Ghetto Born, God Raised: It's Not Your Setbacks, It's How You Comeback

Contents

Chapter 1—Can you Breathe?

Chapter 2—The Risks You Take, Determines the Life You Live

Chapter 3—Where Do You Rank?

Chapter 4—Life is like a

Roller Coaster Ride

Chapter 5—Unlikely Hero

Chapter 6—The Power of the Cross

Chapter 7—Newfound Faith

Chapter 8—Make Your Mark

Chapter 9—A Fresh Start

Chapter 10—I Have Good news, but…

Chapter 11—The Past Knocks at the Door

Chapter 12—To Get Forward,

You Must First Go Back

Chapter 13—Race of Champions

Chapter 14—Are you a True Champion?

Chapter 15—A Brother’s Betrayal

Chapter 16—Friends, Your Greates Asset

Chapter 17—I’m Not a Quitter

Chapter 18—When the Thrill is Gone

Chapter 19—The End Crowns the Work

Chapter 20—Tears in My Eyes

Success is to be determined not so much by your position in life, but by the overwhelming obstacles that you overcome while trying to succeed.

~ Dario A. Shields.

Dedicated to Daron,

Chase your dreams

Preface

Hi, my name is Dario Shields, let me start by saying thank you for taking time out to read this book and I really do hope you receive something that you can apply to your life with some of the real life experiences that I’ll be sharing with you both from my life as well as others which I’ve combined into the character, some I know personally and others I have read about.

My main reason for writing this book is not to get a best seller or Nobel or Pulitzer or any awards, but to impart to both the young, old and in-betweeners that no matter what you go through in life, no matter how impossible the journey seems, you can make it, because in the eyes of man, it’s impossible, but with God it is already finished.

I once read a book about the growing of a young man; it spoke of how a young man is grown today-versus—how he is supposed to be grown. After reading the first page of that book, I closed it; it brought tears to my eyes.

Growing in the ghetto teaches you to survive, but I felt like I was just existing and not living. I knew that I didn’t grow with the cereal box family, in my own home, I sometimes felt imprisoned, I wanted out. However, being such a devoted Christian teen, I held on to the thought that somehow I could change the impossible.

I have titled this book as "Ghetto Born, God Raised’, a tremendous story of a boy who despite the being born in the slum of the society, like everyone else wanted something more, but he didn’t just dream of it, he made it his reality, through some unlikely persons and situations.

This book is not about bragging about how I got rich, famous and blessed beyond measure, but simple life lessons that you can apply to your own life. This is to say that not because what other people say or think doesn’t make or break you, but it’s about what you think that really makes the difference; because that’s really all that counts; what are you willing to go the distance for?

It is because of this new found attitude why I believe they came up with the phrase, ‘you are what you believe’ and this story will show how a boy called Eric, accomplished his dream, which was simply to be a College Graduate.

I’ve seen many persons giving up on themselves simply because they don’t have the funds, support or the resources they need, but you only need one thing and that’s God.

You simply need to believe in yourself, even if others doubt you and sometimes when you think you’re a failure and no one believes in you, just blink.

After spending most of my teen life cursing and being bitter towards this God, I soon found out while I gave up on Him many times, He never gave up on me… So, my simple words to you are this, no matter you face in life… you can rise above all you face… All you have to do is… believe!

Acknowledgements

This is my first novel and after much procrastination and road blocks, it is finished. There are many persons who I must say thank you to, because without them this wouldn’t have been possible.

Firstly, I have to say thanks to God, because he comes first in my life and without God this truly wouldn’t have been possible. He has blessed and guided me to overcome mountains and carried me on His back when I was going through life’s storms and trials.

Next, I want to say thanks to my mother, Delsie, more popularly known as Miss Janet or as I like to call her mommy who I love dearly, because of her countless sacrifices and everlasting love, I was able to make it through the tough times and still keep a smile on.

Most certainly, I have to say thank you to my sister, Kaydian who has been a true inspiration to me.

I would like to say thank you to my little brother Daron, who inspired me to write this story, and whom this book is dedicated to.

Uncle Greg and Auntie Talia, you know that you would make my list hands down; you two have been such a powerful force in my life. You have been like guardian angels in my life and I gotta say thank you, thank you so much for all you have done for me.

On the list next are the best of friends anyone could ever ask for, Ghaffar and Renalto who helped me to have faith when I gave up on myself and taught me that 6+3=14.

I could keep writing on and on, but I know you guys want to move forward to read this amazing story. So, for everyone else apart of my life, whether it is a small or big role you play, thank you for believing in me.

It is my hope and prayer that you will get at least one lesson from this book that will not only stay with you, but also help you move closer to achieving your goals and to also see that with faith in yourself and God, nothing is impossible.

Introduction

There is something supernatural that takes place in you, around you and to you, when you start to accept life as it is. It doesn’t mean that you have given up hope, it just means that you see things what they are.

It means that people stop acting and start being real. Too often I watch as persons pretend to be someone they aren’t, just to fit in a certain group or circle. Not only does it end up costing them financially mostly, but they lose who they are and many times, they are unable to get back on the path that they should be on towards fulfilling the plans and purposes that God has set for them.

Eric learned a long time ago that trying to simply fit in only makes your life miserable. Eric chose instead to stand out. With decisions, consequences tagging along like the tail on a dog.

Many persons didn’t like him because he stood out, Eric was smart, and so were they, but he knew that there was something really special about him which made him have an edge; he had a dream and he was chasing it.

Growing up, Eric was refused certain pleasures and things that normal teen usually have. As a teen, he was said to be a nerd who wasn’t the best at anything, he was scared to get rejected so he denied himself the pleasure of being cool and so was seen as a social outcast. He was never on the a-List for girls but he fell for them as snow fell at Christmas time in the North Pole.

The feeling of achieving something great was always ringing in his head and he yearned for a change. One day, on the verge of almost losing his very life, he decided… that he wanted a change…

To everyone, he was always just another guy, who couldn’t be anything more than normal. Talented, smart, but he wasn’t seen as special in any way to anyone, because to them, he couldn’t really do much of anything except be counted as a failure or a long mawga black bwoy.

Throughout it all, he knew deep within his heart that there was something great about him, something that could not only make a difference to his own life, but to this harsh world he lived.

He had a goal in mind that many saw as impossible, but he found a strategy that made it capable, His strategy had a name and that name is God. His aspirations were impeccable and his dreams were now reachable.

He found God, through the funniest of circumstances which you will read of later.

He worked very hard in high school with the little resources that his mother could afford. He didn’t live with his father and all he only remembers faded images of him.

At graduation, while his friends were soon to move off to universities and colleges, he was stuck there and he constantly felt low, but just the thought of making his mother proud always encouraged him to keep pressing. In a way he believed she blamed herself that she couldn’t provide the life she felt he deserved. He was smart, but no scholarships available. He was a superb athlete, but the right opportunity never presented itself for him to display to the world, his gift. He was without the support of his father and with just his mother struggling to send him and his brother to school, life had been hard on her and her eldest daughter having to move back in, the stress made her look twice her age.

She tried her very best, but by herself she couldn’t do it, so at 18, Eric decided to give school a break, not because he was tired of it, but because he had to. He worked his very best to save all the funds and soon went on to the community college, where he met my real challenge, working and going to school. He knew it was not going to be easy, but they say if you want something good, you have to work for it, well he did, literally.

Having no other source of income to pay his way through college, he had to work his way. Since no one was giving him an opportunity to chase his dreams, he made his own opportunity.

Through some unlikely characters, he learnt one of the most important lessons, it’s not the setbacks in your life that make you see your dreams a reality, but rather it’s how you comeback.

Eric learnt a lot, but what stood out most is that in life, you will learn extraordinary things from persons you least expect.

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Read on to find out how a weird, skinny and ghetto youth dared to dream and foolishly chased it head-on and rose from being a boy to a man in the process.

Chapter 1—Can you Breathe?

To achieve something you’ve never got before, you have to do something you’ve never done before.

There is a popular saying that the impossible is what nobody can do until one person does it.

Can you imagine a life when teleportation is the new air travel? Humans are able to walk on water? And there is now a cure for cancer?

It is a must that more than likely these things will happen eventually because, quite simply, the laws of nature dictate that they must happen. And because there are people on this planet who believe they can make them happen.

Here is a short story about a girl who has set her sights on achieving what others say are impossible.

A 260 pound freshman girl showed up for track and field try-outs. Her name was Josie. She went not because she was athletic and wanted to pursue the Olympic dream. She was there because her doctor said her health depended on it. But once she scanned the crowd of students who were trying-out, they were so skinny and pretty, in her eyes, they were perfect. She felt ashamed and couldn’t find the strength to face them, so she turned around and began walking away.

Coach Jameson had been watching her, just as she was walking away; he jogged over to her, Hi, I’m Coach Jameson, you’re here for tryouts I take it?

Well, I was, but I’m not thin enough for this sport! Sara declared. And I’ll never be! It’s impossible for me to lose enough weight. I’ve tried.

Coach Jameson smiled, "never is a big word, you know and that’s my job, you let me worry about that.

Most people tell me I need to lose 130 pounds. She came back, I’m too big.

Your body type wasn’t suited for your current weight. It’s suited for around 220 pounds. I can help you get there

Josie looked confused. She replied. But you think I only need to lose 40?

Coach Jameson nodded.

Josie thought for a moment and she finally decided to give it a try. She started off as a shot put competitor, but spent every single afternoon running and training with the rest of the track team. She was very competitive, and by the end of the track season, she was down to 220 pounds. She also won 3rd place in the county-wide shot put tournament that year.

Three years passed, and she ended up coming in 2nd place in the 10K run. Her competitive weight at the time was 130 pounds.

‘Impossibility’ in my own words is simply a State of Mind and if somehow, we can find the patience to see the world for what it is—dynamic, flexible, and loaded with untapped potential, accepting the fact that change is an inevitable and brilliant part of life, then we can enjoy the sweet take of success and the thrill that comes with it

To achieve what others perceive as being impossible, we as humans have to first understand that the the fears we have with achieving our goals are simply a ‘state of mind.’

Nothing is truly impossible and everything can be achieved.

Impossibility only exists when we lack one thing, the thing and that is the ability to believe in you.

Most times, people believe in you and you don’t even know why, You can do it I believe in you Yes, that’s my boy

What is funny at times is that the more they encourage you at times, the more you fail. Ever ask yourself, why?

The answer is simple, they believe in you, but you don’t believe in yourself, it will never happen for you till you say the words, I can do this.

Josie was convinced that it was impossible for her to lose weight because, in her past experience, it had never worked-out the way she had hoped.

Usually when people say something is impossible, what they really mean to say is, "I can’t imagine how it could be possible, or work out for me."

But with believing in themselves, despite all that’s going wrong and the path showing against their favor, they’d begin to realize that everything is possible, it just takes a change in mindset.

Because ‘impossible’ is what we get when we haven’t trained our minds and our hearts to see past the systems that currently exist to ones that doesn’t yet exist.

So let’s start the training our minds and our hearts, today, so we can turn today’s impossibility into tomorrow’s possibility.

I am gonna share a story about a young man who had a dream and decided to chase it. Young Eric had this mindset. He believed that he could do anything even though his situations said otherwise.

He was poor and things weren’t perfect for him, he made his way a day at a time with his sights set on not only having more, but also being more than what others thought of him, than what he was. He was grown in the ghetto, but wanted out.

*     *     *

He was working in customer service at one of the biggest online marketing companies in the world, soon to be the biggest, Impact Prints. Eric worked hard, so hard that he was looked up to by even the managers, not because he was a tall guy, but because his work spoke for his motto, only the best is good enough and that is what he gave them, his very best.

One morning Eric was at work, just sipping his coffee and taking calls back to back. He got so caught up that he forgot his break many times and this time was no exception. He had used his scheduled break time to finish off some emails that were piling up.

Eric, you have got to see this said Kadia, his team mate with a smile on her face as if she’d won the super lotto or at least heard some really good news. She was quite edgy and it was clear to both Eric and everyone else that she stumbled onto something.

Kadia was normally a downer, why was she so excited? What good news has she come across?

Kadia had a lot going in her life; she felt she was overweight, a failure to her parents and she constantly spoke of even the possibility of committing suicide a few times. The only thing that kept her going was her son who she loved dearly.

Out of curiosity Eric asked, So, what’s with the smirk?

She started, So I was on facebook and my cousin sent me a link that changed me

To see her with this high, they all figured that she may have been smoking or drinking or maybe even both.

So you gonna tell me about it or just keep sitting there smiling? He asked.

It’s a cool video that I think, sorry know, you’d definitely like, it’s on my page on facebook so you can just go there and check it out

‘Ok, cool, I can do that, but at least tell me a little bit about it’

As she started, Eric’s eyes started gleaming and his face full of excitement like a child getting his first toy, it was no doubt about it, he was excited and he wanted to watch that video, no scratch that, he needed to watch that.

The calls were pouring in and he already took his break and lunch was over 2 hours away, could he manage the wait? He didn’t really have a choice those few hours were becoming to seem like days.

*     *     *

Lunch time, finally. Eric got up, took off his headset, and though his stomach was begging him for salvation and food. His heart was longing to watch that video, so off he went to the Internet café. But to his dismay, the computers were occupied and there were five others in line before him.

After waiting over five minutes and no closer to his turn to use the café and his stomach continuously kicking him and practically begging him for at least a sandwich, he walked away to get some food.

Throughout the entire day, after many failed attempts, he still didn’t get a chance to watch the video he was so excited about, which was proclaimed to be so life changing.

He didn’t have enough money to go to an internet café’ in town, so he went straight home after work. Upon reaching home and with no internet at his house, he grabbed his laptop bag and dashed away, not even changing his clothes. He went on his way to the church which was pretty close by; he logged on to facebook and proceeded to check her page, only to find that the so-called video wasn’t there. Had it been taken off? Was it even there? It surely wasn’t there now and he couldn’t find it.

Being pretty good with navigating on the computer, he checked various search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and still nothing. The thought hit him, it was a video, why not check YouTube, so he did.

A sort of child-like smirk came on his face as he slowly typed the words, Success Secrets and a lot of videos came and going through the top results, he didn’t find It.

His left eye or maybe it was his right or even both of his eyes caught hold of something in the related searched box, a video by Eric Thomas titled, Secrets to Success He could feel a calming wind move on his face, it was the one, he had finally found the video, As he clicked on the title, it was if for that one moment, time froze, here he was, about to get possibly the biggest revelation of his young life.

He was on the edge of his seat; the laptop almost fell out of his hand. His eyes were fixated on this guy on the screen, walking from left to right and right to left, the laptop was in full screen mode and he was ready to hear what got Kadia so worked up and what this secret to success is.

The man started with a question, How many of you in this room want to be successful?

Every hand in the