Have you ever wondered how hard it would be to leave one's regular lifestyle behind, especially that in a gang? Well after reading the article "The Draw of 'Dead Town' " in "Newsweek" by Suzanne Smalley and Evan Thomas, I have found out that Gabriel Hinojos has. A former gang member of Florencia 13, one of the largest gangs in Los Angeles, Hinojos has become a symbol for leading a better life, a life without violence or drugs. However, Hinojos did have difficulty following that path. Once in a while he would go back to his old neighborhood just to "chill" with his friends, causing him to fall into trouble once again. In 2006, the police spotted Hinojos at his friend's house, where they found ammunition and a gun. Hinojos was arrested but luckily one of the gang members took the blame and therefore he was not sent to jail.
From then on Hinojos promised his wife, Sandra, that he would never go back to his old neighborhood since it would risk jail time if he did. A few months later, however, he was arrested with his gang and sent to jail for violating his parole and for public drinking. His wife Sandra said, "The devil was pulling [him]." This is true for all of us in that we have to fight our demons and temptations in order to become better people. After his six months in prison, Hinojos has devoted his time to advising young adults to keep out of the gang life.
Click on the link below for some tips on breaking bad habits.
http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/3-easy-steps-to-breaking-bad-habits?page=2
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Nice blog chef! It's very understandable that a lot of people, including us, go through similar challenges. Sometimes we may be very accustomed to our current life, even if bad habits are common. And sometimes, we feel like we need to break free from those bad habits, but its too hard to let go of things we are used to doing. Though these things or actions may be bad, they may make us happy or "at home." I agree 100% with you that we must fight demons and temptations to become better people, and this will never be easy.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement of how we have to fight our demons. Whatever that demon may be, is fighting just as hard, if not harder, to pull us down and take us back to a period of hurt and pain. But we must take pride in ourselves and know that we have the courage and perseverance to get back up, if we fall down.
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