Wasted Time.
When I entered prison, I began “doing time”. Some fellow prisoners told me to “Do the time, do not let the time do you.”
I had no idea what they were talking about. After being here for several months, I began to understand this clique. It was a suggestion to use my time in a positive fashion so I could improve my character and return to the real world a better person than the man who arrived here in the fall of 2014. A number of prisoners fall into a depressive rut of sleep, television and useless complaining. As I do my time I think about all of the time I wasted throughout my life. I wasted time because I thought I always had plenty of time. If I had realized that time was precious, I would have used my time to build better relationships with my family and my friends. I would have appreciated the wonderful things I had in my life. Instead, I spent a substantial portion of my life chasing the almighty dollar and the prestige associated with financial success. As you can imagine, that has not worked out very well for me!
The problem with wasting time is that it never comes back. You can waste money, yet earn some more in the future. It does not work that way with time. Unfortunately, it has taken me much too long to realize I was wasting precious time. I now understand that I have a limited amount of time (in prison and in life). I intend to waste as little of my remaining time as possible.
Prison can be wasted time or productive time. So far, my time has been productive and I believe that my family and friends will be able to easily recognize that fact when I return to the real world.
Not wasting time in Jesup, Georgia.
Ken Flaska
