Day 315.
When my daughters were younger, may 2 and 4, or even younger, I started teaching them “life lessons.”  Life lesson #1, the first lesson I taught them and the only one I really remember reminding them of, was, “Be the hero in your own story.”  Now, of course, everyone says it, but it seemed more novel back then. It was so important to me that, especially as girls, they played the lead in their lives and looked for bold opportunities, and to flip the script when they seemed the victim. The first lesson came about when my then 3 or 4 year old was so excited after having made a tie-dyed t-shirt in an art class, put it somewhere in the general condo building area, and it went missing. She thought it was stolen (unlikely) and was devastated. So I told her that that was not how the story ends, that she could leave it there or become the hero again, so we went out and bought supplies to make TEN tie dyed t-shirts to replace the missing one, and in our then shoebox of a Brooklyn apartment, and with two little ones who made all sorts of messes, managed to put out tie dyed trays and made ten awesome t-shirts, then took photos of all of them and of her, with a victorious look on her face.

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I still remind myself of life lesson #1, but also that “this is not how your story ends.” Whatever has happened, however many times you’ve failed, you can try again, you can change your life, and you can inspire others with your grit and courage. If you’re knocked low, tell yourself that this is NOT how the story ends. Visualize the next, better, chapter, and keep taking small steps toward it.