Be the coffee bean.

Be the coffee bean.

My friend, I’m telling you right now, you’re a genius for being here.  Listen, you are what you eat… and I’m not just talking about the food you put into your body, I’m talking about how you feed your mind, your intellect, your soul, your spirit.  You have to nurture your ideas, your thoughts, your mind, your intellect, because as I always say, your psychology is everything my So listen up.  The most important thing in this world aren’t things at all… they’re ideas, and today i’m about to give you a small and simple idea that will awaken the power inside you and fill you with a desire to do a be a little more, in part because by doing so, you will be able to reap more happiness and more success in your life.  

So a month ago or so I listened to this awesome interview with a guy named Damon West.  Damon started out life pretty good, but somewhere along the way he got lost and caught up in some patterns that were literally destroying his life and future.  After getting caught up in drugs and a series of robberies, Damon was sentenced to 65 years in a maximum security prison in Texas.  Before he started his time, he met a guy by the name of Mr. Jackson.  Mr. Jackson he said, was one of the most positive people he had ever met.  He himself had been in prison, and this is what he told him.

He said “Look, you’re going to to go into prison, and prison is like a pot of boiling water.  Now, whenever you put something in a pot of boiling water, the heat and the pressure that is felt inside of that pot, will change anything that is put into that pot”.  So this Mr. Jackson asked him, “Damon, what happens if you put a carrot in that pot of boiling water?”  and he said “well it gets soft…”  he said, “that’s right, it ges soft and mushy.  What happens if you put an egg inside that pot of boiling water?”  and he said “well I know that one, it turns into a hard boiled egg!”  “that’s right” he said, “that egg becomes hard. Now what happens if you put a coffee bean into that pot of boiling water?...  A coffee bean… the smallest of all?”  and Damon admitted, “Honestly I don’t know what happens to that bean.”  and this is what wise Mr. Jackson told him  “Well, if you put a coffee bean into a pot of boiling water, well that pot of boiling water, ceases to be a pot of boiling water, and it becomes a pot of coffee.

Now, Damon, when you go into that prison, you’re either going to become a carrot, soft, mushy, afraid, insecure, a victim of your environment and circumstances, or you’re going to become a hard boiled egg, your heart is going to harden, and you’re going to become bitter, angry, mean, vengeful, and your ability to give and receive love to and from others will be inpaired.

And honestly, most people who go to prison become hard boilled eggs… that is the natural outcome of such pressure in an incredibly difficult environment… But if you become a coffee bean, you will be able to transform the environment that you are in from the inside out, instead of becoming victimzed by the circumstances that surround you.  Damon… go be a coffee bean!”  

And guess what?... that is exactly what Damon did.  He changed that prison from the inside out, and better yet, the other coffee beans that were in that prison found him as well.  Because listen, whatever you are… however you present yourself in your school, at work, however you walk down the halls of your school,or in your home, in your clubs, churches… wherever you are…, you will attract other people that think, act, and show up like you do… Now Damon, while he was prison learned some life changing lessons… and prison is a hard place to learn lessons, but he did.. And here are the 5 lessons he learned while in prison:

1. You have to stay in shape.  And he wasn’t talking about staying in shape physically, that’s one part, he is talking about staying in shape Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically.  Get in shape and stay in shape.  Put and do the right things with you mind, body and soul, and you will be in shape and ready for anything.  No exceptions.  What you do, watch, read, will have a dramatic impact on who you are.  

2. In prison he learned the secret to life.  Now the secret to life, is serving others, and staying humble… because listen, when you serve others, and when you are raising others, you are raising yourself and raising the tide of where you are at.  

3. You have to turn every obstacle into an opportunity.  He had to change his perspective about what those years were going to mean to him, and Damon courageously choose to see that experience as a preparation and an opportunity to become the coffee bean he wanted to become.

4. The next lesson is that your past does not define you.  Instead he realized that the past was a source of wisdom and experience, that the present was a gift, and that the future was the motivation he needed to move forward and upward.

5. And 5, he realized that his body language… before we even open our mouths, how you carry yourself, whether you are smiling or not, we can immediately transform the feeling in a room, or in a personal relationship.  My friends, your smile is an act of courage and hope… be brave and never, ever leave home without it.  

So you know what happened to Damon West… After 7 years of doing the best he could to be a coffee bean, the parole board brought him in and let him go… now he is on parole till 2073, but because of what he became and strived to become… a coffee bean, not a mushy carrot, or a hardened and mean boiled egg, Damon is now a free man and inspiring people throughout the country to stop hiding in the shadows, and instead to step forward courageously, boldly, without argument, to becoming that coffee bean.  So how about you… are you ready to become a coffee bean… are you ready to take accountability for your actions, for your power, for your ability to impact any environment that you walk into, and like a magnet, attract the best that this world has to give?

His message is about becoming a change agent… the small part that impacts change in their circle… His challenge is for you to become the change agent in your circle of friends, in your home with your parents and your siblings.  For you to become the change agent in your groups, your teams, in your classroom, in your neighborhood, in your churches, or wherever you find yourself.  This message isn’t just for some, don’t rationalize or convince yourself that this just isn’t for you… don’t be a carrot.  Don’t be all about yourself, and say to yourself, I’m just going to do me, and take what’s mine, because that jaded mentality will not bring you the joy and relationships that will bless your entire life.  Instead, become the change agent, work on your influence, smile, serve, and stay humble and teachable, and you’ll change your world from the inside out.  Now get out there, and be that coffee bean!

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