by Peter Twitchell
You ever look in the mirror and see a fake smile? A smile comes from the heart where love, peace, and the joy of God reside.
Are you truly happy? Being happy is a natural state of mind. It’s natural, it’s there 24/7 in your heart.
For 17 years I was a mirror for men and women at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center (YKCC). These were the best years of my life, helping men and women understand the truth. I was a substance abuse counselor for others like me, an alcoholic, who was in denial for 20 years but began to understand ‘red’ flags in my life.
For example, driving a motorized vehicle when you are buzzed is a ‘red’ flag. Red flags indicate danger in our life – something is terribly wrong!
I didn’t beat around the bush with inmates – I said it as I saw it. The mirror does not always tell the truth when you lie to yourself. Only after you have replaced the lies, anger, resentments, hatred, envy, jealousy, ego, for the most part in your heart.
The heart at the end has only room for the truth, love, peace, and the joy of God. The lies were short lived only for our survival in a dark world when we were living within a lie. Love, peace, and the joy of God are everlasting. The man and women who smartened up and changed their destructive behaviors quit going back to an 8×10 cell.
The YKCC doors were no longer revolving for these men and women. The men and women who quit drinking and drugging were no longer depressed or self-destructive and quit hurting themselves and their loved ones. A great measure of truth.
