The Things I CAN Control
Today is my daughter, Felecia’s birthday. I would love to be with her, celebrating it, but I am here. Instead, I play a Mickey Mouse birthday song I downloaded onto my tablet over the phone for her and laugh as she laughs at how silly it is. She is 32.
Adam Clausen taught me that I cannot control the outcome, all I can control is my attitude and my intentions. Quarterly changes that bring new officers for the units; a new Warden or captain; Covid-19; delayed moves; cancelled moves; Tru-Link outages; an unanswered phone call by the birthday girl; and a thousand other things that can go wrong on a day-to-day basis….change is inevitable and often frustrating when it interferes with our daily routine.
No matter how monotonous prison is, it seems that no two days are alike. Each day we face a different challenge, and, based on our attitude and responses to those challenges, even if slightly, a different outcome.
Over the years, I have learned to focus on the things I CAN control. My attitude, my intentions….these are things I can control. How I utilize my time, whether the compound is open or on lockdown, is entirely up to me. I can spend it complaining and playing “what-ifs,” or I can spend it adding more tools to my arsenal.
When the day throws us curveballs, we can see them as new challenges and opportunities that will help us grow, or, we can use them as an excuse to sit and complain and talk about what could of been.
