I hope you never experience loss. On the loneliest day of your life it'll be all that you can think about. I really hope you grow up, for one. Apparently you're so high and mighty, so I hope you know that I can see right the fuck through you. I hope you learn which battles to pick and which ones to let lie, because that is the one key that will lead you to success. I hope you learn not to dwell on things that happened years ago.

I hope you never have to come back here, to this town where nothing happens. I hope you never have to tell people that you finally graduated college and are back, unemployed, in your parents' basement surrounded by empty picture frames and broken mirrors. For the second time. I hope you're never too scared to go outside. I hope that the walls never close in on you and that you never want to spend days on end under your blankets. Take your moments of clarity in stride. Use them to your benefit.

I hope you never have to say goodbye to your best friends, knowing that the miles that separate you are now the death to the relationships you once had, and that even when you take little pieces with you, they are only souvenirs, only mementos, and you cannot go back in time and re-live them, no matter how hard you try. You'll see them in a coffee shop, maybe years from now. They'll smile at you, make small talk, and walk away. You can never go back to what you had, because it doesn't exist anymore. I hope you don't come to the final points of that realisation for a long time. It hurts like hell.

I hope you don't get scared and run away from the things you love. I hope you don't manage to convince yourself that just because something scares you, you have to love it. That's where you will run into problems, and trust me, as you put your very sanity on the chopping block, you will feel more broken than you could ever fathom. It might not hit you for two months, eight months, a year, but when it does it will hit you hard and fast and you will never be quite able to shake it from your head.

I hope you never come home to a red card hanging on the door. I hope you always have hydro, hot water, and telephone service. But even if you don't, I hope you have friends that love you to pull you through the hard times. And when you do have hot water and phone service, I hope you remember those days that you didn't, and don't take a damn thing for granted. I hope you never get a letter from a creditor who wants to take you to court, and that you don't get 20 messages left on your machine every day to the same effect. I hope you never have to decide between milk and bread. I hope you never have to wait in line at school for a grocery voucher. But if you do, I hope you never see the look of pity on the secretary's face as she watches you sign for it.

I hope you come out of your shell and realise that people are what people are. Comparison is useless unless you know circumstance.

I hope you don't ever have to live on $10 a week, but if you do, I hope you can make it work.

I hope you're not too proud to take an honest job. You are not above the rest of us. Few children would exclaim that they wanted to be a janitor when they grew up.

I hope you say hello to the girl working the counter at the coffee shop. I hope you give her an extra quarter if she does a good job, or looks like she's having a rough day. I hope you tip the waitress, even if it's your last dollar and you just came in for a cup of coffee and a slice of pie. I hope you never snap your fingers at her. I hope you work a day at a gas station, just once, and that the next time you pump, you think twice about how you talk to the "gas jockey".

I hope you take the Greyhound to Toronto in the winter in the dark, watching the lights as they dance by. I hope you read a book about ghost stories and stay up all night drinking coffee with your friends. I hope you own at least one album that reduces you to tears. I hope you get a job that you hate, so that 5:00 PM will always seem a little bit sweeter.

I hope you learn that the world is nothing like the way you are picturing it.
You are not special.
You do not stand out, no matter how much you think you do.