13 Letter to Joey by Dakota Bailey

I am sorry to hear about your being sentenced to serve 5 years in a prison institution. I personally am serving the same sentence and am currently 2 years and 3 months into mine, almost at the halfway point. I understand that accepting this reality is an incredibly difficult task and a major adjustment to life.

I also heard that, like me, you have children who you are having a hard time contacting on a regular basis. I am writing to you to let you know that as hard as this time is right now, your life is not even close to being over. Despite current hardships, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I have some recommendations for how to move forward with your situation in order to make the next 5 years the best that it can be.

My first suggestion is that while incarcerated, it is extremely important to find a routine and stick to that routine. Looking at a clock and just waiting for time to go by is going to make each hour, each day feel like it is lasting an eternity. Whether that means working out, attending some sort of groups that are offered in your facility, or pursuing your higher education, find activities to keep your mind occupied and time will go by a lot faster.

For me personally, I have been enrolled in college for two semesters now, and I am now part of the dog training program offered at my prison. Due to the time commitment of these two pursuits, my schedule is extremely busy, and my days are flying by. In turn, this productivity makes me so much more relaxed and relieves a ton of stress I felt when I first got arrested.

My next recommendation for you is to always try and look at the glass as half full. Positivity attracts positive outcomes. Having a can-do attitude toward things and people will impact not only how you are perceived by others but also minimize frustration when times are not going so easy. Staying positive can help those difficult periods feel not so bad.

A third advisement is practicing a gratitude mindset. What has helped me get through any rough times is always reminding myself that no matter how bad something may be for me, there is always somebody else going through something much harder and worse. By practicing this empathetic perspective, I promise that you will be able to stay more optimistic.

My last recommendation is about your children. No matter what happens and how hard days may be, always make sure you are doing what you can to stay in contact with them. When they are older and you are no longer incarcerated, they will at the very least know that you did everything in your power to remain in contact with them and never give up on yourself, thereby never giving up on them.

By doing all of these things, it has made my time here much better. Of course, it is still not always an easy thing to come to terms that I am away from my loved ones, but all of these approaches have helped me focus and remind me that my circumstances are temporary. My incarceration will eventually be in the past, and life will get better.

Take care,

Dakota

*Joey is a fictitious character