Untitled-325 by Jay Goodman

It’s the twenty first century and America has left the rest of the world behind in many aspects. We have so much to be proud of, many other countries dream of coming here to live free and chase the American dream. What is it that makes our country so wonderful? I believe America has shown the world that you can come here and accomplish anything you set your mind to. Throughout history the men and women that have come here have not only proven this is true, but shown there are no limitations on your dreams. I have been in prison for over seventeen years, I have been really looking at my life and tried at all times to be honest with myself. It’s funny, sometimes being honest with myself hasn’t always been easy. When people in prison make the decision to change, the reality of this place can be a lot to deal with. I believe most people in the free world look at change as something that’s done through therapy, but in prison change has to be done through one’s desire to want something better in life. I came to an understanding that I had made many mistakes in my life, I also understood that this place is not where I wanted to spend the rest of my life, I started looking at what led me to prison, why I took the path I did.

That isn’t always easy either, because there are times in every young kid or teenagers’ lives, that we are misled by someone we look up to. I have also learned not to play the blame game when I looked over my life. It’s easy for people to say I grew up in a dysfunctional family, I lived in the wrong area of town, when we play the blame game, we fall into the trap of thinking our mistakes are always someone else’s fault. While it may be true that some people may have come from a dysfunctional family or grew up in a bad neighborhood, inevitably at the end of the day, we had to make the choices that led us here, so if we really want to change, we have to stop blaming others for our mistakes. Believe it or not it’s actually a lot easier to change, because once you accept responsibility for your actions, it now becomes easier to focus on yourself, can we really start taking our lives in another direction.

This seems to be very difficult for most people, especially people in prison because a lot of prisoners don’t believe in their mind, they did anything wrong and most do not want to face reality. It’s easier for them to always blame others, I have focused on my weaknesses and because I did, I was able to move forward in my life and at the end of the day, everyone should strive to move forward. Who would want to stay in the same spot their entire life, but if we hold on to anger, disappointment, if we blame everyone for our place in time, we will stay in one spot our whole life. Isn’t it a shame when you see that someone has great potential, but chooses to never use it? It’s like the whole world at times forgets to let go and move forward, it’s almost like people want to stay angry, they want to be depressed, of course they believe it is other people’s fault. If everyone would stop looking everywhere else for a moment and learn to look inside of yourself, everything would start to become clear. We would have an opportunity each day to take a look inside ourselves and make decisions that will help us grow into the man or woman we could be.

I remember reading something not too long ago that I really liked, it said, “It’s a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.�? I really liked it because I believe most people in life and especially in prison, sell themselves short in life. I have wondered what would happen if everyone would understand the truth, there are no limitations to what you could do. There are no limitations to what you could become. If every single person knew this to be the fact that it is, what would you do? I have wondered about this question and it’s given me a lot to think about. I ask myself, if I do this, am I selling myself short of becoming what I hope to become, because for everyone in prison lets be truthful for a moment, we’ve sold ourselves short. It doesn’t matter who you are or who you were, it doesn’t matter if you made millions of dollars, had nice clothes or a new home, if you are sitting in prison for years or decades, that is something you’ll never get back. Time is the most precious thing we have, what good is all the money if you are sitting in here wasting away? We sold ourselves short because we could have made our millions, been free to enjoy our lives with our family and for the ones who think selling drugs, or whatever you were doing, was the only way you could get rich, I want to remind you what I wrote earlier, “It’s a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.�?. You didn’t accept the best, you chose the least of yourself. The good thing for everyone is, that mistake is behind you, my question now is, are you choosing to accept anything but the best or are you sitting in here still allowing life to pass you by? Are you still accepting a lesser version of yourself? If you will only refuse to accept anything but the best, remember you will often get it.

They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn, but the darkest hour gives birth to the greatest children of light. From the dark hours of history are born legends, heroes, champions, prophets, leaders. The future will be what we make of it. Leadership is not an elite group of people, it’s something that each of us are born into, it is a position of influence. Granted, some people exert more influence than others, but all of us exert some and by our influence people’s lives are touched. People hear what you say, they listen and they are affected. People watch how you live; they learn and are influenced. Be a leader, when you speak of yourself, let your interior dialogue be confident, optimistic and visionary. Dare to live a life most people only fantasize about, so not be a destroyer of dreams.

I have always loved reading about Albert Einstein’s work and how he viewed others. He wrote, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.�? I liked this because I am old enough in my life to really understand what Einstein meant. When I came to prison seventeen years ago, I didn’t join a gang, even though I went to a maximum-security prison. I have always been a leader, I wasn’t going to allow someone else to tell me what to do, I learned a long time ago that life is not a popularity contest. Those who wish to be free from criticism inevitably end up doing nothing worthwhile. I have often been criticized through the years, people have said, this guy believes because he drew a portrait of 9/11 and out it on t shirts, he did something special, people look up to this guy because he has written a few books, what do you all believe, he is Stephen King? The odd thing about this is I didn’t tell any of these people about the New York portrait or my book. The ones who made these statements heard about it from someone else. I was surprised at first, but I would remember Einstein’s words of wisdom, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.�?. So, be a dreamer of dreams, let nothing or no one hold you back.