Surviving that long and winding road

Yeah, I joined this thing three or four weeks ago and am just now starting my first blog. I've made it my honest point to not be pessimistic or cynical like I always am, but to be positive. I will be honest with myself, though. You have been warned.

To be even more honest, I have been blessed with the best parents God could ever dream up. Yeah, I complain that my dad can be a perfectionist about things and yes, many of you have heard me complain about my mom's(how can I say this nicely?) inquistiveness.(That's good, Josh, nice save. Read on, I'm sure to stick my foot in mouth, somehow. Another reason for you to subscribe.) We have had our many fights and exiles from each other, but we have always come back loving each other more than we had before. All in all, at least they do what they do because they love me.

For those of you who don't know, I work at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, IN. I am a Teacher's Assistant in the GED program. While, the general population is adults, they do have Youth Incarcerated as Adults(YIA, for short). These youth are mostly from the inner city ranging from 16-17 and maybe 15 until they turn 18 and go to the general population. They have lived lives that even most adults would cringe at. Not to say that these kids are mature, they're far from it....but that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, these kids find it odd that I have not done any drugs, abstain from alcohol, and refuse tobacco. They find it laughable that I haven't had to fight(physcially, at least) in my life. Most of these kids have babies that they have fathered and consider themselves 'grown-ass' men. What I find it most suprising is that all my ideals are foreign to them. Don't get me wrong, underneath all that brash swagger they're just kids. Good kids, to point out. They just feel pushed into a corner and the only way, they feel, to get out is by any means possible.

Nonetheless, I want to point out something to the youth of today. Be yourself. Being different is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, be proud of it. You're a Christian and people make fun of you because you don't want to go out and party? Rejoice. You're doing your job well when this happens. If you weren't, they'd love you as their own.

Remember John 15;18-19 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.
The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no
longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world,
so it hates
you. "

Love these people as you would love yourself. Love all people, you
could miss out on great friendships and even greater opportunities to display what God's love is truly about....unconditional.

If you're a lot like me....cynical, depressed(I've been accused of being Emo), and having lots of feeling of life's futility...you're not alone. I've made it a point in my life not to judge people by simple appearances. Now, I do make mistakes and I do get on my high horse every now and then, but most of the time I like to think that I take the time to try to empathize with people. Do not let this world cave in on you. The biggest problem I had/have was/is to think about all my problems and lump them together to form one gigantic demon I could not hope to defeat. Never let anyone tell you that the best days of your life are behind you or that the best is yet to come....the best is always yet to come and the best days of your life are always ahead of you. The darkness in the roads of your life never last for long and there are always people to carry that torch to light the way when you're too weak to carry it. Remember...there is always hope. The great John Lennon said it himself:

"While there's life...there's hope."

In closing, I would like to summarize my ultimate point in a few words. It's okay to be different. It's okay to be a little bit nutty because the greatest minds and the greatest impacts on this world were once judged to be ulitmately weird or freaky. So, the next time some looks at you like a freak...or even calls you one...say this to them: "You say freak like it's a bad thing." It's okay to be different. Variety is the spice of life.... Dios te benidga(God bless you).

'Nuff Said....

Josh