Life Doesn't Have to Be a Sentence: Choose Your Hard

By Dara Barnes and Brian Hearold

My wife and I wrote this book because we believe I have a powerful story to share with you. I want to share my story so that you can understand the full consequences of poor choices. I made poor choices in my youth, leading to spending 23 years in prison. I also want you to know you can always make a better choice, no matter your circumstances. I took full responsibility for my poor decisions and choices and now I am proof of this! During the time I have been out, I have worked my way into a promising career; I met the love of my life who does not judge me and loves me unconditionally. All this would not be possible without a conscious decision to make good choices in my life. I need you to understand that you have options, and maybe by hearing my story, I will be able to impact your lives positively. I know you; I was you; I believe in you. I also think that you are capable of making better choices and decisions, and your lives will get so much better.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765229910

Dara Barnes

My wife and I wrote this book because we believe I have a powerful story to share with you. I want to share my story so that you can understand the full consequences of poor choices. I made poor choices in my youth, leading to spending 23 years in prison. I also want you to know you can always make a better choice, no matter your circumstances. I am proof of this! During the time I have been out, I have worked my way into a promising career; I met the love of my life who does not judge me and loves me unconditionally. All this would not be possible without a conscious decision to make good choices in my life. I need you to understand that you have options, and maybe by hearing my story, I will be able to impact your lives positively. I know you; I was you; I believe in you. I also think that you are capable of making better choices and decisions, and your lives will get so much better.

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Life

Doesn’t have to be a

Sentence

Choose Your Hard

Dara Barnes and Brian Hearold

Copyright © 2022 Dara Barnes and Brian Hearold.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984,

2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use

of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical

problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The

intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you

in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any

of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right,

the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2993-4 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2992-7 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2991-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022911144

Balboa Press rev. date:  08/08/2022

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1  Rehab, No, No, No

Chapter 2  Life in Chaos

Chapter 3  Choices

Chapter 4  The Enemy of My Enemy is One Bad Dude

Chapter 5  Life on The Inside

Chapter 6  Life On The Outside

Chapter 7  Doing Life

Chapter 8  Judge Not

Chapter 9  The Ripple Effect

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the family that never gave up on me through all these years. My beautiful wife who has never judged me, always sees the best in me, and supports me. She pushes me to continue to be a better person. To all people struggling to make the right choices, I see you, I believe in you, I was you. Do not give up.

Introduction

M y wife and I wrote this book because we believe I have a powerful story to share with you. I want to share my story so that you can understand the full consequences of poor choices. I made poor choices in my youth, leading to spending 23 years in prison. But I also want you to know you can always make a better choice no matter your circumstances. I am proof of this! During the time I have been out, I have worked my way into a promising career; I met the love of my life, who does not judge me and loves me unconditionally. All this would not be possible without a conscious decision to make good choices in my life. I need you to understand that you have options, and maybe by hearing my story, I will be able to impact your lives positively. I know you; I was you; I believe in you. I also think that you can make better choices and decisions, and by doing so, your lives will get so much better.

1

Rehab, No, No, No

T he drive was long; I sat in the passenger seat, listening to music, smoking my cigarettes, and smoking some weed. Not my best decision, but I did not care. My girlfriend Charlotte and I did not say much on the way, not much to say, not thinking much. Charlotte was pregnant at the time and drove me across the state to a rehab facility.

When we arrived, Charlotte hugged me tight and, through her tears, said she would see me in thirty days. I walked through the doors and checked myself into the facility. I handed them my belongings, and they searched through them and then returned most of my items except my $5 bill; they immediately took this from me while explaining I was not allowed to have money. The intake coordinator recorded my money and stored it for my stay there. They checked me into my room, and afterward, I met other residents outside where they were playing volleyball. The other residents introduced themselves to me and told me I needed a higher power; they asked me if I had one. I said, no, I do not, and the other residents kept reiterating that I needed one. Frustrated, I finally picked up a rock a said, here, this is my higher power! I was tired and just went to my room to sleep that evening.

The following day, the breakfast was great, gigantic pancakes, and I like pancakes, so I thought that was cool, and this place is not so bad. Next, I was told to go into my assigned group for meditation, so I headed to the room with my group.

When I entered the room, a group of people stood in a circle. The staff informed me I would need to hold hands and pray; I looked around, and two men stood on each side of me. I thought to myself that I would not stand in a circle and hold hands with other people including other men. I stormed out. This was