“The Power of Now”
Lately I find myself thinking more and more about my future. I revisit my release plan, adjusting my business plan, creating more models for success after prison. When I have hard day I think more often of the past. I miss my family so much it hurts, I go back to happier moment prior to my arrest, I begin to think about the things I want to do with my family when I return to make up for all the years of suffering that this event has caused them. One thing I struggle with is thinking about the NOW. I understand that I need to live in the NOW to the best of my ability, to keep working on building a stronger me because the person I am working on NOW will be a successful in the future and I will be able to look back and be proud of my past. Sometimes we are so focused on the future or stuck in the past that we are wasting the present. We don’t give the present enough attention or credit. Tomorrow the word of the day is Revitalize- to give new life or vigor to. It is not a coincidence that this word was chosen for this week and that this is the exact word that I needed to share with my community. This is what I wrote: “Revitalize applies to my growth and healing because now is the perfect time to refresh the way I live my life and reboot myself to my core values by using the skills that I am learning in this program. In the past I allowed my revitalization to be hindered by allowing the actions of others to control my emotions and thoughts. I also use to revitalize by buying new clothes, shoes and other materialistic items. Thinking it will refresh the way I feel. Recently I have found new ways to revitalize myself such as: revisiting my behaviors, positive self talk, redirecting negative thoughts and going to other positive peers for help. I will continue working on this by practicing the skills daily and allowing them to make me a more confident and happy person.
