04/06/2026
In 2018, I thought I was dying.
I was 29, married, working in tech, and had just been told I had kidney failure. My doctor said I was at high risk for a heart attack. I hadn’t even turned 30 yet.
I didn’t tell anyone.
I held it in like I always did. Not wanting to scare people. Not wanting to burden anyone. But inside, I had already made peace with the idea that my life might be ending.
And then I made a decision:
If I was going to go, I was going to fight first.
I changed everything.
No more harsh medications. No more ignoring my body. I shifted my diet, committed to healing, started yoga, received regular massage, and began training my body instead of numbing it.
Within months, I went from kidney failure to Stage 2 chronic kidney disease, something I now manage for life.
But what really changed me was something small:
A magnet on my cubicle at work that I stared at every day for years.
“Do more of what makes you happy.”
That became my compass.
After losing my job during COVID, caring for my family through illness, and sitting with my grandfather until his last breath, I realized:
If my life had an endpoint, I wanted to actually live it.
So I left everything that no longer served me, including my marriage, and rebuilt my life from the ground up.
I chose purpose.
I chose healing.
I chose myself.
Today, I’m a massage therapist, not just because it’s a career, but because it saved me.
I believe in this work because I’ve lived it. I know what it feels like to be in pain, to feel stuck in your body, and to think medication is the only way out.
It’s not.
Healing is possible.
Change is possible.
A completely different life is possible.
The person on the left thought his life was ending.
The person on the right knows it was just beginning.
So here’s your reminder:
Do more of what makes you happy.
