This article was written by Seth Fowler. On his X account, he describes himself as “Pastor. Counselor-in-training. Spiritual. Existential. Always fascinated.” He’s also my son. I thought this particular post was helpful to me and so I thought to share it here.
Losing your freedom happens over a long period of time.
A combination of many decisions, surrenders, and commitments that you didn’t think would end up being a weight that keeps you from moving forward. Maybe you subscribe to “trust the process” or wait for the perfect conditions (there are none) to address something that desperately needs confrontation. Whatever it is, most of us, at some point, find ourselves in a mess of responsibility, details, and failures that don’t align with what we desire for our lives.
It’s human nature, and very easy, to find something or someone to blame; the universe is against me, curses, bad luck, other people being unavailable, a lack of resources. If any of those are true, it actually doesn’t matter. All that matters is taking responsibility for what’s in front of you and finding a way to move through it. Kierkegaard put it this way: “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.” That’s the trade most of us are unknowingly making. We avoid the discomfort of owning our lives and the cost can be years of fulfillment.
Take what’s in front of you today and own it. Then start, even if slowly, to make the uncomfortable decisions to return to who you are.
Categories: encouragement, Philosophy, Reflection
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