This year, I am the most thankful for the unexpected punches that flew in my direction, often knocking me out of balance and making me work harder to get up again. 

But I am the most thankful for a person named Ray, my 83 year old business tutor, who I met in February when I was a little bit broken and a whole lot of a mess. He’s made me fearless when it comes to failure, to picking up the phone and saying sorry, to realizing there’s no such thing as ultimate dreams. There is only the amount of work were willing to do right now.

Whenever I go see him with doubts or what ifs, he always asks me the same thing: what will it cost you to try? And even if my answer is something exaggerated like my whole savings account or my entire heart, he makes me realize it’s worth it. It’s worth it to put everything you have out there on the table.

Because why not? Being brave, he’s taught me, is terrifyingly beautiful.