Don't let your pride or a lack of courage stand in the way of saying you're sorry to people you may have offended.

Now think deeply. What have you done with your life over the past year? How do you feel inside?

You should see my baby pictures. My cheeks hung off my face like water balloons. You can imagine how often I was teased.

My dad told me that when I was born my cheeks were so fat the doctors didn't know which end to spank.

My dad is a good role model for me, and then I had a high school coach that really helped me out when I was struggling and made a big difference in my life.

Being gentle means forgiving yourself when you mess up. We should learn from our mistakes, but we shouldn't beat the tar out of ourselves over them. The past is just that, past. Learn what went wrong and why. Make amends if you need to. Then drop it and move on.

It's hard, but sometimes it is better to have no friends for a time than to have the wrong friends. The wrong group can lead you down all kinds of paths you really don't want to be on. And retracing your steps can be a long and hard journey