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This Guy and His Mistakes

Littleme

This is me in first grade. I was six years old. (Please forgive the college-freshman Photoshop job. Moral of the story: Back up your files, kids.)

This was the year I first talked to a girl close to my age. This is two years after my brother was born, two years before I would get my first detention (for shouting the word "boobs" during recess), 6 years before I would pick up a guitar, 9 years before I would pick up a camera and 16 years before I would start full-time work. 

At this age, I had not yet driven anything. I had not yet studied anything voluntarily. I didn't know who Nirvana or AC/DC were. I hadn't yet watched Star Wars. I barely knew how to read. I hadn't chosen my college major, I hadn't decided to play basketball, I hadn't even taken a photo. This picture shows a pure John Nelson. (Fun fact: My posse referred to me as "Johnathon" back then. My parents called me - and still call me - "J.R.") 

Anyway, heres the point of this whole post: It tugs at my heart strings to think about the decisions I made between when this picture was made and now. Not that they were bad, but I want to take away the bad parts. The mistakes. Oh, the mistakes. 

But what are we without bad decisions? We're quiet. We're unknowing. We're green. We're inexperienced. 

These mistakes - and triumphs - have made me who I am today. (Well, I guess I should also give some credit to my fair Norwegian genetics.)

As Wayne Gretzky put it: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

I've taken my share of shots, but the game ain't over yet.

Although I've made a wide range of mistakes in the past 18 years, I've also made a lot of good decisions. The best of which - without a doubt - was to marry Stacy. 

Here's to the decisions we'll make in the next 18 years and beyond.