Freedom
Brother Bob got it right.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds" R N Marley
Freedom begins with a journey. Some people stand up for nations, some stand up for causes, some to get their voice heard in the hope that things change for the better and some just stand up to test their legs. I’m testing my legs, my sense of purpose legs. I’m standing up for myself and it feels good.
The result of all this standing up business is that, as of today, I’m home on gardening leave after ten years of mental slavery. Voluntary mental slavery, I might add. Terrified of failure, I have slave driven myself to the top of a career only to discover when I got there I didn’t like the people around me. It so happens that I did not have to wait long for fate to take a turn and an exit light to burn bright above the door of opportunity.
All this has got me thinking about those split second moments in which you have choices. I have realised it’s the choices made without absolutely clarity of the end result that are often the ones that really change things. When you can feel the end result, rather than see it for what it may be. I’ve often wondered over certain choices I’ve made in my life, for example; what made me leave my home country 14 years ago? I have no idea to be honest, other than I just knew it was the right thing to do even though, where I was going, I knew only one distant cousin and had the bare minimum in my pocket. But the choice I made was right wittingly or unwittingly. I just could sense it.
It’s now that I’m faced with a similar feeling. It’s that feeling, rather than 100% optical clarity, coupled with the fact that it’s been actively chosen that makes for a fresh start.
So yes a journey has begun today. A journey to rediscover my identity, away from a title, a corner office and board meetings, a journey to get to know myself without the restrictions that I’ve placed upon myself. I may even have the privilege of meeting my feared nemesis, Failure, for it is only now that I can truly say I am ready.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds" R N Marley
Freedom begins with a journey. Some people stand up for nations, some stand up for causes, some to get their voice heard in the hope that things change for the better and some just stand up to test their legs. I’m testing my legs, my sense of purpose legs. I’m standing up for myself and it feels good.
The result of all this standing up business is that, as of today, I’m home on gardening leave after ten years of mental slavery. Voluntary mental slavery, I might add. Terrified of failure, I have slave driven myself to the top of a career only to discover when I got there I didn’t like the people around me. It so happens that I did not have to wait long for fate to take a turn and an exit light to burn bright above the door of opportunity.
All this has got me thinking about those split second moments in which you have choices. I have realised it’s the choices made without absolutely clarity of the end result that are often the ones that really change things. When you can feel the end result, rather than see it for what it may be. I’ve often wondered over certain choices I’ve made in my life, for example; what made me leave my home country 14 years ago? I have no idea to be honest, other than I just knew it was the right thing to do even though, where I was going, I knew only one distant cousin and had the bare minimum in my pocket. But the choice I made was right wittingly or unwittingly. I just could sense it.
It’s now that I’m faced with a similar feeling. It’s that feeling, rather than 100% optical clarity, coupled with the fact that it’s been actively chosen that makes for a fresh start.
So yes a journey has begun today. A journey to rediscover my identity, away from a title, a corner office and board meetings, a journey to get to know myself without the restrictions that I’ve placed upon myself. I may even have the privilege of meeting my feared nemesis, Failure, for it is only now that I can truly say I am ready.
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