Author of Fortunes

Sitting at a dumpling shop in the suburbs of Seattle, finishing the final sips of a beer with a name I cannot pronounce, our bill is placed on the table. After final pleasantries are exchanged and the awkwardness of how we are splitting the bill is decided, I pick up a fortune cookie. I read my lotto numbers, flip the slip of paper over, digest the wisdom, add “in bed,” and devour the stale cookie.

Then inspiration strikes. As a writer, you have to take it when it comes. Suddenly, I am presented with an opportunity to write my own fortunes for mass consumption. After some overthinking on my part, this is the wisdom I would depart to a full customer on his or her journey toward enlightenment.

Life is a collection of experiences. You decide the rest. Good things happen. Bad things do too. Most of it will be pretty mundane, but you possess tremendous power. You get to decide how to react and what you will do with the collection.

We write our own stories. In the snap of a finger, you will no longer find yourself under the rule of your parents. But long before you leave their protective care, you will begin to write your own story. Every choice, every reaction, and everything thrust upon you will add a new paragraph to that story.

Forgiveness is freeing. We may not be able to ever truly forget, but we can forgive. When we do, we experience…