How I Paid the Price for My Worst Mistake | Keith A. Somers
Celebrity bodyguard Keith Somers was living the Hollywood dream when a tragic turn of events led to his arrest. This is the story of how one man paid the price of his life for one life-changing lesson.
#goalcast #livetheimpossible #goalcastinspiration
#goalcast #livetheimpossible #goalcastinspiration
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00:00 That feeling at the core of your gut that you just rather die than have that experience.
00:05 I remember going to the front door of my mom and dad's house and pulling on the door frantically,
00:09 "Mom, open the door, mom, open the door, mom, open the door."
00:11 Which unlatches it, I come barreling inside.
00:13 "Keith, what's wrong with you? Mom, leave me alone. Keith, what's wrong? Mom, leave me alone!"
00:18 She grabs me by my face and says, "Baby, what's wrong with you?"
00:22 See, I was already the fat kid, the last person to be picked when the class got divided up
00:27 by the two most popular kids. And they picked the kids who wants to be on my team.
00:32 And now I'm sitting in front of everybody on the sidelines, unfit to play with the other kids.
00:37 Brothers and sisters, what happened internally for this guy
00:41 when I was second grade is an emotional detachment.
00:46 At 18, I remember going to my mom and dad and saying, "You know what?
00:49 I need to leave."
00:52 "Keith, why?"
00:52 "I need to go to California."
00:54 When I realized they weren't going to talk me out of this aspiration,
00:57 I fixed my hair like Prince and the Purple Rain album.
00:59 I put all the gold in my collection, like Mr. T from the 18, around my neck.
01:04 And I got in my Z28 Camaro, and I motored.
01:08 And after three days, I am in Southern California.
01:13 I needed a job, so I got a job doing security work at the ABC studios.
01:18 A little short English man by the name of Elton John comes in.
01:21 I ask his bodyguard, "Excuse me, sir, how do I get to do your job?"
01:25 He opens his blazer, shows me a gold shield, LAPD, retire.
01:28 He says, "Here's my business card. Send me a resume."
01:30 I got hired.
01:34 I became an executive protection specialist bodyguarding lives.
01:36 All the clubs I hoped to get access to, I now have carte blanche, 100% unfettered access to.
01:43 I had a princess number, kind of Madonna thumper.
01:46 And during my time doing this for six years, life was good.
01:52 Saturday, November 14th, I went to the Roxbury nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.
01:55 Very illustrious establishment, the who's who, red carpet.
02:01 And it was where you'd want to be on a Friday or Saturday night.
02:03 I'm up in the VIP room, hobnobbing with all the who's who.
02:08 And at 1230, I wasn't feeling the vibe, but I wanted to leave.
02:12 As I got halfway down the rear stairwell, a friend said, "Keith, go back up, man.
02:18 Don't leave.
02:19 Sit at my table, because I'll pick the tab up, Keith, so it's all on me.
02:22 Don't worry about it."
02:23 "I don't want this party to stop."
02:25 Back up, I went.
02:26 Life was good.
02:28 Sure, I got to smoke my smoke and drink my drink and snort my snort.
02:31 So I go downstairs, and since I knew the owners, I got to keep my key.
02:34 And I get in my Jag XJSV-12, and I start the car, and I drive down Sunset.
02:38 And I drove for a mile down Sunset Boulevard.
02:41 And I go around the turn.
02:42 That's when my Jag went across a double yellow line.
02:45 That's when I hit a Chevy Chevette almost head-on.
02:49 That's when I killed a 19-year-old driver behind the wheel of that car.
02:53 See, when I hit that car, the steering wheel of his vehicle impaled his heart.
03:00 He died instantly.
03:02 So November 1992, on Sunset Boulevard, the disc attorney said I committed murder in the
03:11 second degree.
03:11 I drank.
03:13 I drove.
03:14 I crashed.
03:15 The person's gone.
03:17 The person's gone.
03:17 After serving 18 years, three months, eight days, convicted of murder in the second degree
03:26 for DUI, single fatality, I got released from California State Prison, corporate.
03:31 And I walked out of that state penitentiary with 18 years, three months, and eight days
03:34 of unbroken, consecutive sobriety and recovery.
03:38 Because my choices I was making pre-'92 were all about Keith Summers.
03:42 They're all about self.
03:44 What can I get?
03:46 Because when I get, then I'll be.
03:47 When I get the money, I'll get the car, I'll get the job, I'll get the girl, I'll get the
03:51 career, and then I'll be perfect.
03:53 And then some of my clients also suffered the same spiritual malady.
03:59 Why would Whitney Houston leave 100,000 people screaming her name in a stadium?
04:03 All the beauty, all the talent, all the world recognition, all the money, all the fame.
04:08 Prince Rogers, Nelson.
04:10 Brittany Murphy.
04:11 On and on and on.
04:15 Because the malady causes us to find our cure on everything that's external.
04:18 And that's the greatest lie.
04:22 That's the greatest proverbial elusive carrot that we'll constantly chase to our own detriment
04:27 and the detriment of everyone we say that we love.
04:29 I never thought I would have done what I did November 15, 1992.
04:34 Playing that tape back with the perspective I now have, I can see clearly it wasn't "will
04:40 it happen," it's "when will it happen and to what degree of consequence when it does."
04:48 All that ills you is found in the cave of fears.
04:52 Every single one of us on the planet Earth has an impaired perception.
04:57 We're not feeling good enough.
04:59 We're not feeling wholesome enough.
05:01 We're not feeling educated enough.
05:03 We're not feeling attractive enough.
05:05 We're not feeling rich enough, talented enough.
05:10 No matter who they are.
05:11 So I encourage you to say, "I need help."
05:15 But right here and right now, every single one of us is perfect.
05:21 [Music]