Free Wheeling

“The Exercise Wheel.”

Free Wheeling

A few years ago I was going through some difficult emotional trauma.  In short, I discovered that people around me were not conforming to my belief of how they should act.  My response was to completely disassociate myself from them.  As it turned out, doing this caused people close to me to go through unnecessary pain due to my unilateral decisions.  I completely disrupted the lives of my loved ones. 

It was four years before I was willing to admit my mistake and begin to repair the damage I had caused.  I thought that reflecting and repairing had allowed me to grow a great deal on a personal basis.

However, over the past three or four months I’ve been faced with a very similar situation.  I’ve been thrashed around emotionally and on Wednesday last, everything came to a crescendo.  My emotions were running at full steam ahead.  I was starting to relive my mistake of the past.

By Friday I had a thought that pierced through my turmoil.  “I’ve been here before.”  I said to myself.  “Am I going to be a slave to my poor behavior or have I truly learned my lesson?”

To be honest, I’m still struggling with this lesson.  I’d love to say that I’ve learned my lesson and have moved forward, but that isn’t exactly correct.  My insides are still roiling around as I work to come to terms with myself.  At least I’ve recognized that I am on an exercise wheel!  That’s some progress.  But, my task is to break free of this particular wheel so I’ll never have to be on it again.

I know now that there are other wheels I’m unconsciously living on as well.  So, I’m actively looking around for the other wheels I’m driving.  I’m sure they’re obvious to the people I live with, but they aren’t so recognizable to me.  Now that I’m looking for them they’ll begin to appear one by one in a never-ending succession!  I am excited to begin to move forward toward new breakthroughs.

The thing is, you and I can never have true breakthroughs if we’re stuck on our same old exercise wheels! Knowing that you’re trapped in a cage is the first step toward freedom.  Knowing that you have the ability to break free is the second critical step toward true enlightenment.  I’m just discovering this path toward freedom.

True freedom isn’t something inherited.  It’s something to be discovered and earned on an individual basis.  One enlightened, free, person can change the world in remarkable ways.  A group of enlightened people can completely remake our world.  Let’s start by moving past our own exercise wheels.  Let’s go free wheeling!