My personal mission is to model
the power
of perseverance
with hope and
inspiration, everywhere I go.
To me, this means that no matter what life throws my way,
and life does throw things at all of us, I choose to use every
experience to grow. I’ve learned that I get to decide how
I see and respond to what happens. Like the old saying goes:
I can see the glass as half empty or half full.
It really is that simple. It’s a choice.
My son, Matt, was murdered at the age of 22. In 2007,
at just 21 years old, he had become the
youngest elected city councilmember in Fairfield, California.
Less than 10 months later, he was gone.
My life was shattered. Nothing would ever be the same.
There was a time in my life when I saw everything through
the lens of pain and scarcity.
My glass always seemed half empty.
And not surprisingly,
life felt
heavy, unfair, and overwhelming.
But at some point, through recovery,
community,
faith, and love,
something shifted.I started practicing
gratitude.
I started choosing to see the
good.
And that shift in perspective?
It changed everything.
Suddenly, goodness started
finding me
more easily.
That’s not just some fluffy quote on a
coffee mug.
It’s real. What we focus on multiplies.
I’m so incredibly grateful that today,
I get to practice this mindset. It means
that
more often than not,
I live in a space of beauty and
appreciation.
That doesn’t mean I have it all figured out.
Some days,
I take it one hour at a time.
Other days, one minute at a time.
I can be in peaceful gratitude, and then,
bam!—a car cuts me off,
and I’m in full reaction mode.
But the difference today is:
I don’t have to stay there.
I can pause. I can reset.
One of my favorite daily practices
is listening to the same
audiobook during my two-mile walk.
I’ve heard it dozens of times,
but I always seem to catch
something new.
A phrase. A truth. A message that
lands in a
way it never has before. That’s grace.
Recovery has taught me that same lesson.
We read the same 12 steps.
We hear the same readings.
And yet, every now and then, something
hits differently, like a lightning bolt of understanding,
and I think, “Oh my God, I finally get it.”
That’s the beauty of staying open.
As long as I remain willing and teachable,
the gifts keep coming.
So, why doesn’t everyone do it?
Because it’s also really easy not to.
There were times when I got complacent.
Let my ego take the wheel.
I had to hit a few brick walls
before I was willing to see my part in
the wreckage.
But even those moments? I’m grateful for them too,
because I’m still here. Still learning. Still growing.
My daily prayer is simple:
God, clear my mind and heal my heart.
That prayer grounds me. It reminds me that
I don’t have to have all the answers.
I just need to stay connected to the
Source that does.
To me, that’s wisdom.
And it's a wisdom I try to live and share,
one day, one breath,
one grateful step at a time.
