My life has been a series of rewrites.

With every twist and turn, every fantastic moment or tragic detour, there’s an opportunity.

Each day that I wake up, I have another chance, another glimpse at a different reality.

I’ve taken the parts of my story, the ones where bad and good things happened to me, the ones where I’ve initiated the good and bad in my life, and those parts have shaped me.

Defined me.

Molded me.

It’s a flawed life. It’s a painful life. It’s a beautiful life. It’s an ever-evolving life.

I have allowed that story to shape friendships, my marriage, fatherhood and into owning a business.

I have allowed that story to define who I am, how I live and how I react to the things that happen around me.

That story has nearly killed me on a handful of occasions.

I’ve shared many parts of that story on this blog.

It’s said that depression is when you are chained to the past and anxiety is when you are in fear of the future.

I’ve suffered both (not always in a clinical sense) for much of my life.

And there are stories you tell yourself too.

Whether you are the victim or the hero(ine).

Whether the way you were raised defined every choice you made into adulthood.

There are those who point a finger at the people around them and say: You’re the reason I am this way.

And those who aim their finger at the mirror and say: You are the reason I’ll be better today.

Every decade of my life has brought it’s share of: I can’t believe that happened to me, I can’t believe I did that, and When will you ever learn from your mistakes, you stubborn son of a bitch…

It’s in between those moments, those mind-altering, game-changing moments, that life continues to happen.

A life that can either pass us by because we stop paying attention to the signs or a life we become enraptured by.

If your life is anything like my life, you have a past that has defined you.

Respect that past.

Let it guide you.

However, if you are a prisoner to your past, you have a choice.

You can continue to write the same story over and over again and be discouraged by the results (the definition of insanity…)

Or you can take your proverbial pen to imaginary paper and start writing something different.

Something better.

Something to be proud of.

Something your children, your loved ones, and the people who have left this world believing in you knew you were capable of.

Show them how the next chapter goes.

My life has been a series of rewrites.

The best chapter is happening now.