when I change my mind, my world changes. If you think about it, makes sense. When your sense of self and happiness comes from within and isn’t a roller coaster ride dependent on others or circumstances, you approach life differently.

That’s another thing I’ve learned. There is strength in this vulnerability, in tearing down the walls. People sense it in you. The world is hungry for it. And the greatest healing — for you, for those around you — it comes from opening. Opening yourself wide. To your humanness, to your feelings. And ultimately, to yourself.

Success and failure come and go but don’t let them define you. It’s who you are that matters.

One thing about discovering a truth: first you live it, and after you experience the transformative results, it is real for you unlike anything else. Then you almost become obsessive about sharing it. I think that’s why people who discover God or yoga or even a new diet — a way to better themselves — proselytize. It’s a fundamental human desire to

I so often forget the lessons. So I write for him. A guide, perhaps, to the future. To the self that will one day look back and nod, knowing.

The things I carry are my thoughts. That’s it. They are the only weight. My thoughts determine whether I am free and light or burdened. Regardless of whether the world is exploding or celebrating, my inside determines the quality of what I experience outside.

If there’s a definition of freedom, I think it’s this: living life on your terms. And Werner was the freest man I’ve known. I miss him terribly.

knowing that helps me immensely. I know that regardless of the situation or whatever the external experience is, I choose who to be in this moment. I choose what to feel in this moment. Often it feels like we’re on autopilot, but if you examine your thoughts closely, you’ll know that not to be true. It is always a choice.

Hemingway, whenever he was stuck in his writing, would tell himself to write one true thing. A true sentence. Then, he would write another. And another.