Things I'm Thankful For In Prison

How Being Grateful Keeps Me Focused


Several years ago if you had told me I would one day be grateful for anything inside the prison system, I would have laughed in your face. The lens in which I was looking at the world was slanted toward negativity. My mission seemed intent on find what is wrong with the community in which I am living in rather than noticing the incredible friends and opportunities that were available in my life. In 2021 a major shift occurred in my life...I made the conscious decision to stop whining about what was wrong, begin to find what is right. As my gaze turned away from my selfishness I started to see how some of the most incredible people were living within a few feet of where I slept. Men like Bernie who brings life to any room he walks into, men like Rick who has the most dry sense of wit and humor and somehow always builds up those around him, men like Jerrod who will sit and listen to you as you get things off your chest and then check back in on you a day or two later to make sure you're doing alright. I never saw these people when I was searching for what was wrong.
Today, I am thankful that although I have spent over 18-years of my adult life in a prison or jail, God has never once abandoned me. I most certainly did not deserve His mercy or grace, but He gives it anyway.
Today, I am thankful for the men I get to live around who make me laugh, keep me encouraged, challenge me to become a better man, and correct me when I'm being irresponsible.
Today, I am thankful that my family (blood and chosen) journey with me and endure this time though no judge or jury said they must. They choose hope. Today, I am thankful that I have been asked to facilitate a business development course for my peers on my unit. That I will be able to invest a little into the lives of people who will one day launch businesses all over the State of Texas and be contributors to their communities. Today, I am thankful that I will have the privilege of preaching God's Word twice in the next 48-hours. First to those who are in segregation, and later to one of my units large church services. I am humbled to have these opportunities. Today, I am thankful that some of my dearest friends, those who have significantly large prison sentences, are living in a one-of-a-kind incentive program for sober living for G3 custody inmates. This includes couches, microwaves, video game consoles, and intensive programing for personal growth and development. They are no longer feeling thrown away, they have hope again! Today, I am thankful that the administration of the unit I'm assigned to does not settle for status quo but instead presses forward believing in rehabilitation and growth. They see people who have a hope and a future instead of "inmates." Today, I am thankful that God has changed my heart and refocused my mind. He's given me a renewed sense of purpose and a resolve to help serve and support those around me. He's allowing me to give back as He gives to me. Friend, we always have things we can complain out. Nothing, this side of Heaven, will ever be "perfect." Conflict will arise, challenges will come, stress is going to be present, but I get to choose how I will respond to those things. I get to choose if I will allow the waves to rock my boat in such a way that I can no longer see the beauty of the ocean I'm out on. Today, choose to the grateful. Today, declare to the world, "I Choose Hope!" I'd love to hear some of the things you're thankful for while you're going through your struggles...feel free to share.
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Contact Trent directly by creating a Securus e-messaging account at SecurusTech.net or on the Securus App. You'll need his full name, State, and facility (Trenton Blythe, Texas, Texas Department of Criminal Justice). He'd love to hear from you!

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