Life isn't always great, but it's all about how we react to things.

You take wins where you can get them because they're not easy to come by. You win at the major-league level, and you've done something.

I've been a part of a couple of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia nights, and watching the Dead's fan base be so passionate reminds me of what Jerry was so much about, making the community a better place.

I got traded in the middle of an injury - my ankle injury - so in '09, I came back and just kind of flukishly had some success. I was far, far from healthy. I came back in 2010 still nursing that ankle injury. Yeah, it was a rough, rough go. My first few years in Chicago were not much fun.

To be called a Cy Young award winner is something I could have never imagined ever happening to me. I'm just always amazed at the blessings that came my way over the years.

I think I was about seven years old, and I remember I was at Moffat Road Baptist Church, where I grew up with all my friends and family and probably didn't understand nearly enough, but I knew enough to understand I wanted to be saved and wanted Jesus to be Lord of my life. What an awesome experience.