# Epilogue {-}
-It's often a cliché for an author to say that the book they wrote is the one they wished they had when they were learning the topic presented in the book. Perhaps it's a cliché because it's true: this is the advice that would have helped me when I started this journey. Too often I've wondered if I measured up to whatever invisible barometer I'd created of the ideal programmer. Many times I would see the success of others and wonder if I was somehow defective as a programmer, or deficient in my learning. What was I getting wrong that others were getting right?
+It's often a cliché for an author to say that the book they wrote is the one they wished they had when they were confronted with the topic presented in the book. Perhaps it's a cliché because it's true: this book contains the advice that would have helped me when I started this journey. Too often I've wondered if I measured up to whatever invisible barometers I created to represent the ideal programmer. Many times I saw the success of my peers and wondered if I was defective as a programmer, or deficient in my learning. What was I getting wrong that others were getting right?
-I've come to realize that every programmer's journey is unique. Your journey is going to wend and wind into directions that mine did not. You'll have experiences that I won't share, and I've had experiences that will be difficult for you to replicate unless you have a time machine. But neither of our experiences is more valid than the other experiences of other programmers. The gaps in our knowledge are not an indictment of our abilities; they are places on the map that we can explore.
+I've come to realize that every programmer's journey is unique. Your journey is going to wend and wind in directions that are different than the directions that my journey took. You'll have experiences that I won't share, and I've had experiences that will be difficult for you to replicate (unless you have a time machine). But neither of our experiences is more or less valid than each other, nor are they more or less valid than the experiences of other programmers. They are just our experiences. The areas of our knowledge are just the areas that we've explored so far. There will always be gaps, but those are only areas that we haven't explored yet.
-No traveler can be at all places at all times. They must travel to each destination, as quickly as their transport allows, and stay there for as long as they can before traveling to their next destination. And they do so with whatever companions they can find in whatever communities they can build. They build relationships and trust with themselves and others and note their strengths and weaknesses. And each day they press onward. Like the traveler we too must choose our destinations and our companions. We can find those who, like us, are traveling down the same road and help us on our journey. We can exchange stories about our successes and failures and see that each day is another link in our journey.
+No traveler can be at all places at all times. They must travel to each destination, as quickly as their transport allows, and stay there for as long as they can before traveling to their next destination. And they do so with whatever companions they can find in whatever communities they can build. They build relationships and trust with themselves and others. They use their strengths to help others, and explore and improve their weaknesses. And each day they press onward. Like the traveler we too must choose our destinations and our companions. We can find those who, like us, are traveling down the same road and help us on our journey. We can exchange stories about our successes and failures and see that each day is another link in our journey.
I continue my journey each day and I hope that as a programmer you continue each day for as long as you are able. We might not be on the same exact roads together but we have the same goal: doing the best we can in each moment.
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