This is My Answer To The Question: Do You Wish You Never Went to 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 from people I just met, 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.

I did make those choices.

I am a federally convicted felon and will be one until I die. I did bring myself to the brink of planning how I would end my life.

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