Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what's right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.

Being honest about where you come from and what your story is is the only way to connect to other people, to really connect with them.

You never know when the next person to shake your hand at an autograph session, or the next guy you bump into on line at the pizza parlor, that could be your best friend for the rest of your life. Or it could be the person that two years later pushes you out of the way of a speeding bus. I mean, you just don't know.

Don't eat till you're full, eat till you're tired.

Your worst parts of your life, the things that you're ashamed of will become your strongest assets in a very quick amount of time. And the implication in that is your story is all that you have so passing it on to someone else who is struggling behind you coming up the ladder helps them. And so in the spirit of service in recovery we often talk about the power of our own stories to connect with other people and show them that they too can get well. I have found that not only is that true in the recovery world, but it is true in the social world in the social milieu in which I exist.

I think our former first lady said it last month in one of her first speeches since leaving the White House, I think I'm getting the quote nearly right- "Who could possibly be against feeding children wholesome, good food?" Well, it turns out there are people who are against feeding children wholesome good food and there are people who are against solving our homelessness problem, they're against solving our food security issues and by and along political lines.

I love wine, I love wine reps, I love everything about the drinking world. In fact, as a recovering alcoholic, I adore the drinking world. I can't participate in it any longer and the only thing I don't like are people who don't listen to the words that are coming out of someone else's mouth. Which is why I try very hard to listen to the words that are coming out of someone's mouth.