Ten Awesome Things About Yours Truly

This interesting challenge comes from Rick Henry Christopher!

For this challenge, we have to write about ten things we appreciate about ourselves. Here goes everything!

Ten Things I Appreciate About Me

1. For those of you who may not know from my bio, I wore a badge and a gun for a significant portion of my life. And I've been in more than one situation where it would have been legal to use a firearm. I was properly trained to understand the legalities and ramifications. And it was never about comfort with the idea of using a gun. It always came down to whether it had to be done or not. Even as others thought differently, I knew I didn't need to kill the person on the other side of the situation.
2. I have a future. The future is there because you wake up breathing. It doesn't matter what the rest of the world might tell you, as long as you believe you have one, it's yours. That being said, I've learned through the past year how much life means, particularly after facing the existential threat of Stage IV cancer that's already spread extensively through the body. I'm still alive and kicking.
3. There is a right and a wrong behind all the confusion in today's world. Some people see it clearly, and some people's views are skewed by hatred and ignorance. One of the things I deeply appreciate about myself is that I don't hate. It wasn't always the case. There was a time not so long ago that I was filled with hatred. Being able to let go of unnecessary feelings so strong they were weighing me down, and finding the strength to do that for myself, is something I've come to appreciate.
4. The sinner's touch wasn't enough to pollute my soul. That means that despite all the dark things I've been exposed to, I was left with the ability to do what was right for people who needed it when I had the opportunity. What feels like a lifetime ago, I had the chance to help a young girl in trouble. I knew the world was ugly and mean. When a kid we knew was facing homelessness and not finishing high school, I had the extra space. The poor thing thought she'd strike the same deal with me as she had the man of the house in the other family she'd stayed with for a year. It told me how ugly the world was for some people.
5. I'm still figuring out what I want to be. I've always explored life. There are so many ideas that float through our heads as young men that it's impossible to tell what we'll end up as when we're adults. I've been fortunate enough to have tried almost everything I ever considered. Having had a colorful life, I won't have many regrets that involve not trying. Considering how the world today appears to be, and how the doctors keep telling me my chances are slim, I deeply appreciate this about myself.
6. One of my traits is that I will call things like I see them. If I'm on your side, it's because you're being reasonable and likely doing the right thing. If I'm not, it's because you're being unreasonable, and you're not doing the right thing. Too many people are biased these days, and in my view, even the devil gets it right once in a while, so give credit when it's due.
7. Having been a cop and a jail sergeant, and spending my life around professionals more intelligent than I was, I learned a lot. I learned a lot about the law, which means I have a better understanding of much of the world's insanity today.
8. The scariest time in my life was something that I survived, and even thrived at. No, it wasn't the cancer diagnosis. It was the 1990s, after finding myself as the youngest single father I have ever heard about in my area. I had no idea what I was doing, and certainly wasn't the pick of the litter of fathers. But that is and always will be my greatest accomplishment: raising my son and getting to see what the possibilities within him truly were.
9. Have you ever saved someone's life? I wasn't trained, and the call I made was outside of the lines, but I was right. When a young mid-twenties female prisoner started going into distress, I saw something that made me instinctively move her to the head of the line. Somehow, I figure things out that others can't. I've managed to outsmart far more educated people and answer questions I wasn't trained even to be someone hearing the questions.
10. I don't have the power to beat what I can't control, and I know it. So, part of my self-appreciation is not sweating the small stuff. In time, I will either figure things out or I'll find someone else who can help me. Gone are the angsty feelings that once set me off. I have no more wars to fight with gangsters, bad guys, or bullies. I have nothing to prove to anyone but the doctors telling me to have my final affairs in order. And that's proving that death hasn't earned me yet.

Well, those are all of my top ten things about me that I appreciate. I hope you've all enjoyed getting to know me better.