I WAS HAVING a heart-to-heart with a trusted friend about an upsetting work situation.
While relaying my frustrations, I caught myself spouting the words “I can’t” ever so frequently. I can’t do this, I can’t do that because of this, that and the other.
I was seeking advice on how to move forward, but my friend paused for a moment and slim-dropped a question instead:”Don’t you know how much freedom you already have?”
Not the question-answer I was expecting.
My instinct was to immediately deny that statement, what with being in the throes of my woes. But I waited to hear him out.
He proceeded to give me not one but three valid options to my work dilemma. I was so busy planting the “I can’t” seeds that I never went past why not. I was trapping myself, and doing a bang-up job. It wasn’t the answers; it was how I was thinking about them. Had someone else been relaying the exact same situation I’d call it playing the victim card.
How often do we limit solutions to our problems because we’ve set these limits in our head and can’t see beyond our nose? Too often is my answer.
This freedom…
…to make more time by being more conscious of where you spend it;
…to lower anxiety by taking a few deep breaths and a few small actions;
…to be usually kind and often generous;
…to release frustration through acts of creativity;
…to forgive and move on;
…to try, and fail, and try again;
…to reflect and to re-connect;
…to be you.
No matter what our station in life, many of us are blessed with more freedom than we use. Yes, the world is wishing washing us one way or the other, and it affects us, daily. And maybe we don’t have what we really, really, really want. But why not start where we are? Key word start.
Quite a few times I’ve caught myself–red handed–wishing control on that which I have none BUT making no use of freedoms I do have. Like old habits, predictable patterns and the go-to defenses.
Because fear.
Isn’t that the answer to 99.9% of our problems?
Yet, almost every time you conquer a fear, you realize it wasn’t nearly as horrible as you thought it was going to be.
Don’t you know how much freedom you already have?
I have my answer: a lot more than I think.
How about you?
