“I can learn from someone else’s mistakes.”

When I was young I had a cavalier disregard for danger. Most young people do. You know, that sense of invincibility that we’ve all had one point in time that makes us feel like we’ll live forever. Maybe it was what I considered “dangerous” that was problematic. Because I was sure that bad things only happened to bad people who did bad things. Right? Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not true. Bad things happen to good people all the time  . . . and I just happened to be one of them.

I made poor choices and  I got hurt. But fortunately I lived to tell about it. And that’s the blessing in disguise.

While I wouldn’t have chosen to be brutally attacked, held at gunpoint, and assaulted with acid, it happened and I’m here. I have chosen to use my scars as a tool to teach and inspire. Nothing brings me greater joy than to hear a young woman tell me, “I listened to your story and I learned from your mistakes.”

(Some of my favorite girls . . . Family Focus, July 2015)