Today I am still riding a natural high I have had since Sunday. That feeling was due to me getting a visit from my daughter who I have not seen in ten years and my cousins who I have not seen in 13 years. Being able to see them face to face and interact with them was amazing. All it really made me do was come back to my dorm and brainstorm about life after prison. I thought of how will I become a success after leaving prison. Because to be honest I am not a first-time offender. It really made me think of why is this prison so much of a revolving door for inmates. And that bright light above my head went off. It’s because our best thinking got us into the current situation that we are in. When I did my last sentence I spent my time idle, getting into trouble and utilizing my same criminal thinking. So when my release came of course my plan was to get out and do the right thing, but what was doing the right thing? I spent my time not changing my mind frame so I got out the same as when I went in. So you can only imagine it did not take long for me to return to the place where I sit now with a 30-year sentence. This is why it was and is imperative that I work on my thinking and enrich my mind with things other than negativity. So I started with learning things that would help me out financially like understanding real estate investing. I have taken up Business 101 and other stock market investing classes. But success is more than financial stability too. Success to me is being able to give back to the community I help destroy by being a mentor. So I constantly on a daily basis give guidance to the younger inmates that I am around at my institution. Success to me is being able to get home and just being able to be that father to my daughter who needs her daddy in her life. I broke and affected more than just my life with my poor decision. Success to me is understanding that I have some strikes against me and nothing is going to come easy to me. I will have to fight to show that I am a changed man and that I deserve to be a part of society. And I know that comes with time. My road to rehabilitation can only start with me making the decision to change and that choice was made back in 2015. And it seems almost every day something reminds me of the work I got to put in so that I will be ready for the world when my day comes to be free. Now I look at my mind like a stomach. It will eat anything I feed it. So I am conscious now of what I let my mind get ahold of.
