Recently I wrote a blog entitled "One Chain" speaking of how we can live in a prison of our own making. I'd like to expand on that topic in this blog. And my thanks to a good friend, Bill Allen, who is also a writer, for the photo representing sitting in a jail cell or prison holding the key to unlock the door and walk out.
In this image the man is an old man who may have lived a good bit of his life behind bars, if not all of his life. How many years have we held ourselves captive with our thoughts and our mindsets? We literaly hold the key in our hands, our minds all the while wondering when we will ever be free. We sit and stare out the window of our souls with no hope and feeling forlorn among many other feelings.
Often we wonder why someone doesn't come along with the 'key' and unlock the door. Freedom begins in our minds. It seems elusive but it is not. It is our perception. I was asked by another writer how can we set ourselves free. I've done some thinking about that and want to elaborate on the topic.
You may not be one who blames others outwardly for your bondage but it is a common problem with humanity. I do believe in our subconscious minds we have that tendency however. Let's explore why we sit and sit and sit and wait and wait and wait with that 'magic' key in our hands. My thoughts come from my life and my life's experiences and yours may be different but hear me out.
Our thoughts create our reality and our perceptions. I felt trapped for most of my life and was not even aware of it. I was alive but not living. My thinking kept me behind those bars of my own making. How did I escape you may ask? Through the process of becoming aware of my thoughts and observing myself. Does that sound weird? Yep it probably does and it did seem like a foreign concept to me when I began to wake up.
Denial is definitely where I was and others seemed to stand outside of my jail cell taunting and teasing me with their lives that appeared to be free. But were they truly free or simply making a show of it? In my writing I prefer not to give people a 'to do' list of how to change, be free, etc. We are all different with different lives, life experiences and circumstances.
What worked for me was taking time to sit and observe why I did or did not do something and listen to my thoughts. I became aware, awakened to myself. No one had the power to make me feel anything. One clear example for me was a few years ago I was attending a workshop and the facilitator asked me how I felt about something he said. Oh my, I glared at him like an angry deer in the headlights for a while. Then out of my mouth came the words, "huh? what do you mean, how does that make me feel? I don't feel anything."
I did not know how I felt since I had stuffed my feelings down for my entire life to that point. So I didn't get it. I purchased his book that day. As I was reading it shortly thereafter, I came to the chapter on feelings. Well what happened next surprised even me. I started reading that chapter and the anger started to bubble up immediately. I threw that book as far across the room as I could, fuming about it all the while.
Yes I did finish reading it knowing even if I was dreadfully uncomfortable, somehow the starting point to my freedom from that prison of my own making was in there. And it was. It allowed me to begin to listen to my heart and eventually the key I had in my hand became real and now freedom is in my life and my world.
It can happen more quickly for you than it did for me, but be patient and kind to yourself as you take time to find that key. Did you look in all your pockets? Did it fall on the floor? Did you think you accidentally threw it away? Did you give it away? Only you can answer those questions.
Wherever and however you find that key, unlock that dreadful door, walk out of that dirty, dingy, dusty cell and run, don't walk, out into the light; take a deep breath of freedom in the fresh air my friend. Now go.........
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