PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT REALLY BEGINS
Around this age I really started to learn more about personal development and spiritual growth. First with Think and Grow Rich, then a Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. My father also bought Tony Robbins 30 day Audio Program and I would listen to it every morning when I woke up. In fact I started waking up at 4 am just so I could start my morning routine and complete it before school even started. This routine included writing my dreams down, meditation, planning and lots of listening and doing of personal development.
LEARNING TO FIGHT BACK
I believe this is the age I was in 6th grade. I remember having a rough time with some of the kids, being bullied was a fairly new concept for me and even though I was scared I would take on the kids much bigger than me. On two occasions I remember fighting right off the school bus with a kid name Casey and another time with a kid named Tobey. I even brought my German Shepherd Bear to the fight as I thought she might offer some kind of protection but it wasn’t really that effective.
I think this is around the time Braveheart the movie came out as well.. One of my all time favorite movies about liberation and freedom from oppression.
FAMILY DRAMA & GOING WITHIN
I remember my parents were also in constant drama around this time. I didn’t really feel stable with anything going on in my external life but somehow I managed to learn how to meditate and seek stability from myself and nobody else.
A MAJOR CAR ACCIDENT
My friends and I decided to rent movies one night when they still had movie rental places. On the way back from the rental place a car struck the side of our vehicle going full speed .. it was later determined that he had been driving while intoxicated. I was fortunate to be in the back left seat, away from the main impact. My friend Chris on the other hand was right where the car made impact and suffered extreme injuries that put him in intensive care for 2 weeks. The mother and girl were also both badly injured. One with a massive head injury and the other with neck injuries that would later require screws.
On the positive side everyone made out with financial settlements from the accident, except me because I only needed some general check ups and apparently I had a bruised kidney.. I needed a bigger medical bill to justify a settlement and at the time I was stubborn about receiving any outside assistance. I wanted to succeed financially on my own merits and not through any kind of settlement or outside help!