Troy's Times - October 1st, 2005
Hi Friend! IN THIS ISSUE
“It is not important How we come to the events in our lives, but how we Deal with those events”- Troy
This week’s article: Many people had helped me take my first step towards becoming a professional speaker and author. While incarcerated I had found new courage to face my fears and begin building momentum, but then something happened that almost stopped me dead in my tracks, literally. Since I happened to be arrested in Denver, Colorado, I was put on trial 90 miles from the brand new Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colorado. The same complex that at one time held Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Because this new facility was opening up and because they needed bodies, this is where I was sent. And, because I was sent to FCI Florence, I was lucky enough to be situated thirty miles away from home – Colorado Springs. I was just thirty miles from my family, thirty miles from my friends, and thirty miles from the most important people in my life. Despite all of my problems, my parents had always been supportive of me in the ways that they could. They had intervened and paid for rehabilitation stays several times, forgiven me for stealing from them on countless occasions, and continued to love me even as I wore away at any faith they could have that I would ever do right. But, most importantly, they made the thirty-mile drive and continued to support me while I was going through the roughest years of my life in prison. This close proximity allowed me frequent visits, almost every weekend. This wasn't the norm. Ninety percent of the inmates that I was incarcerated with were from different parts of the country – California, New York, Chicago, Texas, spread throughout the United States. My family’s proximity was a blessing to me, but it almost turned into a curse. Within the Federal prison system, gangs run the institutions. As the gangs go, so goes the prison. The Aryan Brotherhood, the Mexican Mafia, the Bloods, the Crips – they dictate what happens behind the walls of many Federal prisons. When some of these gang members discovered the frequency of my visits I was approached and was told that I was going to smuggle drugs into the institution, through the visiting room, using my family and my friends as mules or they were going to kill me. Each was carrying a shank which is basically a weapon made out of everyday objects found in a prison or, as I like to refer to them, the best and brightest products of prison ingenuity. The first guy is carrying a toothbrush. Yes indeed, I said a toothbrush. The difference between this toothbrush and the everyday toothbrush we all use each morning is that this toothbrush has one end filed to a very sharp point and the other wrapped in duct tape to resemble a handle. The second one is carrying a pork chop bone. Once again, yes you read correctly, a pork chop bone. They take the long end of the bone and again they grind it down on the concrete to a very fine point and use the large portion of the bone as a handle that fits nicely in the palm of the hand. This tool is most effective from behind when stuck in the artery of the neck. The third guy is carrying a 16- penny nail driven through a six-inch piece of a broom handle. These are the tools by which they take each other's lives in prison. They were serious. They didn’t care that this could mean more time for me, or incarceration for my family and/or friends if we were caught. I was given a choice…if you could call it that. As they enter my cell, I’m terrified. My first reaction was that I would do anything they say, I wanted to live. But when they gave me their ultimatum something much stronger than fear came over me. I saw the face of my son and remembered how he was committed to me regardless of where I was. I thought about my Mom and my Dad, and the commitment I made to them to turn my life around, and how it had always been my family that was sacrificed in the past. I thought about how I wanted to be that person that my son saw me to be and that my parents were hoping I’d be. And, I remembered something that my dad always used to say. A saying which I lost track of during my teens and early 20’s, but came back to me in that moment. What my dad used to say was this, “Anything in this life which is really worthwhile, which is REALLY worthwhile, is never easy.” All my life I had always taken the easy road. The easy road is the road of drug use. The easy road is a road of lying, cheating and stealing. Anybody can do these things, it takes no type of special person to do them; anyone can take this easy road. The more difficult road is a road of self-respect, a road of believing in you. It's a road of often standing to one side and feeling alone when it seems that everyone else is heading in a different direction or passing you by, but knowing in your head and in your heart that what you are doing is the right thing. Peer pressure was the number one driving force in my becoming involved with drugs and in heading down the wrong path as a teenager. Everyone wants to be liked, everyone wants to be accepted. It was easier to go along with the pressure rather than stand alone against it. In prison that pressure is magnified one hundred fold. In prison, not fitting in could cost you your life. For fourteen years I had taken the easy road. This was my time to make a stand. I would choose my family over myself. I would choose my integrity before asking my family to bail me out again. I would choose to be true to the goal of becoming the person I wanted to be. I would choose death before I would ever utter that request. What happened next? I was saved. The jingle of keys came to us from down the corridor; a guard was on the way. When the gang members heard that jingle, that sweet, wonderful jingle, they took their shanks and tossed them under my mattress. You're only allowed to have two inmates in a cell at any one time so the guard sticks his head in and says, “Evans, what are these guys doing in your cell?” I tell the guard, “They’re not doing anything, we’re just kickin' it, they're not doing anything at all.” He ordered them out of the cell, and five minutes later I gathered up their shanks and one at a time took them back to their owners, explaining that they had forgotten something. They never bothered me again. Whether it was because I didn't tell the guard what they were doing in my cell that afternoon, or whether it was the fact that they could see in my eyes that I was no longer going to take that easy road and they were going to have to do the job they set out to do, they never bothered me again. I felt like I was rewarded for that decision. I felt as though it was the decision itself that had saved me. I had proven to myself that I was finally ready to put others ahead of myself. But above that, I had chosen myself, as I wanted to be, over the self that I had been. That was no longer good enough for me. I was ready to claim my integrity, cease making excuses, and quit taking advantage of my family’s love for the sake of my own survival. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The decision between taking the easy road and staying true to myself was a choice that I had to make daily and continue to make day by day. I suspect that this is the case in many of our lives. The choice is not always as drastic as life and death, but is as simple as choosing an excuse over what you know is right for you. Everyday events can be interwoven with conscious or unconscious decisions and actions that lead us down the easier path. Many people suffer from addictions, abusive relationships, overeating, lack of exercise, overworking. The list goes on and on. These “prisons within ourselves” are just as confining as the steel bars and razor wire that kept me locked up. Find your hope, embrace change, but know that you will have to follow it up with determination. Determination to be true to yourself as you want to be. Determination to hold that value of yourself high enough to make any price worth it. If you can find that determination, you will win by having just made the decision. You’ll gain the pride that makes the first pound you lose sweeter than the cookies you gave up for it; the self worth that makes the first day you spend without fear of being beaten feel safer than having the possessions you left behind; the integrity that makes the first day of sobriety with your family more intoxicating than an evening of drinking alone. Free yourselves from these prisons by taking the more difficult road, that road of self-respect, the road to a brighter future, the road to the life you want to live. Read
where I was recently interviewed in The Chicago Tribune! - Click to
see! Please note that my opinions in all sections are just that- my opinions. Feel free to disagree with them, argue them or dismiss them. As a professional speaker and author, I find that from time to time I offend or upset people. To this I say that I better be offending some people, otherwise I am not doing my job. By making people look at things they are not always comfortable looking at, I expect to ruffle some feathers and welcome your feedback at any time) Featured product for this issue! MY FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK- " From Desperation to Dedication: Lessons You Can Bank On"…Click
here to order
Download a free chapter of my book, The Preface is available here - Click to begin! If you live in or near one of the following cities where Troy will be speaking over the next few months, please contact The Evans Groups for details on an opportunity that does not come around often- see Troy present for free!
Sign up for my affiliate program and earn money while you sleep! Click here for details! Commission for booking me - I offer a commission of 10%-20% ($650.00-$1,300.00) for anyone who refers me for speaking engagements and/or bulk product sales. Please contact The Evans Group for details. Subscriber opinions and impressions of this electronic newsletter: I invite subscribers to write me with their questions as well and I will answer them in the next issue. Also readers, I invite you to send in profiles of yourself and how you have used the information from my electronic newsletter, products or speech in your personal and/or professional lives. Once a month I will feature one individual for all others to read about!
Note: You are free to reprint any portion of this electronic newsletter as long as the portion remains complete and unaltered, and the “About the Author” section is included. About the Author- Troy Evans is a professional speaker and author who resides in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Pam and his dog Archibald. Troy travels the country delivering keynote presentations, and since his release from prison has taken the corporate and association platforms by storm. Overcoming adversity, adapting to change and pushing yourself to realize your full potential- other speaker’s talk about these issues, Troy has walked them.
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