It’s early, 5:31am doors unlocked, I am tired, it’s hot, no air conditioning in our rooms for over a week now, and all we have been told is, “we are working on getting it fixed”. Each and every day, I miss being home, and see things so differently in life.
Today I read my daily devotionals and one of the books caught my attention because it is a daily “struggle” we as inmates deal with on a daily basis. The Bible verse for today May 21 is, Numbers 11:1 and the reading helps me understand how to avoid certain things other inmates complain about things to each other, examples like “No one ever goes home early”, “The food is horrible, I wouldn’t go eat if I were you”, “Be careful with ‘so and so’, they don’t help anyone”. If I lived my days listening to what others say here, I would never go to the dining room to eat, I would end up agreeing with them without really knowing the truth. We need to be grateful for what we have, even if we are within these walls, and trust that whatever God has for us, will be perfect. I can’t tell you how many times I have been told the dinner meal here is going to be disgusting, and when I get there, I am constantly hearing others saying how good it was. Time and time again, I have noticed how not worrying about things, having a strong faith, and keeping an open mind on things has lead me to live a more humble, easygoing lifestyle, even in prison.
Going forward I hope to be a mentor for other inmates who are new to the compound, with positive reasoning, help them find ways to keep a healthy mindset and can help guide them through these tough times.
