allowing companies like Gumroad to see how much demand there is to invest in the company before committing to a crowdfunding campaign. I believe that crowdfunding will reorganize the funding landscape. There will always be a place for venture capitalists, but who better to fund a business than its customers, who understand how valuable its offering is? And once founders can vet demand before committing, we should see the numbers skyrocket. In the old way, the number one downside of raising money was that you created two distinct sets of stakeholders: your investors and your customers. This new practice will allow entrepreneurs to minimize complexity by turning customers into investors. All of a sudden, you have a single group of people you are serving: your community. I can speak from experience: On March 15, 2021, I used Regulation Crowdfunding to allow some of Gumroad’s creators to become part-owners. In 12 hours, we raised $5 million from more than 7,000 individual investors. Now we have thousands of our creators as our investors too, keeping our interests more cleanly aligned. For the businesses that neither need to bootstrap completely nor want to go the venture-backed path, I’m hopeful that Regulation Crowdfunding will offer a middle ground. But the ultimate long-term goal remains profitability (read: sustainability). Once you’re in control of your destiny, you should never let it go.

Paul looks back to this when he writes: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. . . . For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God (Rom 8:18, 20–21). The word frustration can also be translated as “futility.” To be futile is to fall short of your purpose, to stretch and exert but see it all come to nothing. The world is now in a cursed condition that falls short of its design. Human beings were not created to experience death, pain, grief, disappointment, ruptured relationships, disease, and natural disasters.215 The world we were made to live in was not supposed to be like that. A frustrated world is a broken world, in which things do not function as they should, and that is why there is evil and suffering.

If pursuing the positive is a negative, then pursuing the negative generates the positive.

They had never promised each other every lifetime, every universe, every possible arrangement of atoms. Those are in infinite supply, and they are two girls. But they are two girls whose blood runs with the heat of exploding stars, even as it drips down their knuckles. They are two girls whose souls reach for each other and ignore probability and infinity. They are two girls who crash together and touch each other gently. They have each other’s names carved into their bones and each other’s fingerprints tattooed on their ligaments and they breathe in time with the other’s heartbeat. They would count the steps to hell and freeze it over to save one another and they would burn if there were no other choice. When the sun goes supernova and solar flares lick across the sky, they will see one another, even if only for an instant, and think, This is almost heaven. And with every instant they have they can read each other like braille with ink-stained fingertips and they are a force of nature if you dare to touch them, learning what happens when a hurricane protects its own.

The idea of not giving a f*ck is a simple way of reorientating our expactations for life and choosing what is important and what is not.

Dont hope for a life without problems [...] There is no such thing. Instead, hope for a life full of good problems.