I always thought every day was a gift, but now I am looking for where to send the thank you note.

Apologies are not pass/fail.

You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.

Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.

Find your passion and follow it. You wont find that passion in things or money. Your passion must come from what fuels you from the inside. It will be grounded in the relationships you have with people and what they think of you when your time comes.

Another way to be prepared is to think negatively. Yes, I'm a great optimist. but, when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst case scenario. I call it 'the eaten by wolves factor.' If I do something, what's the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves? One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist, is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose. There are a lot of things I don't worry about, because I have a plan in place if they do.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.