“

I drove Mom to the flea market at Dinner Key Auditorium in the Grove – the place Jim Morrison got arrested for exposing himself at a Doors concert – where she’s been doing more business than most vendors. It’s surprising and gratifying to see how my mother operates in the business world.

“

In the greater outlook of things, having a fiancé or a child was not going to solve my problems.

“

Challenges, shortcomings, mistakes, and flaws are life’s confetti. It makes everything colorful after it passes, lessons are learned, and change is accepted.

“

Life is like a teacher who intends to teach us some lessons that are for keeps. In my 20 years of existence, I’ve come up with seven life lessons that I will cherish in this world. Some lessons are intended for us to learn more. However, there are some that is intended for us to be mature and disciplined in life’s various ways.

“

When working towards a goal there are going to be points where you feel like giving up. You hit a wall. You’re on a plateau. You’re feeling frustrated. You’re wondering when your actually going to hit the mark you aimed for.

“

Try to forget your desired outcomes; try to remove your idea of what you want to accomplish, and just go for it. Our ideas of where we want to be in the future will only limit the present moment.

“

They used to leave out the family’s phone bill hoping you’d see it and offer up some cash, but they got tired of having you remind them to pay it.

“

My path isn’t yours. I can’t tell you what you should have learned in your 20s, because I’m still learning. I can’t tell you what I wished I knew in college, because we didn’t have the same journey, and we won’t. We can’t.