Life Doesn't Have to Be a Sentence , livre ebook

Balboa Press - Brian Hearold , Dara Barnes

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46 pages

English

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My wife and I wrote this book because we believe I have a powerful story to share with you. I want to share my story so that you can understand the full consequences of poor choices. I made poor choices in my youth, leading to spending 23 years in prison. I also want you to know you can always make a better choice, no matter your circumstances. I took full responsibility for my poor decisions and choices and now I am proof of this! During the time I have been out, I have worked my way into a promising career; I met the love of my life who does not judge me and loves me unconditionally. All this would not be possible without a conscious decision to make good choices in my life. I need you to understand that you have options, and maybe by hearing my story, I will be able to impact your lives positively. I know you; I was you; I believe in you. I also think that you are capable of making better choices and decisions, and your lives will get so much better.

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Self-help

Life

Informations

Publié par	Balboa Press
Date de parution	11 août 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9798765229910
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Life Doesn’t have to be a Sentence

Choose Your Hard

Dara Barnes and Brian Hearold

Copyright © 2022 Dara Barnes and Brian Hearold.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Balboa Press
A Division of Hay House
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.balboapress.com
844-682-1282

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2993-4 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-7652-2992-7 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-7652-2991-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022911144

Balboa Press rev. date: 08/08/2022

Contents
Dedication
Introduction

Chapter 1 Rehab, No, No, No
Chapter 2 Life in Chaos
Chapter 3 Choices
Chapter 4 The Enemy of My Enemy is One Bad Dude
Chapter 5 Life on The Inside
Chapter 6 Life On The Outside
Chapter 7 Doing Life
Chapter 8 Judge Not
Chapter 9 The Ripple Effect

Dedication
I dedicate this book to the family that never gave up on me through all these years. My beautiful wife who has never judged me, always sees the best in me, and supports me. She pushes me to continue to be a better person. To all people struggling to make the right choices, I see you, I believe in you, I was you. Do not give up.

Introduction
M y wife and I wrote this book because we believe I have a powerful story to share with you. I want to share my story so that you can understand the full consequences of poor choices. I made poor choices in my youth, leading to spending 23 years in prison. But I also want you to know you can always make a better choice no matter your circumstances. I am proof of this! During the time I have been out, I have worked my way into a promising career; I met the love of my life, who does not judge me and loves me unconditionally. All this would not be possible without a conscious decision to make good choices in my life. I need you to understand that you have options, and maybe by hearing my story, I will be able to impact your lives positively. I know you; I was you; I believe in you. I also think that you can make better choices and decisions, and by doing so, your lives will get so much better.

1
Rehab, No, No, No
T he drive was long; I sat in the passenger seat, listening to music, smoking my cigarettes, and smoking some weed. Not my best decision, but I did not care. My girlfriend Charlotte and I did not say much on the way, not much to say, not thinking much. Charlotte was pregnant at the time and drove me across the state to a rehab facility.
When we arrived, Charlotte hugged me tight and, through her tears, said she would see me in thirty days. I walked through the doors and checked myself into the facility. I handed them my belongings, and they searched through them and then returned most of my items except my $5 bill; they immediately took this from me while explaining I was not allowed to have money. The intake coordinator recorded my money and stored it for my stay there. They checked me into my room, and afterward, I met other residents outside where they were playing volleyball. The other residents introduced themselves to me and told me I needed a higher power; they asked me if I had one. I said, no, I do not, and the other residents kept reiterating that I needed one. Frustrated, I finally picked up a rock a said, “here, this is my higher power”! I was tired and just went to my room to sleep that evening.
The following day, the breakfast was great, gigantic pancakes, and I like pancakes, so I thought that was cool, and this place is not so bad. Next, I was told to go into my assigned group for meditation, so I headed to the room with my group.
When I entered the room, a group of people stood in a circle. The staff informed me I would need to hold hands and pray; I looked around, and two men stood on each side of me. I thought to myself that I would not stand in a circle and hold hands with other people including other men. I stormed out. This was the first of many bad choices. I immediately went to the front desk and told them I was checking out; they started to say that I could not do that because they thought I was court-ordered to be there. Then they checked and found out I was not, and they said, you are right, you can go. You’re welcome to leave at any time of your own free will. We will get your $5 for you.
It took them quite a while to return because they were slow playing getting my money so that the police had time to arrive and get set up off the property. I did not know that this was the reason; however, after waiting, the staff finally returned my money to me. I did not think about the consequences, nor did I care about them, other than I would probably go back to jail for a few days. In my mind, it was no big deal. I pocketed the money and turned for the door; as I started to exit, I saw the police waiting at the end of the driveway. I turned around and ran for the back door; they yelled at me; I was no longer a guest and could not enter. Still, I did it anyway, running out the back door. I ran as fast as I could.
The only thing I could think of was running to the railroad tracks and trying to hop on a train. Anyone who has attempted to jump a moving train (OR THOUGHT THEY COULD) should know that it is near impossible to hop onto a moving train. It is going too fast and is a foolish idea, even for a stupid young man like myself.
When I realized the train was not an option, I stopped at a gas station, called my Parole Officer, and told them I had left rehab, and they already knew; they said I had 24 hours to report back to them. I asked if they would call off the police officers, and eventually, I stopped seeing the police cars go by. I got up on the freeway to hitchhike and I was finally given a ride by a truck driver and made my way home.
Why was I remanded to rehab? Why was I at risk of going back to jail? And why was I in there in the first place?
Let me start at the beginning to tell this story

2
Life in Chaos
The Beginning
M y first memory is of me, my mom, and my sister. Dawn and I were at the table eating cookies and milk. My sister crushed her cookies with her glass and spilled milk on the table. Mom put my sister in my crib and told her that if she wanted to act like a baby, she needed to be in a baby bed. I must have been around two, almost three years old. Strange. My first and only memory of my mom, and I cannot even be sure it was not just a dream. My mom died just five days after my third birthday.
Until I was fourteen, my family told me my mom had fallen off a stool, hit her head, and died. I found out later that she had died from a drug overdose. My Dad was a drug addict and alcoholic who abused women; he was never the same after Vietnam. He returned hooked on drugs and fought with my mom; I sometimes wonder if she overdosed to get away from him. But why would she leave her two babies in this world with this man? My father- and I use that term loosely -was not parenting material.
After my mom died,