What Matters Most is an apt title for this installment of articles that hits
the nail dead center on the head in establishing what the subject matter at
hand is. This particular topic not only applies to loved ones inside the
penitentiary but to those of you fortuante enough to be on the proper side
of the razor wire as well. You must learn to weed through your thoughts and
desires and establish in an itemized form what exactly it is you want out of
life. Too many people doing time are literally doing just that! Allowing the
system and the powers that be to steal weeks, months and years from them.
Let's revert back to the age old and oh so true sentiment, "Do the time,
don't let the time do you." Everybody is only allotted so much time upon
this terrestrial plane until their life expires and they return back to
Mother Earth, ahes to ashes, dust to dust. I want to hit a nerve with those
that are receptive listeners here and hopefully cause you to WAKE UP and
realize that time is of the utmost importance and too short to let slip
away. Circumstances happen beyond our control many times and too many will
ball up and give up on thriving in life and simply settle for surviving when
the going gets tough. Too many people are just existing for today and not
reaching out to grasp all they deserve and can easily obtain as they
incorrectly wait for all the right ingredients or just the right time for
everything to happen in a moment of anticipated bliss and fulfillment which
more times than not never comes. What people need to do is to empower
themselves and live and thrive in the here and now as they work towards
achieving their heart's desire and content. You cannnot make something
appear from nothing. Sitting around biding your time and waiting for the
right things, the right person, right job, right situations, etc., to come
to you will never happen and is a pipe dream and the true essence of time
doing you. I see too many loved ones of the incarcerated who have basically
put their lives hold and shut down in the here and now as they dream of a
bright future with their one day reunited other half. What I'm getting at
here is this. Learn to perceive the situation properly. Quit hoping in some
pie in the sky, utopia, nirvana for yourself once your loved one flies the
coop and instead take daily steps in tandem with your significant other to
make common goals achieved a reality. Work on tangible projects in the here
and now that can be achieved and manifested even while they are still "Doing
Time". Life is not just about survival. Just surviving is a miserable
existence. What you need to strive for is a thriving lifestyle and
existence. Big difference. A little positivity will take you and your soul
mate a long ways as well. If you think you can, and you take the necessary
steps, then you can. If you think you can or imagine you and your lover will
and you sit and bide time and do absolutely nothing then your end result
will amount to that-NOTHING! To get things in life wheter they be tangible
material things or just desired matters of the heart you must make a
concerted effort and go out and grab what it is you want by the horns and
make it yours. Life is not to be won by the timid. While your loved one is
doing time this presents a terrific opportunity for you to get out and make
a way for you, them and y'alls one day reunion out here beyond the walls.
Please realize this empirical matter though, no matter the circumstances
life goes on. You must live in the present to be a viable and mentally
healthy individual. If you're stuck in the past you will not live for the
present and if you're always looking to the future and imagining what will
be you will have your head in the stars and the here and now will slip away
as your future gains momentum rolling and tumbling out of control downhill
until it eventually crashes with all your dreams. You must take steps to
make tomorrow a better place for you and your incarcerated loved one. Too
many "Prison" romances fail cause one or both of the parties is stuck on
stupid as they longingly look for the future at the expense of throwing away
what could be accomplished or obtained today. You are alive now so live now!
Tomorrow or the future you dream of is not guaranteed to you or your
sweetie. Be realistic and establish priorities. Big important word there
class, Priority, and I want you to understand what it means. The most
important definition is this, "Precedence, esp. established by order of
importance or urgency". In laymans terms you should itemize what it is you
want out of life in order of importance and the higher up the list that goal
is in importance to you and your loved one the more you should take logical,
coherent steps to achieve that goal. Understand that things don't just
happen but that you MAKE them happen. Don't get caught wasting away the
years while Father Time does a number on you with untold irreperable damage.
Just prioritize and rationally come up with a game plan to get to the place
you and yours would like to be one day. While doing so live life to the
fullest in the here and now and always remember that a healthy attitude
towards the future consists of the realization that none of us are promised
tomorrow. Instead of always looking forward to a near or far away future
learn to live in the here and now and enjoy and bask in the love bestowed
upon you today by your significant other. Life is just too short and too
uncertain to put all your eggs in one basket with "they ride off into the
sunset and live happily ever after" scrawled across the side of it. When
building a future with another person as y'all correlate your dreams, goals
and desires together stay grounded in the here and now and realize that this
time is important and still counts and can have much validation and worth if
you allow it. It's always wise to prepare for the worst but hope for the
best. This friendly missive is written to encourage you and your soul mate
to make the most of today as you walk hand in hand and work side by side to
guarantee the situations y'all are forced to deal with will increasingly get
more positive and less harsh. That still doesn't detract one bit from the
validity of your relationship right here, right now, today! Make every
moment count. Even the down time while one of you is away. Love is in the
heart, spirit and in the mind. It abounds and grows fonder even during
physical separation. Those that break up during this separation were not
truly IN LOVE and its best for all parties concerned that the amicable split
occurs now instead of way down the road when the hoped for united "dream"
turns out to be a nightmare. Ground yourself in the here and now and fully
in reality. When setting guidelines and priorities to reach for and govern
your life be honest and willing to let go of pipe dreams that are based more
upon wishful thinking ,as are castles in the sky, than in what is meant to
be and real destiny. Learning to differentiate between fact and fiction is
the first step in reaching maturity. If your goal is attainable make it tops
on your priority list and go for it! If you decide your goal is unrealistic
and will never happen and is based upon faulty perceptions let it go before
it gets out of control and causes you much harm and loss. Me and my
significant other, Luara, decided years ago that we were truly in love and
soul mates and made a pact to base our goals and projects jointly together
day by day as we build towards the envisioned future we are slowly achieving
jointly and in tandem as life partners. We are grounded and based in the
here and now and we live for today. We take it one day at a time. Yet
knowing full well that day leads to day, week leads to month and months
lead to years, when all the accumulation of positivity of reaching for
mutual goals and a future together pays off and the dream arrives. Until
then, as healthy people do, we make the most of today and bask in each
others love. I wish the same for all of you as well. Set your priorities,
live in the here and now, and may all your dreams come true. Now there,
isn't that a pleasant thought?! And better yet it is attainable for each and
every one of you if you play your cards right. Good luck and Keep The
Faith.....

kenny

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I need coffee

lulu....Another WONDERFUL missive... Im going to have to print this one off, heck, actually I need to print them all off and send them to Brian, I think he would enjoy them a great deal..also Thank Kenny for sharing his thoughts with us.....*smiles*

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I need coffee

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I need coffee

thank you, he does have away with his words

lulu

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I need coffee