Paradigm, it is the way we see the world, not in terms of our visual sense of sight but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting. A paradigm shift is when someone finally sees the composite picture in another way. It is though a light were suddenly turned on inside. .
Between the ages of twenty three and twenty four and a half I was doing and dealing drugs on a daily basis. I was not working or going to school but at that time I saw nothing wrong with what I was doing. In my mind I would find ways to rationalize what I was doing. My view on life was that it was on big party, but the party ended the night my brother was arrested for dealing drugs. He was leaving my girlfriends apartment and getting into his car when undercover police rushed and threw him to the ground at gun point. I overheard the commotion and ran outside to see my brother face down with a shotgun to the back of his head. .
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When I saw my brother on the ground with hand cuffs on is when you can say that the light was suddenly turned on. That one night changed my views on everything. I realized that what we were doing would give me two roads to go down, one being prison and the other would be dieing young. When I realized that is where I was heading, it opened my eyes and made me see that I was doing nothing with my life and I would not amount to anything if I kept it up. My view on life went from it being one big party, to it being one big failure. I looked at my future from this point on with open eyes. .
I now understood that if I was going to succeed in any aspect of life I had to stop selling and doing drugs, so I did. I wanted more that just two roads to go down, I wanted to go to college to open new doors in my future and create new roads to travel. School has been an experience in its self, it has helped me further my positive views on life and my future.
Going over this event in my head has helped realize some aspects of my learning style and how convincing my gremlin can be.
