Here’s One Reason Why I’m Grateful I Went to Federal Prison

“Do you wish you were never were arrested by the FBI and that you never went to prison?”

Inevitably this question comes up, whether it be at speaking gigs or podcast interviews.

It’s a valid question and one that, for years, I struggled with.

I wished for a long time that none of it ever happened. I wished I had made different choices; I wished I had listened to my heart when it told me not to commit the fraud.

I wished for a lot of things.

It’s through that wishing that I suffered.

The past can’t be anything other than it is, and wishing it was, no matter how hard I tried, wasn’t going to change it.

Practicing acceptance was the first step in rebuilding and reinventing my life. Every single thing I wished was different was an opportunity to practice acceptance.

Acceptance ended the suffering and opened the door for me to share my story — all with the hope and dream to help one person.

But in the past two years, the answer to that question has evolved.

It’s traveled beyond acceptance, and it’s traveled further than I could have ever imagined.