FROM THE FIELD
Dispatches from someone who learned the hard way.
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July 8, 2026
Into the Lion’s Den
Read More →I remember the air was warm. I’m sitting on the patio of a friend’s house, looking out over his backyard, untamed wildlife in the background. The air was still. It was late in the afternoon, the sun starting to set, and my friend, who I was enjoying a cigar with, casually mentioned that I should […]
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July 2, 2026
Hope Is a Drug Worth Sharing
Read More →Hope is a drug worth sharing. I’m standing in line to get food. If you’ve never had to do it, let me tell you — it’s a miserable experience. This isn’t a restaurant. This isn’t a choice. When you stand in line waiting for chow that is government food provided by the lowest bidder, this […]
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June 29, 2026
The Day I Cursed God on a Hill
Read More →I want to tell you about the lowest point of my life. Not prison. People always assume it was prison. It wasn’t. The lowest point came before that, on a small hill not far from my house, where I dropped to my knees on the rocks and screamed at God until my voice gave out. […]
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June 22, 2026
The Money in the Trash Can
Read More →I was a garbage man in federal prison. That was one of my jobs. I rode on the back of a trash truck and picked up garbage. And not just anywhere. I picked up trash at the houses of the people who worked there. The guards. The staff. They lived right there on the prison […]
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June 16, 2026
The 3 A.M. Phone Call
Read More →It’s just after 3:00 a.m., and my phone rings. The room is dark. The air conditioning is running. It’s cold. I’m in Hawaii, and she’s in California — so it’s already 6:00 a.m. her time. And I see my wife’s name on the screen, which is unusual, because nobody calls you at 3 a.m. with […]
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June 16, 2026
Helping Others While You’re Still Broken
Read More →CHAPTER FIVE · BETA VERSION You don’t have to wait until you’re whole to start helping. In fact, waiting might be the thing that’s keeping you from becoming whole. There’s a comfortable lie we tell ourselves when we’re rebuilding: I’ll help others once I have my life together. Once I’ve figured it out. Once I’m […]
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June 9, 2026
One More Burpee
Read More →In the beginning, one of the first promises I made to myself was that I was going to do a burpee challenge. I made it up on the spot. No plan. No grand strategy. I just decided, right there, that I was going to do 20 burpees a day. Now that might not sound like […]
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June 9, 2026
Daily Discipline as the Foundation of Rebuilding
Read More →CHAPTER FOUR · BETA VERSION Motivation is a lie. It comes and goes and cannot be trusted. What actually rebuilds a life is discipline — boring, unglamorous, non-negotiable daily systems that work whether you feel like it or not. Nobody comes out of a dark period fired up and ready to conquer the world. The […]
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June 2, 2026
I was Drunk on Ego
Read More →THE HEROIN DRIP OF EGO · BETA VERSION I have never been drunk a day in my life. Never high. Never done a drug of any kind, ever. I’ve actually got this weird animosity toward the whole thing — somewhere deep in my guts I always figured that needing something to make you feel a […]
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June 2, 2026
Self-Forgiveness: Mistakes Don’t Define You
Read More →CHAPTER THREE · BETA VERSION Most people want to skip this chapter. They think the hard work is in the discipline, the hustle, the rebuilding. It’s not. The hardest work is right here — in the quiet moment when you decide to stop being your own worst enemy. There’s a particular kind of torture that […]