This kind of "psychological courage" is essential to our health and happiness because it allows us to face up to our lives. To acknowledge and even confront the addictions and lies, fears and mistakes we make so that we can move into them and beyond them.

During May, ALS Awareness Month, let's pay special tribute to my sister Nell, all the others living with this disease, and those who have gone before them. Think of them the next time you take a step. Embrace your child. Speak softly to your loved one.

The practice is to acknowledge our fear and embrace it rather than deny or run from it. To embrace our fear means we are making a conscious choice not to allow it to define who we are or what we can accomplish.

We all have goals and we all have fears about achieving them, but it's how we handle those fears that determine whether or not -- and how quickly -- we get there.

How's that for a rich lesson? In real life, flexibility is synonymous with playfulness and open-mindedness. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, "We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." Sounds a lot like rigidity, if you ask me.

The propensity to get lost in what should have been or what might be one day is an escape from what is. Being present, being mindful, being intentional about what matters to you is a daunting task even without technology grabbing your attention like it is entitled.

Even a small step in the right direction can have a snowball effect in bringing you closer to the joyful, purposeful life you are meant to live. I hope you will make that small step today!

Harriet Tubman always remembered to ask for direction and then listen for the answer. The way was always made clear. What stands between me and that kind of guidance? Remembering to ask.

In 14 quick years, you'll enter high school. It might not seem "quick" to you, but trust me, 14 years is nothing. Regardless, don't sweat it. It will be fine. Even when it's not, even when the air feels so thick it is hard to breathe, know that you'll come out the other end and do great things.

Writing is just one manifestation of this tension, this nagging, lifelong struggle to be you or be perfect -- to live a messy, real, vulnerable life, or an edited one. In writing, you get to arrange things just so, like a museum curator piecing together the perfect exhibit.