evile

Price of Freedom

Wednesday April 25,
2012

Being free isn’t easy. Even the Israelites, while wandering in the desert, yearned for their lives of bondage in Egypt. Why would anyone want to return to slavery? The answer lies in the challenges that accompany freedom. When the Israelites were in Egypt, they had no choices to make, no responsibilities to fulfill.

Beware the temptation of staying in unfulfilling situations simply to avoid the painful process of self-understanding and change.

[emphasis mine]

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Today's thought from Hazelden is:

No decision has to bind us forever.

Most of us are no longer sure what we want to be doing a year or even a month from now. When we are called upon to make decisions, any decision that commits us to a certain path in the future, we shudder. Will we be allowed to change our minds?

What a change this is from earlier years. Many of us led very controlled lives. We felt safest when we knew exactly what we were going to do. We liked it best when we were able to control others' lives too, even though we failed at that much of the time.

Although we may have responsibilities at work and at home, we are so much freer now. And we can decide, moment-by-moment, what we need to do for ourselves. At first it feels irresponsible, not being responsible for everyone, changing our minds when we need to. However, we will grow into this new way of living. And we'll love it!

My decisions today will be for this day only. I can change my mind tomorrow.

You are reading from the book:

A Life of My Own by Karen CaseyA Life of My Own by Karen Casey. © 1993 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden.