“Are you clinging to your anger like a safety blanket?” I actually went to exclaim, “No!”, to ridicule the notion, but I could feel it in my body that I would have been lying. This was news to me. That was on a Friday, and the cognitive dissonance sparked by my therapist’s question sat with me like a thick fog. I had grown up believing my temper was inherited from my father and that he might have the secret to overcoming my inner demons. Unfortunately, I was too angry to speak to him for most of my life. I had tried so many affirmations and breathing techniques that I was sure only a therapist could save me. After several days of sitting with the discomfort sparked by her question, a new thought showed up: “Your willingness to be destructive is only helpful when you don’t know that a less-destructive option is possible.” The worst-case scenario only makes sense when you stop believing in better. You don’t need to act on fear when you know you are loved.

August and its tiny miracles helped me come to understand that “perfectly imperfect” is more than just a cliche phrase. This realization is only a few days old but is already easily one of the most empowering lines of thought to ever cross my mind, helping ease much of my anxiety and fear into trust and confidence.

The future doesn’t exist until you create it, and you put a cap on your otherwise limitless potential when you allow fears about time to deter you from the path that you know is yours. Regret is living in the past and anxiety is living in the future. It’s hard to imagine the magic of being in the moment if you never learn to be truly present.

I used to think of greatness as a measure of something within you, but this way of thinking will trick you into thinking you can only be as great as you were yesterday. Now though, I understand that greatness is a reflection of the decisions you make and how you utilize the aspects of your self that make you unique. This framework alleviates me from allowing yesterday’s failures to limit or stunt tomorrow’s dreams.

“…And in the same way that vulnerability begets vulnerability, your authenticity might permit another to live more honestly.”

Herein lies the value of curiosity. Whereas complacency makes you rigid and stagnant, curiosity opens you to move with the flow of life.

“Permission to Believe in Better”, a speech I delivered as the keynote speaker at Arizona State University’s Next Generation Service Corps conference.

In January I realized that history without context is meaningless, and history with the wrong context is manipulative.