The Lonely Road

By John Marcus Brown

The Lonely Road tells my story of coming to college as a freshman who was in pursuit of acceptance, identity, and purpose. I graduated from high school in Terry, MS in 2011 and moved to Hattiesburg, MS to attend The University of Southern Mississippi. Throughout my story, I discuss the struggles of college students trying to find themselves along with growing individually. I speak on my personal experiences throughout my college career and offer encouragement to others who experience the same struggles on their journeys. This is not solely a college story—it is also a life story full of inspiration and wisdom from people who made countless investments in me. I speak of the importance of investing in one's self, building relationships, and making differences in the lives of others. While traveling on my lonely road, I had to find myself in order to define myself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMB Productions
• Release date: May 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781393136729

John Marcus Brown

John Marcus Brown is an advocate of self-development who leads by example. He uses every obstacle and challenge as an opportunity for personal growth. He acknowledges that great things can be accomplished when passion and purpose are unified. John is one who is always concerned with building positive relationships because he understands the heartaches negativity can bring. If someone needs uplifting, he pays it forward by lending a helping hand.

Book preview

Introduction

My journey coming to college as a freshman searching for an identity led me to ask myself many questions concerning my purpose. Once I discovered my purpose in college, I was inspired to tell my story in hopes to inspire someone else on his or her journey to finding theirs.

My goal for this book is the establish camaraderie between the reader and myself. I want my readers to feel as if I’m having a face-to-face conversation with them as they read. I believe that if your words are relatable to people, then they’ll listen to you. One of the reasons influential speakers and writers are successful is because their words are relatable to their listeners and readers. The people who have impacted me the most are the people who are relatable to me. The focus of this story to my readers is to make it personal by presenting my words in a captivating manner.

I believe through reading this book, people will gain a deeper perspective on life. Through helping my readers gain a broader perspective, I hope to also help people find their purpose. We are all here for a reason; whether we live out our purpose is up to the individual. I encourage everyone who reads this book to approach it with an open-mind because an open-minded person is open to learning. If you’re not willing to learn, then I don’t advise you to read this book.

The road to discovering my purpose challenged my way of thinking which is what helped me with my writing and speaking. This book was not written to waste anyone’s time, but it was written to serve as an investment in whoever takes time to read it. Ultimately, I want my readers to not only learn about me as a writer and a person, but also to learn about themselves. I desire for everyone to achieve their full potential, but it starts with discovering one’s purpose while traveling along The Lonely Road.

Chapter 1

In Pursuit of Love

One of the most exciting moments of my life was the beginning of my college career at The University of Southern Mississippi. It marked the beginning of a new chapter of my life and I was ready. Once I made it to campus, I quickly realized how isolated I felt. I began searching for my purpose not only in college, but also in life.

I’m fortunate to be blessed with two phenomenal parents who have been my biggest supporters growing up. They have always given me and my siblings everything we needed to live happily. The love and support they provide for me is what has inspired me to write this book.

Both of my parents have been full-time workers in the lives of their children. My mother, Dianne Brown, worked early mornings to around noon Mondays through Saturdays, whereas my father, Kenneth Brown, worked from 8am until anywhere from 8pm to 11pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

My dad is a generous man who is always out trying to help people and he inspires me to give back daily. He spent most of his off days out working side jobs or helping others in need. Needless to say, I didn’t see him much during the weekdays. One unfortunate aspect of his generosity is that some people tried to take advantage of his giving heart. That saying, "Taking kindness for weakness" became evident to me seeing how some people tried to use him for his kindness.

My dad has always been there for me, but I wasn’t able to spend time with him like I desired to. I learned to simply be thankful that I had an active father in my life, because there are many who do not even know who their fathers are. There are also some who know who their fathers are, but don’t have any relationship with them; but I do.

As busy as he was, he still made time for me. We spent time on the weekends and I enjoyed helping him outside in the yard. Even though I wasn’t around my father much growing up, I was still learning from him. A valuable lesson that I learned from him being away was this: If you cannot be thankful for the small things, you’ll never appreciate the big things.

Being thankful for the time that I did have with him was expressing gratitude for the smaller things (being the small amount of time spent with him.) As a result, I spent much more time with my mother. While raising four children in their household, they both managed to instill ethical principles into us to ensure that we would be well equipped to live successful lives.

I moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi in August 2011 to begin my college career at The University of Southern Mississippi. Hattiesburg is about 90 miles or so from my hometown, Terry, MS, which is an hour and half away. Once I moved and no longer saw my parents on a regular basis, I realized it was time to take responsibility and apply those ethical principles they instilled in