Lights of Hope 
E-Mail    By Russell Day   Bio/Address

   Over the years I've spent in prison I've met many people, each individually unique, and yet most of them have beneath the rough exteriors they portray a good sense of humor, a sense of compassion for others who are struggling, and some sense of hope, no matter how tattered it may be.
    Recently, one of these men received a letter from home. In that letter was a page filled with simple knowledge, and yet profound enough to make us all stop and think. Such words of hope and encouragement arrive here in the mail all the time, but they're words we can all gain value from. Photocopies of these things inevitably scatter throughout the prison. Some end up in dusty, miscellaneous folders, others taped to dull cell walls.  It's a tiny light one person received, and it gets passed around and shared with others. That tiny light will live a very long time, going from one hand to the next. That's one of the most humane things a person can do, passing on such a tiny, hopeful light within the bleak, weary confines of prison. I'd like to share one of those lights with you. Maybe you can hand it to somebody else, and just maybe, if it's taped on enough walls and stuffed in enough dusty folders, that tiny light of hope will become as brilliant as the sun.
    We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we are frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with; we'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
    The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. it's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way, so, treasure every moment that you have, and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time  and remember that time waits for no one.
    So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home are paid off, until Spring, until Summer, until Fall, until Winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy .....
    Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So, work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.
    They're words we can all find value in. It's time to put the typewriter up now. It's time to stand up and do a jig, and to revel in the curious stares of my cellmates. They'll wonder what was slipped into my coffee. they'll wonder where I got the drugs. But it's nothing like that at all. Maybe they'll realize that when I share these words with them too.

3/16/00

Back