To About Time,

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I’m writing to you from NSW.

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I’ve now been in for over a year – it’s my first (and last) time in. I still haven’t been sentenced but my lawyer has told me I’ll be doing a “substantial” sentence. I’m not writing to you as a guilty man, a number or statistic, but as a human who has made mistakes.

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But one day this will be in my past and I will have moved on. Will I have healed? Probably not. Moving on and healing are two very different things. In the past year I’ve lost all my friends, my house and my job, and the person I love no longer speaks to me. I don’t think I’ll ever heal.

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People create their own versions of you, they believe what they want to believe. Just remember that you’re in control of what people see, not what they believe. Be the person who you were born to be. Be in control of your destiny. Be the best version of yourself. Never allow another person to tell you who you are.

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I don’t need other people to tell me who I am.

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Once this chapter of our lives closes, then perhaps we can start to heal. We can embrace a fresh start, not let fear control us, find a life full of love and trust. It’s up to all of us to open the door and let it inside. I know I will.

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I hope when you read this, no matter who you are or what you’ve done, you embrace the next chapter.