“My purpose in life is to become one with LOVE. To experience LOVE in all her vast omnipotence and mystery. To gratefully accept her gifts, nurture her desires and share in her abundance with everyone without regard.”
My name is Sherman Lester, I am 47 years old, a father and a recovering alcoholic. The statement above is my personal mission statement. My “source code” in 3 sentences. It’s brevity however should not be mistaken for a clumsy ephemeral hodgepodge of words. There is weight behind each idiom. Weight representative of the pain I have caused myself and others. Pain that I have now dedicated my life to healing.
This purpose was founded a few years ago after stumbling upon a cornerstone of personal truth, that; all my life I had been living out of a sense of FEAR. This fear manifested itself in the form of substance abuse, religious extremism and criminal episodes. I discovered after reading “As A Man Thinketh” by James Allen and “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles that : EVERYTHING I EVER NEEDED IN LIFE I WAS GIVEN! AND EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED I ALREADY HAD WITHIN ME. I only needed to believe it and work towards it’s success. A positive belief in it’s success rather than a negative belief in it’s failure.
So immediately I began to work on constructing a positive outlook for rest of my life. It was here that I discovered a a lecture Michael Santos gave to U.C Berkley students where he discussed reading Socrates while awaiting trial in jail and how he realized through those writings that he had broken the social contract. He went on to define three ways to rebuild that trust; 1) Education 2) Measurable Contribution to Society 3) Building a Robust Social Network. Mr. Santos had blazed a trail that I could build upon. So, I established four primary goals to accomplish in rebuilding my life; 1) Obtain a PhD in Criminal Justice/Criminal Psychology by 2032 (age 55) 2) Create a Mental Health Plan with clear objectives and a professional support network. 3) Create a Step by Step Iterative Release Plan that includes measurable Contributions to Society. 4) Build a robust social network.
Today I am working diligently to accomplish those tasks. I am finishing my first year of studies since I enrolled in Victor Valley College. I have completed 8 of the 16 courses needed to achieve my Associates Degree with a 3.8 GPA. I am on track for that PhD by 2032. I am also a Tutor in the education department of the prison and teach two classes on nights and weekends, in addition to my fulltime employment with Unicor where I work as a Production Clerk.
I have contacted the prison Psychology Department to develop a mental health plan and am currently on the waiting list for Trauma and Resolve, two classes which promise to assist me in developing a thorough mental health plan beyond release.
I have developed an Iterative Release Plan which includes building two companies that will both contribute to the society I have injured and offer me meaningful work upon my release.
Finally, thanks to Prison Professors, I hope to use this platform to find Mentors and a robust social network that will help me stay accountable, and secure the necessary resources to achieve my purpose. Following closely behind Mr. Santos I am certain I will earn my freedom and more importantly help heal myself and my community.
