I was 15 years old when I got involved with drugs. Yes, marijuana is a drug. It's not crack or heroin, but it is still a drug. The only way I could get it was by involving myself with people who were on a fast track to failure in life, i.e. thugs, thieves, dropouts, and losers in general. I went to juvenile hall 3 months before my 16th birthday, and I got out 1 month after my 18th birthday. I've done terrible things to people who didn't deserve it, and I've had terrible things done to me.

I've been homeless before. I've been hungry before. I've been lonely, I've been hurt, and I've been afraid.

It took me a long time to get my shit together and become a man that I am proud to be. A long, painful time. I should have listened to my parents, rather than thinking I knew better than them. If I had, it would have saved me from an awful lot of unnecessary hardships in life.

I want you to do something. Get yourself a notebook and make a list of everything that's important to you right now at this very moment. Put it away somewhere and don't look at it again for the next several years. On your 30th birthday, I want you to open that notebook and read it.

You will be amazed at how stupid it all sounds to you then.