In December 2021, the Endwalker expansion was released for Final Fantasy XIV. As the title suggests, it felt like it was a world-ending story. The first half alone was full of hope struggling to survive against despair.

I struggled in my own life, feeling the pressure of a difficult job and searching for a new normal in a pandemic. But, like most people during a difficult time, I was making many mistakes: not finding healthy outlets for frustration, worrying too much about others' expectations, not admitting that it's okay to take it easy sometimes.

Until one day, I was playing Endwalker, and I reached a moment with a character who had made a terrible choice, hoping that she could save the future of her world:

Lands that stretched on forever. Skies one could drown in. The heartbeat of nature, silent yet strong. And amidst it all a people. Beacons of light and life. Laughter that warmed my heart like naught else before.

They are my meaning and my purpose. My love.

In spite of... or perhaps because of this, I choose to believe. In mankind's potential. In his ability to find a way forward.

So let there be no way back. From that temptation, I sunder us. No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise.

Henceforth, he shall walk.

That day, my whole life changed.

I realized that she chose to change her world forever, create a place where life would be so much harder for her people, hoping it would save them from destroying themselves.

If we don't know despair, we don't know hope. If we don't know hardship, we don't know success. If life is always easy, we will never know how to take on challenges.

My hope for you today is that no matter what you're going through, you find a path toward joy and new adventures.