A girl has gone viral on Twitter after opening up about the monthly inspirational letters she receives from her dad in prison.
23-year-old Ariel Thomas, most people know her as Ari the DJ, from Dallas, Texas, shared a photo on Twitter of a moving and motivational letter her dad Greg sent her from prison.
Entitled ‘Focus On One Thing At A Time’, this is only one of many letters Greg has sent to his daughter Ari throughout the past five years he has been behind bars.
Sharing images of the letter she received in May, Ari wrote:
My dad is in prison serving a 15 year sentence and he is the smartest man I know and always so positive despite everything. He sends me motivational letters every month and here’s one about focus that i think will be useful to many people so I want to share this with you all.
People online appreciated Ari’s dad Greg’s advice with the tweet receiving over 7,700 likes at time of writing.
Speaking exclusively to UNILAD, Ari explained how her dad was convicted in 2012 of mail fraud and various offences related to a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme.
Admitting she misses him and the distance has affected her relationship, Ari explained how she remains close to her dad and treasures these letters.
She said:
My dad is super cool and very intelligent. I look up to him in many ways. We are very close but of course the distance has taken a toll on our relationship. I miss seeing him everyday. I believe he’s innocent and the blame was put on him but that’s just me.
My dad has sent me letters the last five years he’s been in prison. He writes about all kinds of stuff! Self love, practice, focus, motivation, etc. It’s like he never runs out of wisdom to share.
He even wrote a book, Practice Is The Pathway To Perfection, that I’m working on publishing for him. Even in prison I swear I look up to my dad so much. His intelligence is truly like no other.
In his letter which addresses focus, Ari’s dad advised:
Focus is the sacred power that nurtures a small seed into a full and healthy life. Passion is important because passion has no money motive.
Focus is the master key that unlocks the passage of fulfilment. Focus is not influenced by other’s opinions. It is not side-tracked by friends, foes or family.
Focus doesn’t know what time it is, it causes you to get lost in the enjoyment of practice for hours at a time.
Find the one thing you are most passionate about then give it your complete attention and focus. I guarantee you will become the best at that thing!
It is easy to see why Ari looks up to him from this letter alone which is both hopeful and optimistic.
When Ari saw the reaction her dad’s letter received on Twitter, she couldn’t believe how many people connected with its message, although she admits she had some suspicion it’d help others too.
She concluded:
I decided to share this one on Twitter because it’s like God told me to post it. As soon as I read it I felt something come over me as if the letter was exactly what I needed to read.
I felt like others needed to read it too so boom! I posted it and guess I was right.
I never in my life thought that people would respond like they did! Making the post go viral, telling me to thank my dad, everyone being so grateful of the post.
I plan on posting more from now on.
We look forward to reading these!
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