Another awake and another day blessed. I will make the best of the day I was given. I look forward to learning on the edovo platform as this has been very helpful in attaining my goals. I finished the wasted time essay. I hope all the readers of it enjoy it and understand my thoughts in it.
Wasted Time by Fernando Cordova
Whether incarcerated physically or mentally, the term wasted time comes to mind. I question, if due to the incarceration is it wasted time? I also question, would I be who I am today, if I was never incarcerated. Below I will explore the different facets of water time.
Many people that have been through the incarceration journey, have either used the statement or heard it, “They can lock up the body but they can not lock up the mind.” Is this actually true? If I never took the time to free my mind from the cycle of criminality or being a victim, am I really free? Wasted time could apply in this sense. As this is the time that I will never live again. Incarceration can be a time to become healthy and explore our opportunities to find healing. If I leave the system the exact person I came in, or worse, I have wasted time.
Wasted time, I feel, is different for all to define. An addict could have overcome his addiction, a high school dropout could have graduated, or a physically abusive person could have learned why he did what he did. These all can be examples of success. Now on the flip side of the coin, there are some that have learned how to make an illegal income and feel that their time was not wasted.
These same people, I have seen come back to prison without a cent or a person to support them. You tell me, was that wasted time?
Allow me to explain why I feel my journey has not been a wasted time. I come from a home of physical abuse. I have always said to myself “What if I never was incarcerated would I be like my father, an alcoholic that beats my wife?” Would I know how to appreciate my surroundings, as I do now? Would I have met the woman of my dreams? Would have I changed so drastically due to her encouragement? One will never know.
If I were to view my life through the lens of I wasted time because of my lengthy sentences, then it would be true. I feel I did not because I am a better man, friend, husband, father, etc…, because of my incarceration. I have educated myself, I have been introspective, and now I am the best version of myself.
In conclusion, the term wasted time is used so ambiguously. Wasted time should be based on what one feels they have or have not accomplished in life, in a positive aspect of course. That one comes out the best one can possibly be, in order to contribute to one’s family, society, and the world as a whole. If not then we all have just wasted time.
