How Losing Everything in Prison Helped Me Create a Better Life
<p>On a scorching hot day in Folsom state prison, a guard passed me a note thru the bars of my cell. It said, “Your mom is in the hospital.”</p>
<p>Eight days later, my mom died.</p>
<p>Externally, I had to exhibit that “I don’t give a shit” attitude so others didn’t think I was weak.</p>
<p>Internally, I was completely, 100% devastated. I was struggling to deal with a shit storm of negative feelings every minute of every day. I was consumed with anger, bitterness, rage, depression, guilt, self-hate, and shame.</p>
<p>In my cell, I cried into a pillow so other inmates didn’t hear me expel my burgeoning grief.</p>
<p>It got worse.</p>
<p>I learned that the prison warden didn’t grant me a 12-hour pass so I could go to the funeral. I never got a chance to see my mom one last time.</p>
<p>But I took some comfort knowing my wife was still there for me at this extremely low point in my life.</p>
<p>Then things took a darker, even more devastating turn.</p>
<p>Five weeks later, my wife left me. I was now at the lowest point of the abyss. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. The depression was getting worse each day.</p>
<p>I lost everything: my freedom, my mom, my wife…and my hope.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@charles_30927/how-losing-everything-in-prison-helped-me-create-a-better-life-281642cd228a">Read More</a></p>