Learning to Believe

When I was almost 21 years old, my grandmother died and then a few days later a girl broke my heart. I fell into a spiral. I started going to the bar on my 21st birthday and from then on went almost every night. It was a wild self-destructive phase that lasted for about six months.

I became good friends with a few guys who frequented the same bar. They were older than me. Some of them had their lives together pretty well; others were barely holding on. Two of them are now dead.

But they had a positive influence on me. I can still hear their voices saying, "you're going places” and “you will do amazing things." They always believed in me.

Twenty years later, I realize that my inner confidence began with them. They instilled in me a belief in myself and a determination that I might not have realized had my life never crossed paths with theirs.

RIP Ryan & John