Dr Edith Eva Eger is a Holocaust survivor and the author of the book, “The Choice.” She told Oprah, when the prison gates of Auschwitz concentration camp were opened, many of the prisoners, walked through the gates, but turned around and went back and sat down, because they didn’t know what to do with their newfound freedom.
You see their physical gates were open, but their mental ones were not.
As much as you long for freedom…freedom from a toxic relationship…
freedom from alcoholism or drug use…
freedom from debt, obesity, or that dead end job…
As much as you want the freedom, the minute you step through those gates & feel the freedom, you turn around and go back.
You go back & trade one toxic relationship for another..
You decide to have that one drink with that college roommate that ignites a bonfire of remorse and regret spiraling you deeper into despair because you have to start all over…
You keep swiping, adding to your already hemorrhaging debt load because you want to feel to momentarily feel good.
That 70 pounds that you want to lose will take too long-besides “your body doesn’t respond to working out like other people…”
You leave one dead end job only to desperately grab 2 more because you didn’t realize it was going to that hard…
Many prisoners today face the same fears. They do their time yet quickly end right back in prison, because they didn’t know what to do with their freedom.
The only difference between you and them is your gates were never really closed.
You look at your current situation & your storied track record and use the thought of freedom as a coping mechanism to help get through the day.
…month…
…year…
God forbid you truly take the time to realize that your freedom is a choice…
But to know you have that option is too scary to even think about, so you don’t think at all.
You cope instead…
& wait for someone to open the gates…
You wait, but don’t choose to walk.
There are no gates in your life, only mental barriers.
But, walking to freedom is scary….
It’s uncertain…
It’s uncomfortable…
And we don’t know what to do with freedom, because we’ve never truly known it.
Life’s been the chess board & we’ve always been the pawns.
Which is why we turn around and go back to the warmth of certainty…
Even though it may be toxic…even though it’s miserable, it’s the only thing we know.
And we can handle know.
It’s the unknown that’s terrifying…
In between now and better is the darkness of the unknown & that scares the living shit out of us.
I know because I’ve walked through many gates, only to return and sit. I had to force myself to get to a point where it was too far to turn back, so I might as well just keep going.
Freedom is your choice.
Hell yea it’s scary…
Damn right it’s uncomfortable….
And yes….it is life or death.
Because you must go through the dying processes of old to experience your life of new.
That’s freedom & that’s for you.
Stay in The Sales Life đź’Ş
~Marsh
The Sales Life with Marsh Buice 