I feel like I’ve won the lottery. Not the one where you win money…I still have my money troubles at times just like lots of folks. But I’m realizing that I’m wealthy in so many other ways. For one, I live in a country where I’m free to do what I want and where opportunity exists everywhere. I also have kind, loving and positive friends, a job I love (and awesome co-workers). I get to make music with really talented guys in not one but two different bands. I’m writing a book with one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met. And I get to do it all in my favorite city on the planet.

But the point I want to make isn’t about the things I appreciate about my life but the fact that I do appreciate them. For years, I focused on what I didn’t have and never stopped to notice how blessed I was. I chose to criticize, to have a negative outlook, to worry, to fear. And that’s the important part. I chose to live life that way. Thanks to God giving me the strength to change some things in my life and giving me the vision to see a new way of living, I now choose to see the positive. I choose to be hopeful, and I choose to look at others with love and compassion rather than with disdain and judgment.

Now I’m so grateful for the big things (like being able to put food on the table) and the small things (like driving with the windows down after a spring rain and feeling the cool wind on my face). I decided that I wanted to live a better life, and I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot.