a cop asked me once he said man what she
drink I said would go division run him
and go to college and him go to the
league and he's like you're probably go
to cellblock D 1 and I was like many
making a mistake like I've never met you
a day in my life I got an uncle in jail
right an uncle in prison right and I was
like yeah he's like Apple don't fall too
far from the tree right and what he was
saying to me was you'll probably repeat
the same pattern that they repeated you
come from the same household right and I
could have looked at it and made an
excuse and said I'm alone my standards
to meet and accommodate my household my
experience my situation my circumstance
oh I can take my situation in my
circumstance and raise my standard and
say I'm going to be an example I'm going
to try up and I'm gonna use my situation
and my circumstances my driving force
among my few if I do this well I can get
my family in a better situation if I do
this well I can get my mother off the
double shift that went easy if I do this
well I can get my own bang if I do this
well I can get my grandmother a better
living condition if I do this well maybe
I can stop my uncle's from selling drugs
this is my purpose this is what I've
been put here to do and so the
opposition adversity the challenges is
as a part of the process is going to
make me a better person but my purpose I
can't let anything stop or detour me
from tapping into that every single day
right because for most people when you
go through something the person's
natural perspective is okay what did I
lose right what happened to me like I
took the loss right people never look at
it and say okay man tell me what did you
gain like even though I know it hurt you
didn't want to go through it but look at
it in a way to where you can say what's
the lesson in this all right what would
you say life is trying to teach you
dealing with this right because I'm
coming from this household - I sleep on
the floor right with roaches with rats
I'm not ashamed to admit it right now
we'll go to school and I will compete I
will work and so when I met a kid that I
was competing against the only thing I
felt I had that advantage in my whole
life was my work that thing and I took
pride in that right I was never the
biggest the fastest the strongest never
had the most resources but I had a work
ethic and so my whole life I want it
different for my family ever since I was
a kid right and so never allowing a
situation or circumstance to define your
life and understanding that you got
something inside of you that's great in
that situation around a circumstance but
you have to constantly believe it and
not only believe it you have to make
decisions and choices every single day
it puts you a step forward toward what
you believe your destiny is and so when
I went through it my perspective was
okay what can I extract from it to apply
to other areas and aspects of my life
that I feel can help other people and I
firmly believe the quicker you can shift
your perspective from yourself to others
when you're in the midst of adversity
the quicker you'll get through it right
Martin Luther King has a quote that says
life's most persistent and urgent
question is what are you doing to help
other people
you