Nearly everyone has faced difficult decisions growing up, some with the potential for life-changing results. I was no different. The most common sentiments expressed to me in my childhood home were statements like, "Do you even know what you're doing." "They don't want you there." "You won't learn anything by reading that book." I quickly learned that no one there was going to go out of their way to offer encouragement for the thngs I hoped to accomplish, and I often wondered if they were just defending their own regfusal to take risks due to the fear of failure or was it me? In my book, Reaching For Fireflies, I rejected the confined route others were taking and decided to reach outward to a brighter, more wide-open path for myself. Once I was finally old enough to get out and separate myself from an often toxic home environment, I began to drastically change. As an adult, new faces and challenges appeared as I continually questioned "the way we've always done things" and that impelled me to deviate from other people's fervent need for predictability. It's easy to succumb to incessant derision, but the easy route often begets mediocrity. My life has been full of decisions, risks, and failures but also joy, love, success, and independence. Fueled by my desire to be unfettered and to accomplish more, I was able to follow my dreams, pursue my passion, and share my life with the most beautiful spirited woman on the fact of the earth

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