Do/Don't Essay

Do you want to know the worst-kept secret about being in the system. It's ridiculous. The main hardest things I've done since I've been on papers are, in order of how hard it is, 1. Maintaining sobriety.  2. Trying to out smart the system and 3. Completely changing the way I think and my behaviors. 

I have made myself a list of do's and don'ts for all of those who are either new to the system or for people trying to get out of the system so they have a chance to really think about what the outcome is for the choices they are making.

DO: Take initiative. Don't sit around waiting for your probation officer or case manager to come and tell you what you have to do. When you hear from your judge what you have to do, get on it as fast as you can. Don't procrastinate. The faster it gets done, the fast you'll get out, and doing it on your own without people telling what needs to be done will look a lot better. 

DON'T: Act on impulse. Before you do anything, anything at all, always make sure you stop an think before you make any decision. I learned that one from experience. Even though I was sober for three months, I was hanging out with one of my best friends, and he suggested we should all go get some alcohol and go kick it somewhere. I said yes because I didn't get tested for that and drinking sounded fun. We ended up getting some, and on the way back to his house, we had got into a car accident. Just like that. Even though I knew I could get away with one thing, something even worse happened. If I would have stopped and thought about everything that could have gone wrong, I would be out of the system right now.

DO: Internalize. This is probably the best thing you can do while you are into the system. Take all the good knowledge that people teach you and use it in your life. If you know you're going to be where your at for a while, really try to imply good and positive things you learn to the way your living. You'll notice that some things really do work if you take it in. I'm not saying that everything they teach you is right, and will help you, cause something's just wont, and some people do just tell you BS. But I feel if you really do internalize you'll learn a lot about yourself and what's really important to you.

DON'T: Out smart the system. This is impossible! One way or another they end up finding out about what you've done. It might just work for a little while, but soon enough it will catch up with you. You'll start slipping. You think that since you're getting away with this one thing, you'll try to get away with something else. And once you start doing this, you don't notice that you're becoming less and less sneaky, and pretty soon your sneakiness becomes very obvious.

And last but not least DO: Be respectful of your probation officer or case manager, and especially your judge! Mostly just to everyone around you that can do anything to effect you and you getting out or staying in the system. This is super big. If you show any bad or negative behavior, you are just giving them one more reason to keep you in. It's not only better to be respectful, just while you're in the system, but in general. Being respectful will get you far. Farther than you think. 

But for the love of everything holy, DON'T: keep doing the same things over and over and over again and expect that the things you are doing are going to be any different from the last time you did it, because it's really not going to be.You have to change your way of thinking and behavior. That is what will get you somewhere. And especially off of papers!