I had the chance to spend this week with three different guys.

Wait a minute…this is not what you think. This isn’t about romance or dating (sorry Mom). This is about  three different guys who picked my week up from the trenches of chaos and made me feel inspired once again. Each of them breathing desperate words of advice into the rear view mirror of my speeding by life, helping me pause and understand things I’d otherwise try to brush off for another time.
1) Brad Meltzer
He’s an author and I geeked out getting to finally meet him in-person this week. I geeked out so hard, that I had to practice saying “Hi, I’m Jen Glantz” out loud 15 times before meeting him (just so I would remember). Brad means a lot to me because before he was a beaming ray of success, he was rejected again and again and again.

“We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day.”
― Brad Meltzer

2) Chris Carrabba

Remember him? He’s the lead singer of Dashboard Confessional and I’ve had a musical crush on him since I was 13. On Friday, I went to Dashboard Confessional alone. By myself. A serious of random events, including talking to a complete stranger, led me back stage for a one-on-one moment with the teenage dream.

“I don’t care if I’m cool or not. I’ve always been kind of an awkward person anyway.” – Chris Carrabba

2) Ray

My 83-year-old business tutor and Saturday afternoon date. He told me this week that it bothers him how fearful I am. That he doesn’t want me to say words like 401k & “what if it doesn’t work out” & “I don’t know what to do next.” He told me to get out of bed in the morning and do something I normally wouldn’t do. He’s 83 and he tells me that I sound, sometimes, like I am too.