Destiny may not be coerced, cajoled, or counted on. Open or contrary to its vicissitudes, either in eager anticipation or kicking and screaming, you must ride the river to the sea, then hop the first available vessel to your next destination, then the next, then the next… Whatever lies in your immediate future is just one further twist and turn along the way, along that purposely unfolding path between freedom and responsibility, whimsy and fancy, now and then. Courage is never easy. Courage is never cautious. The only test of courage is boldness. No leap of faith ever revealed its landing prior to the jump. What can a flame remember? If it remembers just a little less than is necessary, it goes out. If it remembers just a little more than is necessary, it goes out. If only it could teach us, while it burns, to remember correctly. Between concealment and honesty, between invention and reality, between revelation and mystery, between artfulness and artifice, between standing still and moving forward, between knowing and feeling, there is courage. That is what the flame remembers. It remembers to be brave. The beginnings of bravery are as simple as this. A man, or a woman, awakened too early, in the darkness, while everyone else is still sleeping, instead of rolling over immediately, and falling back to sleep, resists this urge, resists it, because for him or her, it is important, it is crucial, to qualify that experience, to describe it to him or herself, to live it fully, before submitting again to sleep. Courage begins at that point, that moment, when resistance overcomes submission. If you can be brave, you can be brilliant. Disembroil yourself from the ravelled, choking maze of caution. Do it now. What are you waiting for? Nothing begins 'til you get there. Your next step and direction have been given to you by Destiny. When they have been taken, and it is time to move on, the path forward from them will be given to you as well. Accept this newest challenge with gratitude, with vigour, with determination. Be dauntless.