Experience

          I've been fortunate enough to have experienced many things that have really changed me and molded me into the man that I am today.  Some grueling, painful, and not easy to go through, but those, in my experience, have been the ones that have shaped me and defined me the most.  With courage, faith, and reliance upon those that care about me, I have gotten through some of those hard experiences, better than I ever was before.  Others, have just been beautiful and unique, ones that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.  Whether it has been a relationship, or doing something for someone else, these experiences have also helped me become the person I am today.  Everything I do, everything that has happened in the past, is the reason I am what I am today.

       
          The first experience that really changed me and helped me turn into the person that I am today is the experience I had doing service work for some orphanages in Cusco, Peru.  I did this when I was seventeen years old.  Having some experience with doing service work for the likes of homeless people and people with disabilities, I thought I knew what I was getting into.  I was mistaken.  The poverty element that was involved made this way more powerful.  These little kids that I was taking care of really had nothing.  It really made me feel something profound within myself that I hadn't felt before.  I really learned the meaning of gratitude after this experience.

          Another experience I had that really taught me something about myself was working at a treatment center for drug and alcohol abuse.  This was a powerful experience for me because it gave me a different perspective on my own experience as a young man that went to treatment for the same thing myself.  It really taught me about the inner empathy I have for others and it taught me how to better tap into that inner strength of mine.  It also taught me lessons in patience and tolerance.

          The last and most powerful experience for me in my life was going to treatment for drug and alcohol abuse myself.  It taught me so much.  It opened my eyes up to the years of damage I had caused in my family and to others around me.  I learned the tools how to move forward and make all of my past wrongs right.  It taught me a lot about myself that I had never known before, like channelling my anger, understanding and accepting the world and its people around me, and much more.

A Little Hip-Hop

My boss was an idiot,

And his boss was too.

Brain cells, apparently he had too few.

Over time it seemed like all my coworkers 'round me,

Started kissin' ass and suckin' up for the bread and the cheese.

It was frustrating to see my brothers turn phony.

Worked all day and all night and what did I get?

A boss that never ceased to breathe down my neck.

Wasn't getting anything worth while, especially respect,

I found myself screaming and yelling what the heck.

Seeing a place turn from something you love to something you hate,

Wasn't something that felt all too great.

Toward the end of my time my old friend was at the door named fate,

Letting me know it was time to get strong,

Time to move on,

Do something you thought you couldn't do,

Make it happen make a dream come true.

I opened a new chapter to my book,

Didn't even look back to take a second look.

I left all those fools behind!

         

Nas

Slick Rick, A.K.A. Rick the Ruler