Owning Your Mistakes.
Let’s be honest,
If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve got a chapter in your life you’d rather skip when telling your story. Maybe it’s a felony conviction, a string of bad choices, a betrayal that cost you everything – or all of the above. I get it. For years, I carried twelve federal felony convictions under RICO like a backpack full of bricks.
I spent a long time trying to outrun it. But here’s the truth I learned the hard way: you can’t build a new life on a foundation you’re still ashamed of.
Owning your past doesn’t mean wearing it like a badge of honor. It means looking it square in the eye and saying, “Yeah, that happened. I did that. And I’m not that person anymore.”
My Lowest Point
I still remember the drive home from the federal courthouse in 1992. Sixty miles of silence. The radio already playing the news. My kids were 14, 12, and 9. My wife was waiting at home with our son who had just been diagnosed with a relapse of his cancer. That was the moment shame stopped being an emotion and became a physical weight.
Owning it hurt. But hiding it was killing me.
Why Shame Keeps You Stuck
Shame whispers two lies: “If people really knew, they’d never accept you.” And “You’re still that person deep down.” Both are false. The opposite of shame isn’t pride – it’s honest ownership.
What I Did (and What You Can Try This Week)
- Write it down – once, privately. One page. No filter.
- Say it out loud – to yourself first.
- Share one small piece with one safe person.
- End with the pivot: “And here’s what I’ve done since…”
Final Thought
Your past is not your prison – it’s your proof. Owning your mistakes without shame doesn’t erase them. It reclaims them.
—Joe