The villain always wins the first Act.
If you’re going to tell a hero story — and believe me, that’s what yours is — you need to have a Long Dark Night of the Soul.
It always takes a good beat down before the hero realizes they had it in them from the start.
That’s just how it works.
In the Real, we go through a couple of these a year. Maybe more.
When the bedroom ceiling starts to become the most interesting thing to watch.
When two bags of chips and a tub of ice cream start to look like a well-balanced breakfast.
When the old drugs don’t work like they used to. And the new ones are making it worse.
It’s time to switch it up. Time to make a plan.
Time to double-down and get pumped up for the come-back.
Time to realize what matters, and that the answer was there all along. Even if we didn’t want to admit it.
It’s alright to have a little cry first, though.