Flowers Can Grow In Unlikely Places

I moved to LA shortly after graduating from The New York Conservatory For Dramatic Arts. I had $300 to my name at graduation. I come from a pretty big family so I figured I would get $25-50 from just the aunts and uncles on both sides of my family,(10 total) I'd have an extra $200-500 for the trek across the country. Two out of ten ain't bad, I suppose. $75 extra is better than zero. Thank God for Mom and Dad and MawMaw (that's what we call Grandma in West Virginia).I packed my car full of everything that would fit with one of my best friends, Joey. We drove to Charlotte, NC and stayed a night with my Mom before heading west. After leaving NC, I had about $900 to make the trip with hopes of getting hot on the tables in Vegas (which didn't happen by the way). We arrived in LA after a weekend in Vegas and I had about $350 and about two weeks I figured to find a job waiting tables, which I had no experience doing, but my resume said I had plenty and that I was damn good at it. Got lucky and got hired at a restaurant in Beverly Hills. And that's when the journey in LA officially began.I grew up in a "...probably not...if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all" kind of environment. I feel like I heard that phrase more times than I can count as a kid. The majority of the mindset around me was entrenched with pessimism. Somehow, I turned out to be a glass is always half-full kind of guy. I am an optimist at heart. I see the best in the worst. I tend to realize the positive out of the negative. Instead of probably not, I think "why not". Instead of playing it safe, I say take risks. Playing it safe is for kids. Safe is boring. Taking risks can be scary but it is exciting. I'll take scary and excitement over boredom any day of the week.Depending on one's prospective, the odds are always against you or they are with you. Just depends who you think you are and who you believe you can become, and if you really care about what other people or the odds say. They are only numbers. We are all numbers who were brought into this world at a specific time and date, all of which are represented by numbers. So why not give the numbers a whirl, go with or against the odds, and take some chances with the time we are granted here on this mysterious place called earth? Hells yea. I mean, why not, right?