Translator: Ellie Wilson Reviewer: Maria Pericleous
The first time I went inside a prison, a maximum security prison,
to give a talk to the inmates about life and future planning,
I was very nervous.
I was very anxious and uncertain, as you can see it in this photo,
and maybe I was exaggerating a bit what I felt, making this face,
but I was very nervous.
A huge iron door opened.
I went in.
It closed.
I looked up and there was a concrete wall
which was several meters high, around 20 or 30.
There was barbed wire at the top
and two Dobermans either side.
I asked myself, why did I come here?
Who made me come here?
I started walking
and I saw the prisoners, the inmates.
I hugged one, I hugged another.
They offered me a tea and we started to talk.
And I discovered something special that I want to share.
I discovered that they were people.
I know it’s obvious that they are people
but I discovered it.
When I laughed at their jokes,
I was in front of people
who were deprived of their freedom in a maximum security prison.
From that moment, I knew that they were a special audience for me.
I give talks, chats, conferences and courses in many places,
but this audience is special to me,
and so I started to give many talks in many maximum security prisons
in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chubut and Tucumán in Argentina,
and also in Mexico.
I want to share some of the stories
from this incredible experience of entering a maximum security prison
and sharing an experience with the inmates.
One of these stories is that...
I realized, especially on my first visit,
that my examples weren’t suitable for this audience.
For example, I would say,
“Imagine you’re walking down the street,”
and they would stare, as if saying, “We don’t go out here.”
There were several examples that I realised weren’t suitable,
or appropriate for this audience.
Another story happened in a city
in a province of Argentina.
When I started the talk in this maximum security prison,
at first, a prisoner interrupted me
and I thought he was trying to mark his turf, right?
He interrupted me and said, “I gave a talk and you were there”.
I said, “Good,” and kept talking,
“Didn’t you hear me?” he asked from the back
I really thought it was a threat,
so I looked at him and tried to connect.
I asked him, “Tell me about the talk you gave.”
He said that he was, on one occasion,
in the same place as me, talking to prisoners
to sell them a product, but after that, he made a mistake.
It was very serious.
It was a murder, quite well-known in Argentina.
I found out about all of this after.
Later, I went back to that prison
and saw him walking down a corridor.
I said, “Seeing him in a corridor means I need to talk to him,
I bumped into him for a reason.”
He turned down one corridor, I was with the prison police.
I’d given a talk to another group so he wasn’t there.
I went back, even though I risked the police telling me,
“You can’t go back,” I did go back,
and I saw him.
I looked at him and said, “How are you doing?”
He came and gave me a big hug, and a while later said,
“I told my son the story about the turtle.”
I had told it months before, the story about a turtle,
and its message is that, no matter what others say
you should keep going.
Not only did he remember the story, he also told it to his son.
I had other experiences too.
For example, in one prison, someone shouted “Bernardo”,
I turned round and it was an inmate from another prison,
where I had spoken about life projects,
and he showed me some wooden chairs and tables
which he had started making.
This story, and many more,
are stories and experiences that I have had
in maximum security prisons,
in different parts of Argentina and Mexico, as I said, but...
Your prison?
What is your prison?
Yes, I’m asking you,
you may not be trapped in a cell with steel bars,
but maybe the steel bars are invisible.
Maybe you are in a prison
and this prison could be your fears,
or a limiting belief,
so something you believe that you won’t achieve.
Look out, because several of us,
even if we don’t see or recognise it,
we are in a cell that may be invisible,
but it is still a cell.
The good thing is, although there are three locks
on our cell door,
we have three keys to be able to open each of the locks.
The first lock is opened
when we think of all the good things we’ve achieved in our life.
Let’s make a list of all of our achievements,
all the brilliant and amazing things we have achieved.
This is the key to the first lock.
What about the second lock?
Surrounding ourselves with those who inspire and help us,
who encourage us and bring out the best in us.
And the third lock is opened by doing the following:
setting a start date for our dreams,
by no longer saying, “Perhaps one day”
and setting a date,
so we can try and try, until we make them come true.
Because happiness consists in achieving our dreams
and turning them into reality.
And to do this, the first step is to set a start date.
Just use these three keys
to open the three locks
so you and I, and all of us
can finally be free, once and for all.