-Benjamin, Federal Correctional Complex Coleman Low in Coleman, FL
Throughout my life, I have been presented with countless opportunities to do the right thing. To act with integrity, to lead with purpose, to honor the people who believe in me, and to walk in alignment with the values I was raised to uphold. For reasons I now understand far too clearly, I often chose otherwise.
I don’t offer that statement lightly. I take full responsibility for my actions, decisions that ultimately led me down a path of failure, loss and deep personal regret. I made choices that hurt others, damaged my reputation and cost me my freedom. Even more, they cost me time, time I can never get back. My choices cost me time away from my family and time away from the man I was meant to be.
Prison, in many ways, is the great equalizer. It strips you down to the most basic truths. It silences the noise of the world and leaves you face to face with yourself. For me, the silence in prison was deafening at first. Over time, it became sacred. It became the space where God got hold of my heart and began a work in me that I could never have imagined.
I’ve spent years now examining not just what I did, but why I did it and the fears the pride, the false justifications. In that process, I’ve found something more powerful than shame: redemption. This redemption is not handed out freely or spoken into existence but the kind that is earned daily through humility, accountability and a commitment to live differently.
Today, I no longer chase status, wealth or validation. I wake up each day asking one question, how can I live a life that honors God and serves others? I am committed to becoming the best husband, father, son I can be, the most dependable friend, and a voice for those who feel unseen or forgotten. My mistakes do not define me, but they have refined me.
I understand fully that some many never see me beyond my past and that’s okay. I can’t control how others view me. What I can control is how I live now and the example I set moving forward. I know what it feels like to lose everything. I know what it feels like to sit in darkness.
Now, I know what it means to choose light every single day.
There was a time when I had opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing and didn’t. That time is over!
From this moment forward, I will live in pursuit of something greater than myself. I will do right, even when it’s hard, even when no one sees. Even when others doubt me. Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do.
Luckily for me, it’s never too late to start.