Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy’s first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one, and only, truth.

Hardship doesn’t have to mean bad. Hardship can be beautiful. How beautiful is it that for ourselves, for our lovers, and for our children and families, for stability, for consistency, and for the chance to experience true devotion and commitment, we are willing to walk through that same fire again and again, knowing we are going to get burned, and exactly how.