I was watching a TED talk this afternoon and the speaker’s vivid description of his life in prison really struck me. A former prisoner talked about how, in prison, you don’t have much control about what you do and how you live your life. You are told when to wake up, when to eat, when to exercise, and when to go to bed. Every minute is decided for you and you don’t have anything in your control.
And all of this suddenly hit me — And isn’t that eerily similar to how we live?
We follow the exact same routines every day — we wake up at the same time, go to work, meet deadlines, scroll through our phones, chase the same goals, and repeat. And, continue to repeat until we are exhausted and stuck. As stuck as the Hem who took an eternity to move out of the maze and finally choose a life of his dreams. We continue to lie ourselves that we have control because we’re the ones choosing this, but are we really? Or have we just accepted the rules that were set for us long before we even questioned them?
Aren’t we all the prisoners of our schedules and checklists and goals? Of our responsibilities and our expectations? And not just that — we are prisoners of our own minds. We believe we have to do things a certain way because that’s how it’s always been done and superimposed on us. We believe we have to run after success, stability, approval. But when do we stop and ask ourselves: What if I want something different? What if I want more than just a routine? What if I create my own path to get out of this never-ending maze?
The truth is, we won’t be set free until we decide to be. Until we give ourselves the gift to break the pattern. Maybe it’s waking up tomorrow and choosing to do one thing differently — taking a different route to work, starting a new hobby, saying no to something that drains us or simply adding a few minutes to reflect what we truly want. Maybe it’s questioning the beliefs we’ve been conditioned into for years. Maybe it’s understanding that freedom isn’t just about time; it’s about choices we make and paths we follow.
So, are we really free? Or have we just convinced ourselves that we are?
And more importantly — when will we finally set ourselves free?