“Seeking the good in every experience ensures that you will bring your better self into every encounter. Lives change when we do this – ours as well as those we journey with today.” — Karen Casey
I believe there truly IS good in every experience we go through on Schoolhouse Earth – and I also know that is sometimes very hard to see while we are going through it! So gaining perspective on our current “crisis” situation – often through the eyes of someone else – is a very useful thing.
I just received another great letter from my friend “Mitch,” whom I’ve written about many times in this blog because he so frequently inspires me with little tales that illustrate this very point. Mitch, you will recall, is a young man who is currently incarcerated in a federal correctional facility because he did something really stupid, using the internet, which automatically made it a federal offense. And as his stories of life “behind the Wall” constantly remind me, federal time is the hardest time an inmate can do in the USA.
So the first lesson I get from EVERY letter Mitch writes me is that I am fortunate and grateful just to be FREE. Being free to come and go as I please, to make my own decisions about when to go to bed and when to get up, what to wear, what to eat, what career to pursue and which people to associate with are aspects of life that I take for granted, as I’m sure you do most of the time. But to Mitch, these are PRICELESS freedoms he isn’t going to have a chance to enjoy again for at least another 18 months, when he will be eligible to be released to a “halfway house” — not quite true freedom, but a darn site better than the conditions he is living with behind bars.
This particular letter also included an equally important lesson: that it is only when we are grateful for what we have right NOW that more good will come to us. The Law of Attraction states, “energy attracts like energy.” So whenever we are focusing on what we DON’T have, feeling resentful or scared or upset about our lack, then more LACK is inevitably going to show up for us. But when we are filled with appreciation for what we have in our life right now, what we will attract is more things to appreciate.
Mitch is a very kindhearted, intelligent and spiritual young man. He is constantly on the lookout for ways to make the very best of a very bad situation, to help others, and to embrace every opportunity for personal growth that his punishment holds for him. I know he believes in the universal Law of Attraction, because in the face of the most cynical, angry and uncaring energy that often surrounds him, Mitch always looks for the good in even the smallest places he can find it – and then expresses gratitude for that good.
As a result of his attitude of gratitude, Mitch has attracted many amazing serendipitous occurrences and happy surprises — from unexpected money sent from friends to the five-hour visit with his 2 ½ month old son, his girlfriend and me that he says is the highlight of every month for him. His latest letter explains exactly WHY I believe this huge and unexpected blessing came to him. He’s given me permission to quote him:
“…My gut check told me to send this [journal entry] to you. I don’t know why. It’s an oldie from when I used to live in J-Unit, about a year ago. So keep in mind this was around the time you found out I’d seen “Junior” only once in 8 months or so and it was a bad time for me. I hope you like it:
Stash-2009
I reach over to my locker. In the back, I pull out a green colored album. It’s frayed at the edges, in poor shape, and held together by a myriad hodgepodge of blue painter’s tape and electrical tape. Inside the cover is my stash, my most prized possessions that hold me together.
Each person, whether they care to admit it or not, has one. A box, a bag, an envelope or book cover. It contains our home, connections so small — a letter, a picture, a drawing, a piece of paper folded, scented with perfume whose fragrance slowly wafts away….Each item a priceless Faberge Egg.
I see my son, a picture of him playing. He is so big now. He was such a tiny guy when I saw him last. A card with his crayon scribbles (He can hold crayons now! Growing so fast!) I always remember him just trying to eat them. It is precious, gorgeous, more than any Monet, Van Gogh, any Impressionist or abstract artist. I might hang it in my locker by buying a pair of broken headphones no longer sold, break them open and grab the magnets inside to hang my card.
One night, before lights out, walking back from the shower down the long tier, I see a guy sitting on his bunk, clutching a paper to his chest and crying silently. It had two stick figures holding hands in crayon and said ‘Daddy’ on top. A Faberge Egg – priceless.
There are points when we need that contact so bad, no matter what your security level, whether it’s Supermax or a camp with tennis courts and the amenities of a Club Med, it is still a prison. There is still the lack of family, separated, and for some, that’s the worst prison of all.
My Faberge Egg inspires me and touches me. It asks, ‘What are you going to do now? What will tomorrow look like?’ I tell it things will be different — I’ll be there. For now, I tuck it away in my green album and hang one in my locker and know that home is there in the scribbles of my Faberge Egg.”
Mitch ends his letter with this post-script:
“I’m not sure why I was called to include this, but there you are. Looking back on the entry, it is still true that I draw strength from my connections to home (cards and pictures) and it allows me to see what I took for granted. How many times outside did I receive a Christmas card or birthday card from my now-departed Grandma and toss it aside with ‘That’s nice’ – instead of cherishing that moment? Not often enough, for sure. Now it’s different. I appreciate it so much more.”
Mitch’s question is an excellent reminder for you and me to truly CHERISH all the big and little gifts of love and connection in our lives – of whatever and whomever represents HOME for us. They are each a precious Faberge Egg, after all.
And I also believe that it was Mitch’s appreciation for the cards and photos he had of “Junior” that brought the opportunity for the real thing to come to him. When I first visited him after about a year of corresponding (and successfully gaining clearance to visit him, via a very cumbersome process, emblematic of federal bureaucracy at its finest), I discovered that his girlfriend and son had only been to visit him ONCE in all that time, despite the fact that they lived less than 30 minutes’ drive from the prison! I was dumfounded.
Without a hint of resentment, Mitch calmly explained that because his girlfriend doesn’t have a car, she had to come by bus. Prison regulations prohibited her from bringing a baby stroller into the building (or even leaving it parked out front, at her own risk.) Junior was simply too heavy for her to carry over a mile from the bus stop to the prison. Couldn’t she get a ride from someone? Her family disapproved of Mitch’s situation, and so refused to help her and Junior visit him. Mitch’s father and girlfriend didn’t see eye to eye, so she refused to ask him for a ride, even though he visited Mitch regularly.
I was appalled. At that moment, I decided that I would make sure Mitch got regular visits from his girlfriend and son as long as he is incarcerated there. So I arranged to pick them up and drive them with me once a month. Junior is adorable, funny, smart and absolutely delighted to see his father. Mitch is on cloud nine every time he gets to hold him in his lap and play with him in the visiting room. And I am just happy to know that once a month, at least, Mitch is “home” for real – not just in a photo.
Mitch is now taking special parenting classes that will allow him more visits with Junior – every Tuesday night, for several hours, with more freedom to interact freely together – a special playtime just for dads and their kids.
We have yet to address that scheduling challenge, but I know it can be worked out. After all, Mitch’s has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the truth that I pass along to all my Practical Prosperity Coaching ™ clients: GRATITUDE is the #1 most powerful positive emotional vibration you can possibly have, which immediately puts the Law of Attraction into action – bringing you even MORE to be grateful for — more precious Faberge Eggs!
I will be taking next week off from the blog to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend. I wish all my readers in the USA a very happy Independence Day! I hope you remember to pause amidst enjoying the BBQ, beer and fireworks with your loved ones to express your heartfelt gratitude for the MOST precious gift of all: FREEDOM — because, as we all know, “Freedom isn’t free.”
Summer Spectacular ENDS Wednesday!
Normally, my private one-on-one coaching clients invest $575 to learn how to create anything they want in 30 days or less. Recent Practical Prosperity Coaching ™ success stories include:
- A client who manifested her dream car in less than two weeks — without the credit, down payment or monthly fees needed to pay for it!
- A client was hired for her dream job in less than 30 days. It met every one of her “must have” criteria — even though there are fewer than five such positions in existence in the USA!
- A client manifested $5,000 in one month from multiple sources – all totally unexpected and unforeseen – as soon as she gave up worrying about the “How”!
In the month of JUNE, to celebrate my birthday and the kick-off of my favorite season of the year, I want to offer a very special gift ONLY to my Cup of Caroll readers and their friends:
If you contact me by JUNE 30 and request a complimentary, no-obligation phone consultation in July, the cost of your future Practical Prosperity Coaching ™ is just two easy monthly payments of $149 each.
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Your questions and comments are most welcome! Contact me at: caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com.
