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Breaking Free from All Chains

© Jennie S. Bev

Joy is not in things; it is in us. ~Richard Wagner

It took me 32 years to fully understand the meaning of "breaking free from all chains, including my own." I have read this one-liner so many times and thought that I have experienced it so many times as well. But I was wrong. I didn't fully understand the meaning. Not until now.

Today's me is different from yesterday's. I listen more, observe more, expect less. I play as hard as I work. I worry less, therefore I experience less pain.

Through the years of self-taught, I notice that the root of all sufferings is fear. There are so many people being defeated by fear, being crippled by the lack of courage. This is more obvious in a new environment, a new job, a new peer, where nothing or nobody can help satisfying our thirst for certainty and balance. In an environment, where we are out of balance and fearful of uncertainty, our true ability to be able to break free from this "chain of need for balance" is truly being tested.

For years, I have been "chained" by my own fear of lacking love and financial independence. I worried for every little thing that is happening at the moment and of the things that I feared to happen in the future. Simple things were magnified in a way that even my present self isn't able to comprehend. Looking back to this part of my past is sufficient for me not to repeat the same ordeal in the present. Mostly because it hurt.

There were no special "a-ha" or memorable enlightening moments to explain why I have stopped imprisoning my mind and soul with fear, with "my own chains." Somehow, I learned to simply follow the flow of life. To sleep when I am sleepy. To eat when I am hungry. To go out and catch the sun when I need a fresh air. To work when it is time to. To date with my own self when it is time to pamper myself. To relax when things are going nuts.

Some people call this self-sufficiency to enjoy the present and do my very best at the moment is my walking in the path of a higher level of consciousness. Some call it faith, while others call it self-empowerment. To me, though, I am merely walking in my own shoes in a more relaxed way. I trust them to take me to places where I have never been before. Above all, I trust my intuition to explore new frontiers and "meet" other sides of myself whom I have never met before. Relaxedfully, without worries.

The copyright of the article Breaking Free from All Chains in Self-Empowerment Skills is owned by Jerry Lopper. Permission to republish Breaking Free from All Chains in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.