I Lost it All: 13 Invaluable Life Lessons Learned

On September 30, 2013, I had “it all.”

On October 1, 2013, I lost it all.

It didn’t happen immediately; that day was merely a catalyst for a river of loss that no damn could ever contain.

On October 1, 2013, I was arrested by the FBI and charged with one count of mail fraud.

I defrauded a tech giant for just under a year, and it caught up to me on October 1.

No one took anything from me; it was my choices and my choices alone that lost it all.

My career was the first to go, then any money I had, my possessions, my homes, cars, and eventually my marriage.

Pre-prison, I was my salary and the status-seeking materialism my salary afforded.

I didn’t know who I was without it, and I was terrified to find out; what if it wasn’t enough?

What if I wasn’t enough without money or materialism?

The river of loss ultimately led to losing my identity and, along with it, my will to live.

Fortunately, my best friend visited me in prison and showed me I had worth beyond what I’d always believed made me worthy and enough.

It’s been a decade of reinventing my life from scratch, and when I say scratch…