For as long as I can remember, people have told me I needed to write a book and that I have a unique story to tell. I don’t believe my story is any more exceptional than anyone else, but I am proud of how far I have come. After surviving a horrendous first seven years of life, I spent much of my childhood in foster care and being raised by the streets. I was a terrible student, mainly, I think, because no one seemed to care, so I just did not put forth the effort. After I was released from the foster care system, I was homeless and sleeping in all-night laundry mats and, therefore, had to drop out of high school in my junior year to seek employment and a place to live. I had high hopes for myself yet never seemed to have the means or opportunity. I got married at age eighteen and had my first child at age nineteen, and I knew then that education for me was going to have to wait. I got my GED at age twenty-two and became a police officer at age twenty-five. The rest of my adulthood has been spent raising my family, starting businesses, and enjoying a successful martial arts career, earning black belt ranks in multiple systems and certification as an instructor in Muay Thai. I have owned and operated my martial arts school since 1992 and am currently the Oklahoma State Director for the U.S. Muay Thai Association. I am also a bail agent and state-licensed bail enforcer.
I was drinking and smoking before age 10, had contact with law enforcement by age 11, and was expelled from school at age 12. I've been arrested, I've been homeless, I've been let down by the system, ignored by teachers, I've been beaten, shot, and stabbed, all before age 17. I have since then had cars repossessed, homes foreclosed, have built a life only to lose it again, have lost jobs I loved, and have been betrayed, heartbroken, depressed, suicidal, and broken. And the one thing I have done daily is to look for, hold on to, or create a reason to be here tomorrow. To dream large, whether I believed I could achieve it or not, to prove the nay-sayers wrong, and once I put my foot on the gas, I refused to let off and didn’t intend to do so anytime soon. During a speaking engagement, someone asked me how I gauge greatness and whether I felt I had achieved it. I told them I didn’t believe I had and that “I may never achieve greatness, but I am a great distance from where I started.”
We all have a person inside us that we try to distance ourselves from. A version of who we are or used to be, a person created by chance, by circumstance, or even by the decisions we made. The key is learning how to put distance between that person and the person you want to become or the person you know you can be. One thing I know is true: you will not create this distance through any other person. Although having the proper support around you can be crucial to success, no one can walk for you, hurt for you, or grow for you. Relying on others to change you only benefits them, not you. Be patient with the process of personal development. Sometimes, thinking too far ahead can make the goal seem impossible. For me, it has taken years of my life. Years of doing the opposite of what society thought I should do. Years of stepping out of my comfort zone on my own to find a new way to challenge the stereotype created by the circumstances I was born into. Know that the process will never end; embrace it, and I promise that one day, you will look in the rearview at many versions of yourself and realize they were just acquaintances. Versions of yourself you barely knew. They were the ones there to help you if you heeded the advice they gave or paid attention to the example they showed you. Learn from them and then create distance.
Troy W. Green - September 3, 2024
Life can be a losing fight. Let's win it together.
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