I’m sitting in my room thinking about the day 2 chapter of my book, 365 days with self-discipline. How naive am I to think the fact that I choose to drink water all day long today and ignore the other drinks that someone literally flaunted in front of me today was a big deal. It isn’t really life altering that I choose to eat my lunch of baked chicken covered in Ms. Dash lemon pepper and that nasty ass squash I boiled before work. Yes I said boiled. I swear I thought it was a steamable when I purchased it.
Maybe you are shaking your head at my first paragraph thinking, yes it is a big deal. Why do you think this? Because we are probably pretty like-minded. See I choose to surround myself with people who are good influences, think like me, know my goals and my lifestyle. As I sit here, however, I’m listening to the sound of police sirens. I hear them over my husbands television that he blares which means there are close. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have thought twice about them but lately I have wonder who made the choose to pull the trigger? Who made the choice to sell the drugs? Who made the choice that is going to be life altering for them?
The quote at the top of the page of chapter 2 says, “Your choices are made in a moment, but their consequences will transcend a lifetime.” – MJ Demarco.
I grew up poor. We lived in a trailer park in northern Indiana. My dad was sick and unable to work. My mom, although I never asked, probably didn’t make much as she had been a stay at home mom for my whole life. I remember her working at a grocery store and a fabric store before finding her niche in retail sales. We mowed lawns to buy groceries. We wore second-hand clothes.
When I started out as an adult it wasn’t easy. I had my first baby out of high school and never attended more than one semester of college. I look around now and realize how the choices I made have gotten me to the place in my life I am now. I won’t go as far as to say I’m where I want to be. Success is something you never stop achieving and I’ll never stop wanting to learn. I want to earn even more success and of course become more financially stable. I’ll celebrate my small victories in my life as I strive for more. I’ve come a long way and I hope to go even farther.
I guess the point of this is that I didn’t grow up privileged. I had to earn every thing I have. I did it the right way and without breaking any laws. What makes someone make the choice that takes someones life? Why would you make the choice to sell drugs? It is a choice. You can argue about your childhood or gender or your race but I can promise you that there is someone of the same situation that made it. Someone who is living their life making the right choices and living the right way. You have a choice.
I had no intention of sitting down and writing about the violence going on not just in the world around me but in the neighborhood around me. Every single time my children leave the house without me I worry. I worry because of the choices others make. As I sit here listening to the sirens I can’t help but close my eyes and say a little prayer for all involved.
Paragraph two of the reading today says “It takes only a moment to make the wrong choice and jeopardize your future. What feels like an insignificant decision today can have a great, lasting impact on your future. ”
Think about it.
JJ
Jenny L Jones 