I finally got a little window today from work until my next shift and had some time to write a post. Update: I've also continued to buy LEO tokens and picked up another 1,000+ since my last #MyLeoGoals post and now have over 2K LEO staked with more to come!

This post was prompted after I ran into a friend from high school and we discussed the changes in life of the people we'd known. I'd wondered why some people succeed while others don't. It was surprising to see how we all diverged due to our choices in life depending on whatever "lane" we'd allowed ourselves to be put into. It highlights the necessity of never allowing the vision of your future to be limited by the guardrails placed around you.

With A Little Help From My Friends

We attended many of the same classes in school, but had very different outcomes when it was over. My friend Jim had his future all planned out after graduation by his dad who was a leader in a local company. A few years after graduation, this polite and well-liked guy was given a new car. His father also paid for the first two years of his mortgage, all utilities in the home for that period, bought all of his food, and got him a high-wage job at the business he worked at.

Thus, Jim had a nice boost for those two years where he could bank and invest all of the money he was making to ensure a buffer against any economic headwinds. Absolutely nobody hated him for this because Jim is one of the nicest, most stand-up guys you'd ever meet, and he knew his situation was not the norm. In short, we felt all power to him and were happy he was being taken care of. He's a great guy and deserved every bit of it.

I recognized that of the people who made it, none of them did it all on their own. The way was greased and a door was opened at just the right moment.

We all seemed to be the same throughout high school, but there seemed to be this almost invisible track between two worlds. Those of us like me who were steered (by the school) towards vocational-technical school ("Vo-Tech"), and those destined for college or working at a family-owned business, or who like Jim, had a relative who ensured a soft landing for them after graduation.

I saw this early on, and like my blue-collar friends noticed that we were shunted into either low-wage service or factory jobs or right into the military instead. A few years later I began my education by coming across books about the different pipelines people are routed through; such as the school-to-prison pipeline which I thankfully avoided.

Two years after graduation, I gave notice and quit my job to join the Navy. I'd been reading about how in some countries military service was required, even though it was not here in America. Serving two years in the military was the norm elsewhere, and since I come from a patriotic family and love my country, I wanted to give back.

Shortly after serving honorably, I ran into another high school friend who'd been given (for a dollar), a window-washing business by his buddy who was getting married and moving to Europe for good. This highlighted the importance of the connections that we make, but here too, was yet another guy who'd treated people well in life and deserved the good fortune that fell right into his lap.

In short, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, and I was so happy for him.

Charles, in contrast, had a very different outcome...

Don't Be Cruel

He was (by his own admission) "The Hunk" in both Jr. High and high school. He had an inflated opinion of himself and treated the girls who worshiped him like shit. We'd watch him snap his fingers in class and they'd do his bidding. He was good-looking and made sure that all of us knew it, and we'd never be on his level. He always seemed to get his way. But you know, sometimes getting what you want, is different from what you need, and that's what brought him down.

Vainglorious Charles always carried a little mirror in his book bag and liked viewing his reflection. He got into hard drugs which caused him to drop out, and lemme tell ya, they did a number on those delicate features that he was so proud of.

A few years later I was shocked at when this ragged, smelly, rough-looking guy called my name, it was Charles. He was almost unrecognizable from his California surfer-dude persona I'd known so well. The movie-star handsome face was gone, ravaged by heavy drug use. I took no joy in seeing how far he'd fallen. I got him dinner and tried to connect him with some services for housing and other assistance but he refused to go, and I never saw him again.

He had it all, and a little humility would have done him good. He was in love with himself and the lyrics of that Justin Bieber song 'Love Yourself' couldn't have been truer. He was openly cruel to the girls who worshiped the ground he walked on, and would break their hearts in class.

Mind Games

But this all goes back to the different tracks we were on, and I was determined to break out of the one that had been defined for me, which is why I became a student and went to college. With no criminal record (still), I managed to avoid the landmines that had caught so many of my fellow classmates.

I don't smoke, drink. or do drugs, and saw how each of those habits snared so many of the people I'd known. I wasn't about to be anybody's statistic or be bound by anyone else's conventions. In short; I'd build my own person and chart my own path.

That's also one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to spend six months living in Europe. Here in America, we're all existing in the same milieu and shaped by the daily barrage of propaganda without even realizing it.

I'll never forget landing in Birmingham, England and seeing the same news story I'd seen in the states, but covered in-depth and from an entirely different angle. It was odd; "anti-war protesters" here, were referred to as "peace activists" there.

It's called "framing" words matter.

You could actually help mold, shape or twist public opinion by how you "framed" an issue. Thus, the students on the blue-collar trade school, military, prison track, had that lane framed for them by the limited expectations of their family and the people they associated with. Its one of the reasons I always worked to cast a wider net and expand my pool of knowledge.

I want to hear all sides of an issue before coming to my own conclusions and am suspicious whenever someone seeks to limit access to information or silence someone else's voice.

Take the 2-part series 'Leaving Neverland.' If that's all you know about the Michael Jackson situation (what I call the "pop culture" version), you may have one opinion. But if you spend weeks going on a deep dive and read the actual police reports, witness statements, court testimony and Mr. Jackson's travel itinerary as I did, you might arrive at a very different conclusion. You gotta be willing to put the work in, and listen to voices that you've been programmed to ignore, and many people simply won't.

I think that being open to new ideas and situations, allowed me to recognize and see the economic divergence that existed among my own classmates. It allowed me to avoid a destiny that was mapped out for me by people whose own possibilities were limited by the prison of their minds. If you've been around such people, you may be able to help them break out if they're so willing. But often, if they're not, its all you can do to save yourself.

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