My story

I don’t tell this story for pity or revenge—that’s not what I stand for. I tell it because I know what it’s like to be at rock bottom. And I know it’s possible to climb out.

 The Known

Even then, I knew I wasn’t a great husband. I was overweight, broke, and lacked respect. If you want to see a photo from those days, click here.

It wasn’t a good marriage. I married out of desperation, she married for money. That kind of deal never ends well.

Life felt dull, like I was living someone else’s script. I drowned my frustration in food, TV, drinking, and sex. One night, I looked up at a plane cutting through the sky and wished I could be on it, flying far away.

But no matter where I went, I’d still be me.

The one good thing to come out of that mess were my two sons.

The Call To Adventure

The end was inevitable. When my ex made a choice that put the final nail the coffin, I felt relief. I thought I was free.

I was wrong.

When I moved on, she got angry. When I started dating, she got jealous. The more I pulled away, the more she tried to exert control. She knew how much my kids meant to me, so she weaponized them.

She spread lies to my friends and family. Ten-year friendships—gone. She made financial demands. When I refused, she cut off my access to my kids. Courts weren’t much help. By the time the system spit me out, I was dazed, broke, and exhausted.

For a while, I waited for the world to realize the injustice. For someone to save me.

Of course, no one came.

I saw the truth: If no one was coming, I was free to build myself into whoever I wanted.

I vowed two things.

• I wouldn’t let this divorce break me.
• I would do whatever it took to win.

At first, I ran on anger. How dare life do this to me?

I rode that fuel to success — I got in shape, made more money, a new house, my first-ever new car. Five years later, I was worth more than ever before.

But anger is a currency that always collects interest. It seeped into everything—relationships, my health, my peace. I’d lash out at my ex, throw my phone across the room when she texted. I was giving her power.

No matter how much I built, I was still chained to the past.

Transformation

My kids needed me present, not poisoned. One night, watching them sleep, I made a new vow — to be a better man.

But grit alone wouldn’t cut it. I had to let go of anger.

That meant seeing the truth:

• Anger is manipulation, and I’d let myself be played.
• Resentment is poison, and I was drinking it.
• My emotions weren’t the enemy — they were feedback.

I started asking better questions. Is this anger telling me something true? What’s beneath it? Where’s the gift in this?

Those questions opened deeper realizations:

• Her actions freed me from a bad marriage.
• Losing friends cleared space for better ones.
• The unfair court rulings forced me to level up.
• The divorce itself showed what I needed to work on.

I rebuilt, not from a place of reaction, but from wisdom.

Today, I look at the man I was before and say, thank God he died.

Now, I’m strong and at peace.

I have a clear vision, a great relationship, and a life my old self would’ve killed for.

And wherever I go, there I am.