Lately I have noticed there is a uniform response here to the questions of accountability and positive change, too often I hear, ” I am trying”.
Yesterday I asked on the ladies whom I mentor, ” how would you feel if you were boarding a plane and the pilot came on and said to sit tight, he is going to try to fly the plane! ” ? That may be a bit unsettling, at best, right?
Sesame Street taught me to simply put one foot in front of the other, and then voila, you are doing it.
One of my favorite motivating mantras here has been, ” in this life and in most moments, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution “.
There was a time when I struggled to understand why the actions that led to my incarceration were so wrong. I truly believed that I should have the right to use drugs in my home if I wanted to and saw no real reason why exchanging illegal drugs with other grown folks was such a crime.
There were so many factors I failed to recognize.
In the microcosm here, I can easily see the direct ramifications of being socially irresponsible in your daily practices; I have a clear understanding of the fact that when my actions, choices, habits, etc.. have a negative impact on any portion of the wellness wheel- in other words, if my finances, my family connections, my job, my physical self, my community, the environment or my connection to spirit are touched in an unkind or negative way, or if the connections are severed, I have to make changes or perhaps I would do best in a hermit cave.
Now, I am able to see clearly the error of my ways.
Santos says, ” Success comes from deliberate planning, disciplined execution, and personal responsibility. Too many people wait for external changes, a new law, a lucky break, or someone else’s’ approval. Or they make excuses. In contrast, successful individuals take control of their journey by following a structured, self-directed approach.”
I go the extra mile, print each email that comes from the prison professors, so that I may highlight things that really matter to me, take time to really consume the material in my cell and then place it in a folder where all of the emails are together and I am able to use them for THE PEER SUCCESS PROGRAM (mentorship program), here at Aliceville
As I said, I highlighted the above quote because it is the summation of my success here, as is Santos’ STRAIGHT- A GUIDE.
Attitude, aspiration, action, accountability, awareness, and authenticity.
This straight a guide, which is much in line with the teaching of RDAP, has helped me to become a most effective, confident and genuine version of myself.
Too often here, individuals allow pride, self doubt or lack of motivation to keep them from achieving goals.
I know that perhaps this was once my story as well.
The environment is key; changing the odds, sure there will always be those who can rise up out of circumstance, but as an institution where the outcome, the best-case-scenario, is OWED to the tax payers who fund this joint, it’s imperative to get a good ROI.
The tax payers are the same individuals who the folks in prison were sent away for negatively effecting.
On this same vibe of social responsibility, we are tasked with sending folks out in to the big free world in their healthiest state. We have the opportunity to have a positive effect by creating as many healthy environments here as we may.
The vast wisdom of reform 101, AKA the FIRST STEP ACT, is inline with this concept; infusing more programs, creating a reward system, allowing folks to earn more days towards freedom when they reach achievable goals towards re-entry, etc..
One of the things that has really helped me over these years has been simply WORKING. I worked a few different jobs but if you have been paying attention, you know, I worked as the landscape orderly for the Captain for many years.
As I said, much of what I learned about working with a group, or being a stung, responsible leader and a reliable employee, came from working for the Captain. The problem here is that we have literally hundreds of women on a roster that says they work, but they don’t; it used to be that everyone had to have a job, but this is no longer the situation as there is no budget to pay the majority of the women and sadly, the women here don’t want to work.
Is this simply the world post Covid?
When I think of the effort to translate negative behaviors for healthy habits, I think of how it was to help women to lose weight. If a person goes cold turkey; all the sudden gets up and runs a track, changes their entire diet to a foreign regime etc. the chances of them sticking to it are slim to none. No, it takes a gradual trade off, slow incorperation of good food traded for junk food, walking instead of smoking, reading rather than gossiping, the list could go on.
Having a job would give them the space to learn some of the 8 Attitudes taught in RDAP; responsiblity, willingness, open-mindedness, caring, objectivity to name a few.
For the best ROI, the women here should be required to work or volunteer or something. Especially since FSA credits have been found to merely be, a suggestion to be considered at the end- not a real tangible thing.
