This week I’m publishing my podcast and guest post with Jonathan and Brad at ChooseFI. ChooseFI is one of the top podcasts in the Financial Independence subculture. Their facebook group is an amazing resource for just about every money topic you could imagine. You can listen to our podcast and start reading my guest post below:
A PRISON CELL, A LOST DECADE, AND RECOVERING MY LIFE
I was released from prison after ten years of incarceration in 2012. I walked into prison as a 21-year-old-kid who had made a mistake with drugs. Ten years later, I was a 31-year-old man who felt like ten years had disappeared in a blink of an eye as I walked out into the prison parking lot to see my family again.
As I got into the car with my family and began the four-hour drive home to Minnesota, flashbacks of my journey through prison flashed in my imagination. Memories of tiny cells made of concrete blocks, surrounded by razor wire fences that had been my reality for so long, were now just a figment of my imagination.
It was like arriving back on earth after living on a different planet for a decade. I realized I was standing on the edge of an entirely new life now.
Read the full story on ChooseFI by clicking here.
Listen to our podcast by clicking here.
STUFF WE LOVE:
Personal Capital is a net-worth calculating tool that turns your finances into a puzzle that’s fun to solve. It’s free and makes monitoring your money easy.
Bluehost is how we started this blog. Launch yourself onto the internet. Your friends are out there. It’s an easy to start your blog today.
Well done on the interview. I enjoyed hearing more of your story. Additionally, I loved hearing you be the second person to quote the bible in the hot seat. 😉
I enjoyed listening to your story too. In fact, you don’t know this, but I listened to your ChooseFI episode (https://www.choosefi.com/106-from-addiction-to-fi-ms-fiology/) to get warmed up for mine to get a feel for how the show and conversation unfolds. You did a great job. I didn’t want to copy your answer, but when I really think about one story that sums up my entire life, it was the prodigal son. All those who are lost, can be found again. That really is the adventure I lived and gave my life to.
Story of the prodigal son: https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/parable-of-the-prodigal-son-faq.htm
Well thank you, kindly.
All those who are lost, can be found. Amen.
I loved your interview on ChooseFI. I think I heard your story before on Bigger Pockets too. You are such an inspiration! Most of us have never been to prison- but sometimes I think we are all prisoners of a debt, possessions, jobs, etc. We are all striving for that freedom of not having to do something you don’t want to. Unfortunately I realized too late that the bigger house, fancier clothes, bigger TVs- don’t really make you happy in the end.
Hey thanks Katrina!!! Yep, I did a segment on bigger pockets about 8 months ago: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/biggerpockets-podcast-281-how-to-get-your-first-deal-an-episode-for-new-investors-with-bill-jacob-and-david/
I am lucky enough to speak in high schools a few times a year, and that is my exact message to all those teenagers: I lived an extreme life through a real prison, but there are all types of prisons you can get caught in in life if you’re not careful with your decisions. This is the exact story I tell them if you’re interested: https://www.wealthwelldone.com/achieving-your-dreams/
Freedom is the ability to say no to the things you don’t want to do, and to say yes to all the things you do want to do. After all those years incarcerated, when I was in my prison cell, that’s the life I dreamed of living every day for the rest of my life. Thanks Katrina!