I spent a lot of time in my life being angry. At one point in time, I hated everything and almost everyone. I had a saying for a while, “God, I hate people.” I was so tired of the judgment and condemnation of others toward those different from them, whether it was race or religion, size or shape (or that of their bank accounts). The arrogance with which they treated each other, the unfriendly way they regarded each other in public situations, the way I felt I was treated for so many years by people I encountered every day—at my job, within my family, out in public—by unsmiling faces of unhappy people trudging through their miserable lives.

But when I come back to my moments of clarity it is not with shock but a simple knowing that all is well because the light is still there. Always has been, waiting for me to come back to it. I realized that it is all about choice. You can change what you’re tired of. You can change your thoughts. You can change your life. You can learn to live in the now, the present. You can build a new life. You just have to choose to do so. The power does not lie without. The power lies within you. You just have to know that you deserve it—happiness, peace, love, and joy.