Published: 6/05/2025 | FJSA Staff
FJSA Blog / Amanda’s Letters
Hello from Lowell Work Camp in Ocala, FL.
I recently turned 30 (July 6) and wanted to share a few things with you.
30 Thoughts For 30 Years
1. Time is the greatest gift of life. Value it. Appreciate it. Give it to people. Don’t waste it.
2. The greatest freedom I will ever have is the freedom to choose my attitude. (Viktor Frankl said that.) So with that, I want my attitude always to reflect these things: hard work, honesty, compassion, kindness, patience, humility, love, and humor.
3. Not everyone needs to know your plans. Secrets are a form of currency. Be careful who you give that kind of ammunition to.
4. You can’t expect others to act as you would act. So don’t set your expectations on others as high as you place them on yourself.
5. You can do hard things. (Glennon Doyle taught me that)
6. Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today (page 417, the big book).
7. Seven has consistently been an unlucky number in my life, but luck can always change. By the way, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
8. You have to love yourself FIRST. This past year, I received such good advice about overcoming my fear of disappointing people. I realized I was putting more effort into not disappointing others, so I often left myself disappointed. I’ve found peace in disappointing others before I ever disappoint myself again. I found out how to love myself IN PRISON. Crazy.
9. You don’t learn to swim without almost drowning. But do what Dory said, just keep swimming.
10. Love can find you in the most unexpected places. (emphasis on most!!!!! Shoutout to LWD)
11. Go on adventures. Make the memories. You never know when you’ll need to look back on happy moments. I’m so thankful I have so many.
12. Books are my go-to escape. I’ve read over 500 in 2 and 1/2 years!
13. Writers write. Everyday. Even if it’s just a word, write it down. Whatever it is. Just write. Write poorly, well, misspell, no punctuation, no climax, no point. Just write.
14. I could not possibly survive without music.
15. I’m really, really freaking good at volleyball. And volleyball has been the best thing to ever happen to me. I can’t imagine how hard this time would be without it.
16. You realize what’s really important when it’s ALL taken away from you. For me, it wasn’t what I thought would hurt (my phone, my bed, my freedom). It’s my parents, my brother, and my friends. I miss them so much, it physically makes me sick. Just keep swimming.
17. It’s so cliché, but you really do find out who your friends are. Some of the people I thought would be in my life forever have abandoned ship. And some people, I thought, who would easily forget about me, have stuck around the most. (Okay, Tim McGraw, I see you.)
18. Chase your dreams, every single one of them. Find your dream, chase it, change your dream, chase that one. Keep changing, keep chasing.
19. Laugh. Loudly, quickly, often.
20. You’re entitled to say no to anything that goes against what makes your heart happy. And you don’t owe anyone an explanation. No. It’s a full sentence.
21. Don’t drink and drive. It destroys families. It ends lives. Nothing, absolutely nothing good comes out of it. That Uber that seems expensive? WAY cheaper than a Delgado and a DUI. Less painful than hurting someone. Seven (7) years away from home because I didn’t catch a ride home. Just order the damn Uber.
22. Fish are friends, not food!!!!! (Sorry if this offends all you seafood-loving folks out there, but fish are the sewage of the sea-ew)
23. One day at a time. If that seems unmanageable, try an hour, a minute, a second. Count to 60. No, seriously, before you go on, count to 60 right now…………….. see? You only have to do that 1,439 more times, and the day will be gone. No biggie:)
24. My favorite number. So here are some of my favorite quotes:
- “Don’t complain and never explain.
- ” Explaining is fear, preparing its case.”
- “What if we decide that it is strength, not weakness, to let other people’s pain pierce us?”
- “When things are easy, a person doesn’t really learn about themselves.”
- “It’s what a person does at the moment of his greatest struggle that shows him who he really is.”
- “Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”
- “Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
- “The ability to embrace uncertainty leads to ultimate freedom.”
- “The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, dripped in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.”
- “It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.”
- “Brave does not mean feeling afraid and doing it anyway. Brave means living from the inside out. Sometimes being brave requires letting the crowd think you’re a coward. Sometimes being brave means letting everyone down but yourself.”
- “If your life was a book, would you like your character?”
25. The good news is that nothing lasts forever. The bad news is that nothing lasts forever. Rough days pass. So do good days. Just keep swimming.
26. You can be a naturally good person and still make mistakes. Big mistakes. Forgive yourself. Sometimes mistakes don’t require a consequence; they only deserve forgiveness.
27. I was 27 when I came to prison. So young, so naive. I have genuinely grown and changed so much. I don’t even recognize the 27-year-old version of me, but my heart goes out to that scared, lonely, broken girl. And honestly, I’m so damn proud of her and how she has fought, learned, matured, and blossomed. I’m a completely different person now. I deserve the compassion and forgiveness I show myself. This road hasn’t been easy, but I’m still swimming.
28. Find what you’re passionate about and do it. Be obsessed with it. Enjoy it, every day, every second, every single chance you get. Most people spend their entire lives searching for something they love.
29. You can’t change people. All you can do is meet them where they are and love them anyway.
30. Never give up. Life is beautiful, tough, adventurous, exhausting, fulfilling, chaotic, serene, and WORTH LIVING.
Thanks for reading. Love you all.
Amanda
