Living With Regret....5/12/2020

As a young parent in the 80's , I made a series of bad choices.These choices carried consequences , that shaped the trajectory of not only my life but my children's lives as well. We all heard the story of tragic tales of lost youth in the ghettos across America .Countless lives lost to The Game, the impact on a sociological level is stunningly tragic.

Those of us who have survived The Game, live as walking wounded , out of 20 people from my circle as a gang banging youth, I can't name one who is doing well in life.

Those of us who not only survived The Game, and also do social work are imbued with a sense of purpose, direction, and urgency often borne of regret.

Myself, I live with a profound sense of regret. The list of regrets include ;

* gang banging,

* dropping out of school,

* fooling myself into thinking I could be a good father, while still being in The Game.

,

These mounting regrets can not turn back the tide of time, thus, all I can do is push forward

with my work , growing the brand and pray that my efforts are effective in showing our youth who face crushing poverty,and a myriad of other factors that render their existence on the margins of society,that their lives have value, intrisnic value, and thus vis-a-vis that ALL life has value.This is a tall order, probably as hard a living with the regrets that have piled up over the years, but like Jay-Z said back in the late 90's ,"The No.1 Rule for your set , you gotta learn to live with regret." Peace.

Painting by Charles Mclauren , #CHOICES ,

currently serving a Natural Life Sentence .

Founder; Patrick Pursley // Freepatrickpursley

www.iamkidculture.org // email: iamkidculture19@gmail.com