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International Criminal Justice Themes
The Space Shuttle &
Prisoner Reentry:
What Can It Teach Us About
Making A Break From Our Past?
By R.L. Pelshaw - Guest Blogger
Your strengths are found in your past, both good and bad.
I'm not here to beat you up over what you did, or might even be doing now. I'm
here to give you a practical path that you can follow to help you use your past
to propel you to a new future, your destiny, a future where you have left your
past behind you.
Take a moment and think about the Space Shuttle. Obviously,
the Shuttle was not designed to stay on earth. It fulfills its destiny in the
stars, not on the launch pad.
What is the biggest obstacle the Shuttle must
overcome to get into space? It's not gravity but the weight of the fuel. The
fuel weighs more than nineteen times what the Shuttle weighs. It’s ironic
because the Shuttle needs the fuel to get into orbit, but the fuel is so heavy
it becomes the biggest obstacle the Shuttle must overcome to blast into space.
Breaking through the atmosphere into its destiny is the most difficult thing
the Shuttle will ever do.
I promised to show you how to use your past to propel
you to your destiny. Pretend you are the Space Shuttle. You're designed and
destined to be high above where you are now, but you're stuck on earth. You're
on the launch pad, ready for something to get you moving. You are yearning for
something better, knowing you don't belong where you are now. You are unhappy
that you can't get to where you want to be but you don’t know how to reach the
stars.
As the Shuttle you have to use your fuel to blast
off, but what is that fuel?
Your past, your life experience, is like the fuel in
the Space Shuttle. If the fuel is properly used it can propel you into orbit,
your destiny. If the fuel is improperly used it becomes dangerous, explosive,
and can destroy the Shuttle. If the fuel is unused it weighs you down and keeps
you stuck on the launch pad. Life on the launch pad is an unfilled life. On the
launch pad you're never going anywhere, never changing, never doing anything
differently, never improving, and never learning. All you are doing is wasting
away and decaying while you ignore your destiny above you.
You must decide if you want to let your past
weigh you down, destroy you, or propel you to your destiny among the stars.
What will you decide? Are you willing to do what it takes to make it
legitimately, so you can reach your destiny, the life you were meant to live?
Once the Shuttle blasts off it cannot return to Earth until its mission is
complete. A return mid-launch would be catastrophic for the Shuttle.
History gives us another example of the commitment
required for success. Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez burned his ships when he
reached the New World in the 1500s. You must have that level of commitment if
you wish to reach your goal. Returning to the past should not be an option at all,
no matter how hard it is to launch or break through to your destiny. Just as
the Space Shuttle cannot return to earth mid-launch, and there were no ships
for Cortez' men to return to Spain, there should be no chance of you ever
returning to a life of crime. Close
that door forever! This book will show you ways to start your own
business so you don’t have to return to or continue crime to make a living.
[An excerpt from the book
Illegal to Legal:
Business Success for
(ex) Criminals]
© 2014 by RL Pelshaw,
used with permission.
RL
Pelshaw is a successful real estate developer, consultant, public speaker,
author, and former felon. He is the founder of the National Hire Ex-Felons Campaign, and is the author of "Illegal to Legal:
Business Success for (ex) Criminals.”
__________
Progressive Prison Project/
Innocent Spouse & Children Project
Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Minister/Director
jgrant@prisonist.org
jgrant@prisonist.org
(o) 203-769-1096
(m) 203-339-5887
Lynn Springer, Founding Advocate, Innocent Spouse & Children Project
lspringer@prisonist.org
lspringer@prisonist.org
(203) 536-5508
George Bresnan, Advocate, Ex-Pats
gbresnan@prisonist.org
(203) 609-5088
Jim Gabal, Development
jgabal@prisonist.org
(203) 858-2865
Babz Rawls Ivy, Media Contact
mediababz@gmail.com
(203) 645-9278
George Bresnan, Advocate, Ex-Pats
gbresnan@prisonist.org
(203) 609-5088
Jim Gabal, Development
jgabal@prisonist.org
(203) 858-2865
Babz Rawls Ivy, Media Contact
mediababz@gmail.com
(203) 645-9278
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