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on track and feeling good about yourself regardless of what life throws at you.
    David, from Portugal, was born with spina bifida and wrote to tell me that when he was younger, he was depressed because people treated him cruelly, as if he was of less value than others. For a time, he thought about giving up, but then he decided to take control of his own life and not let bullies determine how he felt. David decided to fight for his dreams and to stay positive no matter what challenges he faced, and it changed his life.
    “I usually keep a smile on my face, and it makes me happy that people like you, Nick, keep a smile too,” David wrote. “I have no complaining for what I became. I fought a lot, I went down, I came up. I never gave up. Death nearly caught me twice, but here I am. All I want is that people never give up on their smiles. That’s why I try my best to help others. I made mistakes, and I regret that. But I will fight every day to get better.”
    There is no guarantee bullies won’t come after you or that every day will be a walk in the sunshine, but as long as you refuse to let anyone else take control of your feelings about yourself or your dreams and goals, you should be okay.
    Step 2: Decide Where You Are Going and Stay on the Road
    When you are behind the wheel, you take responsibility for getting where you want to go. So if you want a better life or the best possible life, then you’ll have to prepare yourself to claim it by staying on the right road and doing all you can to avoid getting lost along the way.
    You must be willing to work for what you want. You can’t allow yourself to settle for something less; so make sure you set realistic goals and expectations and then commit to achieving them. The cool part is that when you take the wheel with a destination in mind and a commitment to making it, the journey becomes much more enjoyable and it becomes more difficult for anyone—including bullies—to knock you off the road.
    Step 3: Fuel Up
    Fueling up is about figuring out what gets your motor running, what energizes you, what drives you, and what keeps you going even when the road gets rough or you just want to pull over and take a nap. Most cars run on leaded, unleaded, or diesel fuel. Some newer cars are powered by batteries or a combination of both batteries and fuel.
    People have a much wider selection of power sources. We are all driven to some degree by the need to make money, but for some people it’s all about making as much money aspossible. I don’t think that’s the greatest driving force, but it’s important to know if that’s what fuels you. Instead, I recommend being driven by faith, to make a difference in the world, to use your talents and gifts in service to God and His people.
    Some driving forces are better than others. Some can take you to a dead end quickly; others can fulfill you and make the world a better place for everyone. If your driving force is just to make money, I’m not sure you’ll ever find happiness. But if your driving force is to use your gifts in service to others, there’s a good chance that you’ll always have what you need. I know this because there have been many times when I had very little money, but because I was traveling the world encouraging other people and leading them to God, I felt like I had all I needed and wanted.
    Step 4: Get in Gear and Put the Pedal to the Metal
    I don’t know about you, but when I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time sitting around with my friends and having conversations like this:
    “What do you want to do?”
    “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
    “Wanna go see a movie?”
    “I don’t know; do you?”
    “I don’t know; do
you
?”
    We would go on like that for hours and hours, neverleaving the couch because we couldn’t decide what to decide. We couldn’t get it in gear, and as a result, we often blew entire days doing nothing, experiencing nothing, accomplishing nothing.
    That is not how you