From a young age, I was so eager to break away from the drab little town I grew up in, and lead an exciting life worth telling people about. Life would mean nothing if I didn't stand out from the crowd, be someone -- and in my mind, that somehow equated to being impulsive and reckless.

In my endeavor to create experiences worth telling, instead, I ended up isolating within a self-made fortress of secrecy and shame. I viewed many of the situations I got myself into as unbelievable, feeling that most people didn't or wouldn't believe me in my telling of what happened.

For years, I identified as an outlier with a life no one can relate to, that no one would believe. That is until...I started reading other people's memoirs and stories. And although the vast details of those stories were much different than mine, I could relate to the lessons and wisdom buried inside each of them.

We all have unique stories, and within them lie underlying themes that define the human experience.

I didn't have to be reckless and put myself in dangerous scenarios to leave my mark. Today, I'm learning that simply being here on this Earth is enough.

I was here.