Transcript
Working Title: Cell Block Society Post Release Master Plan Wellness Management Personal Development Program Author: Levert Brookshire Now that it's been a full six months that I've been released from prison, following my detailed, very strict plans. Checking off my list, each goal one by one as the first weeks pass by, just as I've laid them out. By remaining focused and disciplined throughout these initial 30 to 180 days of release, there should've been some measurable amounts of progress made by this point? Enough time has now passed, with my release. In order for me to have already seen some levels of success with my immediate and most important short term goals designed to help me, get myself temporarily stable, and set-up for a smoother transition into society. Nothing too complicated or too difficult just simple, basic, important steps necessary for finding balance in civilian life, early into my new found freedom. As a way for me to avoid the most common pitfalls most ex felons experience when they are first released, when they lack the basic housing needs, legal income security and and simple resources such as food, clothes and transportation. Which can become conflicts for a lot of people who are being released without any plans or connections to support. Hopefully with my plans, making some small achievements with temporary, short-term, and immediate low paying, low skilled, menial labor work, while attending trade school classes. At my sixth month of release, with a growing number of responsibilities starting to add up and compete for my 24 hour days. My time will quickly be consumed by increasing demands on my 24 hours. Little by little this will call for me to pull everything together into one well organized system in order to manage my time effectively and efficiently. Closely monitoring my responsibilities and carefully managing my priorities, from one to the other. Organizing each and every activity, to have it's very own time slot designated on a written schedule. To look at regularly, and to follow routinely. A motivational tool, that will help in the resocialization process. I, will use this system as my way to create, form, shape and develop newer, healthier rituals for myself while outside of prison, the way I once developed rituals for myself while here inside, beginning each morning with my personal health and fitness rituals, designed to keep me healthy and alive. Without my health being a priority to me, no other goal can ever be achieved, let alone even contemplated or considered. Nothing in life is possible without life itself, which is why maintaining my own health will remain a high priority for me, upon release. Anything in life worth having, is worth fighting for, worth working for and worth sacrifices inorder to keep it. By the time I've reacted my sixth month of release, I'll have already had at least some experiences with difficulty, resistance, pushback and even discrimination in my first 30 to 180 days being out, just trying to regain some sense of balance and stability during my transition. What always seems difficult and rough at first, soon it will smooth out, over the passing weeks, with patience and discipline, by my sixth month of freedom things should've become more manageable and leveled out? I've had several tests, challenges and obstacles thrown my way over these past sixth month's and I've proven myself to be well prepared for the journey I've accepted. With such abundance of challenges and obstacles without the proper physical and mental health required inorder to evaluate each and every obstacle or challenge which appears before me, use my mind to sort out the problems, distinguish them, then solve them accordingly. Requiring that I maintain and keep myself well rested, with plenty sleep. Making sure that my body's energy system is healthy and has all of it's nutritional and exercise requirements. By the time I've reached my 6 month period of being out of prison. This should've been enough time for me, to start up my daily health rituals. Many aspects of getting released from prison forces us to sideline our health and diet rituals for awhile, inorder to put our emphasis on securing other important needs, like housing, clothes, food, transportation and work, legitamate revenue streams. Leaving no time for us to cater to our healthy needs, whatsoever. Especially during the first few months of release. Once I've got all of the basic's secured and established some kind of temporary foundation of stability, for myself. My personal time then becomes my most precious and most valuable commodity that I have. Something I'm unable to replace or recover once it's gone. Demanding that, I balance it with every degree of understanding I have. Once I'm released from prison, Many aspects of my daily life, routines and rituals will evolve and change as I begin to re-establish myself back into civil society again, especially during the first 6 months, or year. But there are certain, very specific routines and daily life rituals which must be developed, then implemented and put into place from the very start. The idea that one can go on about their lives and keep up with their work hours, school hours, running errands, supporting their families demands, looking after other aspects of their daily obligations. But, neglecting their own health, ignoring their own wellness and nutritional requirements, inorder to keep up with all of the other demands named. Comes as, a serious paradox for me. Something I can't reason or come to accept. A great contradiction that stands out to me. How does anyone guard their future, without guarding their own health first? How can we protect our families, without protecting our health? Everything starts with our own health, first? This process began with me following a strict health regiment while in prison, inorder that I protect my health throughout the long prison term I had to serve, before getting released again. This meant changing everything about the way that I ate, exercised, and even slept, daily, for almost 20 years. This taught me how my own body uses energy, storage energy, and replaces energy, throughout each and everyday, even while sleeping. Because I've done so much research on the energy requirements we as humans need, inorder to keep our bodies systems going, healthy and strong. This has helped me to live a more positive and simpler life, with clarity and balance. Something which got me through the dysfunctional, toxic and corrosive surrounding of prison life. If, it worked inside prison, it can work for me outside as well. While in prison not having much choice over my diet, because of obvious reasons, this forced me to get more creative, as I managed to do, supplementing when and where it was possible to do so. I'll be using the same logic and reasoning outside of prison to design a similar 'simulation' system, I used while inside. A strict personal diet and exercise schedule, both of them to be carefully planned out and organized around my other important, daily activities so as, not to be in conflict with one another. My dietary needs and exercise rituals will be re-assessed, re-evaluated regularly inorder to know when and where necessary adjustments, modifications, or changes need to be made at, to match my daily program, routines and resources. Without having conflicts, avoiding conflicting time schedules, competitive resources, and other strains, will help me to navigate the new dietary choices, learn to resist unhealthy nutritional temptations, and become more familiar with my new exercise and fitness, opportunities alot faster. After six months of my freedom. It's reasonable to assume that I should've secured at least some type of temporary work by now? Even dishwasher is a legitimate source of revenue? Low paying, low-skilled but as an ex felon. newly released it's a starting point. Not permanant or long term. Just to cover my essential, most basic needs until I find better opportunities opening up. Having a lower wage job, will only afford me a limited selection of healthy foods, at first. But, I'll be able to support a healthy dietary schedule, with affordable supplements and alternative eating habits, til I can earn the revenue needed inorder to practice the dietary rituals, that I've planned out for myself, using the desired tastes and first choice of foods. Assessment of financial status and sources of legitamate revenue streams will become an important regular part of my initial 6 months of transitioning back into civil society. Learning creative way to keep myself eating healthy on an economical budget will become an important part of adjusting to the outside during my initial 6 months, while staying humble and grounded, learning how to live within my means, while maintaining eating habits that promote health. Always managing my expenses in ways that don't exceed my income revenues, tracking all of my financial obligations, along with my healthy dietary expenses. Keeping all personal indulgences and other luxuries down to a bare minimum, inorder to sacrifice for my dietary needs. Only court restitution, mandatory government health insurance co pay, life insurance, car insurance, cell phone fees, and other must have services or monthly obligation expenses will be addressed first, during these initial 6 months of my release. Housing, food and transportation are included with this also of course. 6 months out of prison is a reasonable amount of time for me to formulate an estimate of my expected income/revenue streams, what my predicted expenses are? How much more I'll be expecting to generate etc etc. My 180 day self-audit will be my first of several to come. This will in fact help me, to keep myself on course with my personal goals. Organizing my life around healthy living, by creating rituals for my body, my financial sources, and my thinking. to keep myself well and stable. Always having some idea as to where I am physically, mentally and spiritually even. Financially. Trying to keep myself well. Wellness is more than just diet and fitness, wellness is a total lifestyle, including diet, exercise as well as stress management. Knowing exactly what's going to be taking up most of my personal time, energy and resources I will have. By planning out in advance what dietary nutrients I can afford to buy? What time schedule would best suit my exercise/fitness rituals? What revenue sources can be increased without conflicting with diet or exercise? There has to be a working relationship between every one of them, As my time outside of prison goes further on, my daily rituals will surely change. This will demand that I constantly make room to re-organize my daily dietary schedule, workout schedule and job schedule to fit around my school hours and volunteer time as well, and not to mention, my personal study time and resting time as well. All will be very important activities to me, as I'm becoming resocialized back into normal civilian life again. Creating a unique relationship for all of them to coexist together will have to take continuous restructuring, re-organizing and re-arranging of my daily, weekly, monthly rituals, habits, time and resources. For all of them to be included in my life. 86,400 seconds in a day, 1,440 minutes, or 24 hours in every full day must be carefully accounted for and well planned out. Time management is life management. Managing our relationship with time helps to manage our other relationships, all of them important us. Teaching us how to prioritize, what needs to be shifted around, changed or rearranged, for priorities to be satisfied, and properly tended to. For this to be always highest on my list, I will establish a six month rule to be my own mandatory scheduled reassessment time, to self audit. Making a 6 month assessment of my relationships with healthy diet and fitness rituals, jobs/finances, school/education, even volunteer work, and personal friends/family. Making sure that all are properly aligned the way that they should be. Inorder to be stress free and making use of my life, my time, and my resources in the most optimal ways possible. Wellness management for sure. Having reached my first goal, 6 months of freedom. It would mean that I would've certainly seen my share of difficulties by this stage of my freedom. In 6 months, there will be plenty of obstacles, challenges and complications for me to navigate through and around them. Without succumbing to them, overcoming unpredictable waves and riding out, crashing waves, without showing panic or giving in, being distracted by temptations, enticement surrounding me, beckoning me to submit, surrender my willpower to keep fighting through it all. Instead, I've kept a steady hand on the wheel refusing to throw my hands in the air and give up, for at least 6 months now. Proving to myself that anytime I create a plan, put my mind into into it and follow it through, then it can become my reality. Once I can clear all of the clutter from my mind, then I create a vision for myself, and try to live into that vision I've created for myself. Something that I learned to do in prison cells. As Victor Frankl has written several accounts in his books about his own life inside German NAZI concentration kamps. He relates in-depth about the ways that some of the prisoners around him learn how to envision and create new universes all unto themselves, into their own minds. Emphasizing how truly creative imaginatve people, inside prison or outside, can learn to access their inner imagination to improve their own lives, and survive what most people wouldn't think is possible to survive. This plan and all of its creativity was envisioned while inside the isolation and loneliness of a cramped, cold, graffitti-marked prison cell. As our journey to reach our goals become more challenging for us and we start growing tired and exhausted, worn out, from the struggles to achieve our goals, it starts looking like a daunting plan over time. The one who can maintain their health as they go, stay fit and keep the most oxygen going to their brain, will have the greatest advantage of reaching their personal goals. Which is why I'm making it a priority of mine to develop my relationship with nutrition and fitness, building up my lung capacity to carry more oxygen to my brain. Keeping my brain constantly supplied with fresh oxygen will keep me thinking. These first 6 months of my release are only the beginning of the challenges and obstacles ahead of me for the rest of my life. This will be the very first test of many to come. Showing me how I'll respond to unexpected conflicts, difficult circumstances or demanding kinds of pressures of everyday life. Depending on my innovative thinking, creativity, and well researched master plan, to help me get through it all. Learning to be a 'problem solver', and not allowing these complications to defeat me and test myself with. They will show me what I can handle. Laying out the groundwork for the remainder of my life. This will be the motivational tool I will use to produce the kinds of results that I am looking for. Proving to myself that I can in fact accept much lessor standards that I deserve for awhile, temporarily. Reminding myself of sacrafices to be made so that other important goals can be achieved. Everything that I've endured for these first six months has been my first real life test. Having proved that I'm willing to accept even a low skilled, low wage job, below standard transitional housing and far less diatary, nutritional requirements than I expect for myself. At least temporarily until I'm able to adapt and create other more desirable options for myself. Surely taking some of the pressure off myself. Carefully planned out work, well thought out and well researched gives us a sense of purpose in our lives. Motivating us to continue doing more work, worrying less and less. I've come to see that I've had it all wrong before. Our human value and our own worth is in our thinking not in our possessions. These next 6 months of my release will be used as my time to be more discriminating and selective about the kinds of work I choose, wages, housing options, and dietary choices. I'll be looking to upgrade each one of them as I go along, following my master plan. 6 months of planning saves 3 years of execution.
