Life...

So, this post will not be my analysis of the next WWE PPV or anything about video games. This post is going to be about my journey from the obese didn't give a damn about anything Marcus Stephens to the now Deacon soon to be husband and father Marcus Stephens. As I get ready to embark on the next important moment in my life, I ask that you join me on this trip down memory lane. My life has taken so many turns in the past couple years, after you're done reading this post, you'll swear I'm not the same person but I assure you, I am. I just made different choices and such. Let's start from the very beginning. Well, not very beginning. I don't want to bore you with my boring childhood of playing Sega Channel everyday. Let's start from my teenage years.

2002 was a life changing year. My mother finalized her divorce which meant that my life would change forever. My step dad and his son were gone. My older brother continued to mess up and he was gone. So it was only my mother and me living in the house together. It was rough for her but for me, I loved it. No more sharing the television, no more having to share games, I could just do me. This is where I started to get very attached to the things of the inside, such as TV, games, and computers. As more and more of my friends moved away and drifted apart from me, I stayed more and more inside. I've always had a close group of 3-5 guys and we would hang out on the weekends to wrestle, game, and talk and I'm proud to say two of those guys will stand with me on my wedding, but to be honest, I've always been to myself and this is where this began.

I was fat as a teenager. I had bad self-esteem. I had little friends. I had no girlfriend and nothing even close to it. I didn't attend ANY dances or school functions ever. I didn't care though. I had my video games. Back when I was growing up, there were WAY MORE JRPGs out there which would steal much of my time, such as Nocturne, Baten Kaitos, and Paper Mario so as long as I had those, I was fine. I never cared about the real things of life. I think as video games trended more and more to 10-15 hour experiences, I got more and more out of them. Ni No Kuni came out this past January (my Game of the Year right now btw) and I was completely obsessed with that game. Dead Space 3 on the other hand came out, I bought it 3 weeks later and I only played it sparingly so that shows progress I guess. When I got Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Paper Mario 2 in the same week, I didn't come up for air. It was school, games, eat, and sleep. A day wouldn't pass without me playing the game. Now, days upon days can go past without me playing anything. To sum up this part, as the years went past and as games required less and less time to complete, I guess I just drifted away from them and started to open up my eyes to the real world.

That didn't happen in high school though. I graduated in June 2009 and it was easily one of the best days of my life. The graduation was sped up because the weather was looking bad and it was going to pour at any second. So instead of listening to people I didn't care about for hours, my graduation lasted only 40 minutes. It was fantastic. My parents my best friend and I went back to the house, ate Chinese and drank apple cider before a special 3 hour Raw came on, which Randy Orton won the vacant WWE Title. Orton was my favorite back in those days so it was a fantastic moment for me witness on an already awesome day. Anyway, my life really started to change once I got to McDonalds.

I got my first job in September 2009. It was minimum wage at McDonalds. I started at part time hours. On my first day, I was extraordinarily nervous. They put me in the back to take money while my trainer, Robyn, took orders. Little did I know that I was being trained by my future wife but I'm jumping ahead of myself. It was an easy 1st day. I got to be up front the next day taking orders and such. It was interesting. While it was a crappy job that paid nothing, it gave me purpose in my life. I could finally buy video games and PPVs with my own money and I could give my parents money as well. McDonalds is also the point where I finally started to come out of my shell.

Ah, the summer of 2010 was cool. That's when I realized I had a crush on my co-worker Robyn and also the first time I proved to a friend that I started to grow up. My friend Mark and I went to the movies to see The Other Guys. That movie was amazing by the way. Anyway, we strolled the mall afterwards and we saw this amazingly sexy chick. I started to talk stuff and told him I would say something to her. He didn't believe me so he challenged me to say something. So, with all my gusto while wearing my Nexus shirt, I went up and told the girl she was incredibly gorgeous. That little line helped jumpstart my whole romantic life.

Robyn and I had different lifestyles. She was somewhat of a party person while I was mainly to myself. We liked each other though and we made a bet about the date The Expendables came out and whoever was wrong would have to pay for movie tickets for us to see it together. I won but we never did see The Expendables and while we still were friends, we started to drift apart as she continued to live her life the way she did and I started to like someone else. We still flirted a lot though. That was just the beginning of our relationship though.

During my time at McDonalds, my weight started to drop like crazy. I don't really know how. It was probably due to me only eating one meal a day and sweating a lot. With the weight loss, my confidence started go up even more. it was like I was leveling up. I started to flirt with girls in drive-thru, talk more openly about my life and even talk about my faith with others. It was awesome. It was something new and I loved it. This would help me even more later.

I decided to leave or in my mind, take time off, from McDonalds in June 2011. I was tired of working there. I was getting older and that job wasn't fufilling my needs anymore. I left on June 15th 2011, knowing I would go back sometime in July after I moved. Robyn at this time decided to come to my church. I don't know if it was because others from work came or because she just wanted to see me, I don't really care the reason. I was just happy that she came. At this time, the other girl I liked didn't like me in that way so I moved on. I couldn't continue to be held up on her so it was onto the next. Robyn and I started to get closer during the summer and I went back to McDonalds in July, two days after Punk and Cena had the match of the PG era. Anyway, nothing really changed except my attitude. I was mentally gone from that place. Things management said didn't effect me. They told me to clean better, I said to hell with them. They weren't paying me enough to care and they didn't seem like they wanted to promote me so why should I continue on? McDonalds was a horrible place to work but it changed my life forever.

August 31st 2011. I've typed this story on my blog before. That was the day I kissed Robyn Taylor. That was the day I finally kissed a girl. Yes, it took me until I was 20 to have my first kiss. Crazy right? Anyway, the next day we decided to start going out. So in the matter of two days I had my first kiss and got my first girlfriend. It was a lot to handle but I was ready. A month after going out with her, I knew I wanted to marry her. I had this list of everything I wanted in a woman. I mean, I didn't have a girlfriend my whole life so I had plenty of time to compile such a list. Robyn met all those qualities so it was a no brainer. I proposed on New Year's Day in 2012. I knew it was going to be a long engagement as I didn't want to marry her working at McDonalds so I had to make some moves while we went through our year long counseling.

I left McDonalds for good on April 27th, 2012. I worked 5 PM to 2 AM. It was a day filled with tears and not caring. Not tears by me, by my many female co-workers who were distraught with me leaving. 1 AM finally hit, which was the time we closed, and I stopped caring. I left out of there with many memories, good and bad. Obviously, McDonalds gave me my first bit of money and responsibility. It also connected me with my future wife so not all bad right? Oh, I didn't even tell why I left in the first place. I finally got a new job.

I started working at Bell Nursery inside The Home Depot on April 30th, 2012. It was a seasonal job but paid way more. And it was a lot more work. I worked 6 day work weeks, pulled carts all around the store, and worked in the heat and rain. It was far more different from the cushiony job that was McDonalds. Anyway, I had my problems there as well. They tried to mess with my Sundays and they almost made me miss Punk/Bryan at OTL 2012. I took a stand though. One Sunday I was scheduled to work and I just didn't come in. The next day, my manager asked where I was. I said, "I told you once, I'll say it again. I can't work Sundays." They got the memo that time. 3 months came and went and in July, they told me that I wasn't going to be needed for much longer, which was fine because I started to slack off. I went to the Acme plenty of times to buy sodas and chips and there were plenty of days where I took extended 1 hour breaks. Once they told me that though, I started to hustle as I got an ultimatum from dad/pastor/counselor. If I didn't get a full time job by December 1st, he would cancel my wedding until 2014.

No one will ever know the pressure I felt. It was immense. Some nights I couldn't sleep. I couldn't play the game without feeling guilty. I had no release from the pressure. Not even wrestling could mask the pressure. I filled out hundreds of applications, I went on dozens of interviews, I traveled to places I never even heard of. I had to. This was for the love of my life. I couldn't imagine letting her down. I made a promise to her that I would marry her in April 2013 and I wanted to keep said promise. My unemployment didn't last too long though.

In August, I had a counseling session where my mother and Robyn's mother would sit in and ask me any question they wanted. I got through it and it was easily the hardest counseling session during the 12 months. During the session, my phone went off and it was a man named Ivnn from the Hyatt Place, asking for an interview with me. It was crazy, because it was during this session that my dad gave me the ultimatum in the first place. I called him right back afterwards and we set the interview for that Tuesday. Long story short, two weeks later I was working again. It was WAY MORE than McDonalds and benefits would kick in 3 months later. It fit the criteria needed to NOT have my wedding canceled. I rejoiced as God brought me to my lowest point only to have the victory in the end.

In January of this year, I was ordained as the head deacon of our church Live Right Ministries. It's crazy because I didn't believe in God during my high school years. I told myself that I would never go to church but here I am, now the head deacon and haven't missed a Sunday of church in 5 and a half years. The first Sunday I'll miss will be this Sunday on my honeymoon. God has proven to me that even though I denied Him all that time that He still loved me and there was still a plan for me in life. It's truly amazing when I think about it.

April 20th 2013 is the day I get married to Robyn. It's funny how far God has brought both of us. I was a stubborn shy atheist and now I'm bold man of God. I was making minimum wage at McDonalds and now I'm making a nice sum at the Hyatt Place. I was obsessed with gaming and pro wrestling but now I'm only semi obsessed. I went from having nothing close to a significant other to about to have a woman for life. Robyn is the love of my life and I can't wait to start my life with her this Saturday. I feel truly blessed to have made it this far in life when I know I don't deserve it. Life has been an amazing journey and I can't wait for more twists and turns it will take in the years to come as a husband and eventual father.

Thanks for reading and reminiscing with me. Wrestling posts will resume after my honeymoon! See you then!