Never give up.  Your growth is ongoing.  The lessons may not always be easy, but they all lead eventually to Joy.  You may feel you know nothing of Joy, but it is your fundamental nature.  It is why you seek pleasure, for it is the human equivalent of this divine quality.  Appreciate the moments when you know no joy, for these compel you, through the contrast, to seek its opposite, drawn by the innate knowing that you are more than this limited state of being.  Life is an experience, an adventure to be savored.  Never give up. 

You are so very loved.