A Prison Cell or The Mind?

Perspective is everything. Maybe we are our own enemy.

I don’t know who to credit for the saying “meet people where they are at.” Whoever you are, kudos to you. My previous lover used to tell me that all the time. However, the novelist in me just wanted to heal everyone and believe the best in everyone. A limiting belief that I had was that the version people were showing me wasn’t the real them. I thought I was able to see through them and because of that they would magically change to their truest version because I made them feel seen. I thought I was the catalyst. I give myself credit though, I was right with some people, and I did make change. For some people, making them feel safe and seen at that moment was the right time to spark a change.

The reality is this, we only have the present moment. We can only treat each interaction, each event as just that a moment in time. I began listening to ‘The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle and its frankly messing with my head. Through his book, I am realizing I am a prisoner of my mind. My mind is truly a prison cell, and I am only giving it the funding the prison as time goes on. Today I woke up and didn’t look at my phone nor asked my google what time it was. I purposely did this because I feel more anxiety when I know the time. Thoughts come about regarding what I can accomplish in the day, what I must accomplish and how I wish time wasn’t a hinderance. But time isn’t a hinderance, I allow it to be. Time is freedom, being awake for another day is an opportunity. With that in mind, I take accountability for the construction and funding of my prison cell.

Regardless of the barriers we have in this life we have a choice. We have a choice to do the work to heal ourselves and use the resources that are out there to begin the shadow work. Before this journey, I had a set number of tools that worked for me. I saw the immense change, but this is during the pandemic. When everything was on lock down, time didn’t even matter, and I was still in college. Now, my life is completely different. It is time to try every tool in the toolbox and see what works. It is time to enjoy life rather than seeing aspects of life as a hinderance.

1. What do you need to confront?

2. What is on the other side of confrontation of self?

3. What do you do daily that grounds you?