I’m in Vegas!! Well kind of. I’m not where all the action is. I’m at a truck stop with a prison next door lol. Not exactly what people picture when we say “Vegas.”
So I was having a little case of the blues earlier. Had been like that for a couple of days. Maybe I’m just lonely out here lol. Don’t judge me. Anyway, I cranked up a little motivational video as I usually do on YouTube and got to working out. Both of those combined always have a way of bringing the fight back out of me.
Listening to the video and working out got the mind juices flowing. I started to think of the crazy contrast I was in the mist of. Across the parking lot from me is a hotel and casino. Less than a mile to the left of it there’s a prison. I thought wow, in one place people may just be making the decision of a lifetime, and in the other some people are paying a lifetime for a decision.
It’s crazy how close these two worlds are yet how far apart they are at the same time. I used to think about that a lot when I was gone. I used to be out on the rec yard and see cars driving by on the highway in the distance and think: those people are heading to work, to school to a friends house. Completely oblivious to the world I’m in just a few miles away. I used to think about the life going on around me and imagine everything I was going to accomplish when I got out.
I still remember the fire I had burning inside of me when I finally made it home. I had it all planned out. If nothing else is true about what they tell you in prison this for sure is: plans change. They sure as hell did.
Here I am in this parking lot covered in dirt. My truck and trailer covered in dirt and I’m feeling sad. Depressed. Whatever you want to call it. And in the mist of my workout I’m pacing back and forth to catch my breath between sets and I stop to look over at the prison.
That was a big slap to the face. Like a wake up slap. Here I am sulking, thinking about the little things troubling me and just less than a mile away there are some people who would give anything just to be able to be covered in dirt in this parking lot again even if just for a day.
I thought: really? Like what problems or troubles could you possibly have that are “real” problems? None. There is nothing happening in my life currently or ever that can really ever be a real “problem” as long as I still have a chance. That’s it. Sure some fucked up things can happen. Sure I’ll feel pain. Things may get challenging but none of those are “problems.”
We may lose people along the way. We’ll lose opportunities. But as long as we still have a chance to accomplish our dreams, we’re still living. We don’t die until we stop chasing our dreams.
To borrow the words of the incredible Les Brown from this video I just heard:
“you either fight for what you want right now, or fight for what you don’t want later–but you fight!”
So maybe it’s just me? But maybe–just maybe there’s someone out there struggling to keep it together right now. Maybe someone out there financially, emotionally or physically is fighting to keep it together and is thinking about quitting. Giving up.
DON’T!!
The fight is the only thing you have left! It’s the glue that’s holding you together. If you quit now all of the fighting, all of the struggle and pain you’ve endured will have been for nothing.
I can’t promise you it gets easier cause it sure hasn’t for me. I can’t promise you you’re going to win either. But I can guarantee that if you do quit–you lose for sure.
I pray that whoever needed to read this did. All I want for everyone else is what I want for myself. Peace of mind and success beyond measure.
Love you all.
Positive vibes for positive minds
Brain masters life coaching 