Sixteen months in prison

MIYINGO Ivan, MPhil, B. Pharm, MPS.




Sixteen months in prison can be viewed as a laboratory for the mind, not as a prison sentence. You can turn your attention inward, away from the physical walls, and embrace the situation as a supreme test of mental freedom, discipline, and character. 

Your ancestors probably faced exile, imprisonment, and isolation, and they used these seemingly hard times to exercise self-improvement.

When you are in prison, waste no ounce of energy complaining or whishing things were different. You have no control over the wire fences, the mean guards, and the chalky meals.

Choose to fall in love with this trying circumstance. That enclosed room is exactly where the universe wants you right now. Inside that cell is your new training ground, preparing you for bigger things that are about to happen in your life once you get out.

When the cell feels small, stretch your mental vault to infinity. Close your eyes and zoom out in perspective. Mentally rise above the room, above the building complex, above the city, and look at the entire Earth. This exercise should remind you that you are just a speck in a massive cosmos, making your mandatory confinement feel trivial in the grand scheme of time.

Shift from being a consumer to a creator. Passively consuming other people's creations or waiting for the time to pass will decay your precious mind. At least create first before you consume. Your thoughts are your material, and if put to good use, when the door finally opens, you will emerge not traumatized or weakened, but mentally sharper, emotionally bulletproof, and deeply at peace.


Sixteen months in prison can be viewed as a laboratory for the mind, not as a prison sentence. You can turn your attention inward, away from the physical walls, and embrace the situation as a supreme test of mental freedom, discipline, and character.

Your ancestors probably faced exile, imprisonment, and isolation, and they used these seemingly hard times to exercise self-improvement.

When you are in prison, waste no ounce of energy complaining or whishing things were different. You have no control over the wire fences, the mean guards, and the chalky meals.

Choose to fall in love with this trying circumstance. That enclosed room is exactly where the universe wants you right now. Inside that cell is your new training ground, preparing you for bigger things that are about to happen in your life once you get out.

When the cell feels small, stretch your mental vault to infinity. Close your eyes and zoom out in perspective. Mentally rise above the room, above the building complex, above the city, and look at the entire Earth. 

This exercise should remind you that you are just a speck in a massive cosmos, making your mandatory confinement feel trivial in the grand scheme of time.

Shift from being a consumer to a creator. Passively consuming other people's creations or waiting for the time to pass will decay your precious mind. 

At least create first before you consume. Your thoughts are your material, and if put to good use, when the door finally opens, you will emerge not traumatized or weakened, but mentally sharper, emotionally bulletproof, and deeply at peace.

Literally, figuratively, and metaphorically.

______________________________
From: The Letters to Atiah Miyingo


© 2095

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