Freedom

Many years ago I saw a video of a man who wanted to catch a monkey in a tree. He wasn’t agile enough to catch the monkey so he took a stick and dug a small hole under the tree. The opening was narrow and it was wider underneath, like a cave. While the monkey was watching he dropped a few beans in the hole then hid behind some bushes. The monkey slowly came down to investigate. Finally he stuck his hand in the hole and grabbed the beans. When he tried pulling his hand out, his clenched fist couldn’t get through the narrow opening and he became trapped. The hunter walked up and captured the monkey. Here is a video similar to the one I saw.https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+catch+a+monkey+in+africa&rlz=1CALAYK_enUS986US986&oq=how+to+catch+a+monkey&aqs=chrome.2.0i355i512j46i512j0i512l5j0i22i30l3.31873536j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:9155a52b,vid:kWJOQYdgiKs

That taught me a powerful lesson. If there is something in my life of which I refuse to let go, I don’t have it. It has me. To be free, I have to be able to walk away from it.

My dad was a good example for me regarding the ability to walk away. He had a lot going on in his life, with many obligations. However, none were so important to him that he could not walk away from them, except his faith and his family. Being a businessman he was often working on deals. His philosophy was good deal or no deal. If he didn’t get what he wanted he simply moved on to the next deal, with no regrets. “There will always be another one”, he often said.

Every year around Independence Day I take stock of my life. On what am I dependent and why? Those are important questions for me to ask. Do I have it, or does it have me?

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.