If you could change one thing that happened last year what would it be?

I wouldn't have stopped going to the gym. Honestly, that was the only thing I think I did wrong last year.

Ask me anything

What's the secret to happiness?

Killing the people who make you unhappy.

Ask me anything

Determined to ... Choose?

I have selected a path for myself and determined that I will seek to go down it, following it to what I believe will be an end destination that I need to reach. I did not intend for that to be my destination, but in taking the paths that I have to this point in my life, I've put more distance between where I am and where I originally wanted to be than I had ever expected.

Now I'm left with choices: a) to take a new path to a new place that has the potential to either link me back to my original destination or could lead me to somewhere I hadn't anticipated at all, or b) to continue wandering aimlessly in the woods, trying to find my way to my original destination while struggling through the rough terrain.

As it stands, I'm pretty certain I'm going to pursue option A. I have been excited about the plan for the last few days, but a nervousness has set in. It's crept up on me for the past few hours, and it's the same hesitation that strikes me whenever I consider an option so foreign to the mindset I've held for the past decade; that mindset being that I have to do what I for years have said I want to do. Can I abandon those goals, even if for only a few years?

I have spent a decade wanting to be involved in film. My pursuit of that goal - and every investment of time and money into it - has led me to a point where I am worse off than I would have ever imagined possible. Now, a new option could restore control to my life - by conceding a great deal of control over it for several years.

I have no doubt that I have the mental and physical endurance to succeed in my pursuit of this new option, but my real concern is that thing which has paralyzed my decision-making process in the past: a fear of committing to the unknown. If I embark on this journey, I will be but a single crew member on the ship - with no control over the choice of destination, only over how best I can contribute to its successfully arriving there. Can I handle that? In seeking to empower myself again, can I give up most of what little power I have left?

As frightening as that notion is to me, I know I can. In the last five years, I've tried to help others with problems that have overwhelmed them - it's a role I've gravitated toward consistently. I don't regret a minute of the time that I've spent in relationships with people who ultimately chose paths that led them away from me - paths they must have believed would lead them to somewhere better than where they were with me. But if I don't in this moment confront my own needs, then I will never be of any service to the people I love - because I won't even be of good use to myself.

Option A will put me in direct confrontation with my biggest fear - the uncertainty of the future. It will be a path I will walk alone. No one can join me on this journey. In a way, the first steps forward are a leap of faith.

I have immense faith in myself to do what is right. That's why I'm going to talk to a recruiter. That's why I'm going to seek to enroll in officer candidate school for the US Navy.

I've surrounded myself with friends who all have immense potential within them to do great things. Some have already reached that point; for others it is a long journey with a ways yet to go. All of them are already amazing people in my eyes. I can only hope that in me can be seen the same potential for greatness. I feel like it is there, and I want to unleash it.

I want to show them that I really am what I have believed myself to be all along - a leader, a warrior, and a pillar of support. Most of all, I want control of my life again.

We don't always get the luxury of doing what's comfortable in our lives. Coasting along without confronting our problems does nothing for us. In a way, our fears are all one and the same: a fear of the unknown ... that the repercussions of challenging the thing that embodies our fear will result in a fate worse than anything we can imagine.

I am not going to let my fear prevent me from achieving great things. I hope that my decision can inspire others to confront their own fears. If it does, then I will consider my life a success.