***Free At Last! “Is the life I’m living the life that wants to live in me?” Parker Palmer A new acquaintance asked Zorba the Greek if he were married. Zorba roared passionately: “Of course I’m married, I have a wife, kids, bills, problems, the full catastrophe.” Our “full catastrophe” may look different; but, like Zorba, we can embrace all of life and we can be free. A full passionate life embraces the joys and the agonies, the loves and the losses, as well as the sweet and the bitter.
When we accept life’s paradoxes with responsibility we are afforded an opportunity to select our path through the uncertainties. Acceptance does not mean we like what we see, just an acknowledgement life’s reality as it is. Acceptance provides a starting point to paint on a larger canvas, if life is to be more than it is presently. An ancient story by the well-known Spiritual teacher, Osho, tells of a warrior, a freedom fighter, traveling through the mountains.
He stopped to spend the night at a caravanserai that housed a beautiful parrot in a golden cage. The parrot repeatedly called out “Freedom! Freedom!” The man felt sorry for the parrot that sounded so desperate to be free. After the owner went to bed, the warrior opened the door of the cage whispering to the parrot “get out! get out!” The parrot however started clinging to the bars of the cage.
He said to the parrot, “You can have what you want, freedom, fly into the sky, and be free.” The bird resisted, clinging hard, and did not move. In the event you beloved this article along with you want to receive guidance with regards to praca za granicą lakiernik (Http://datsunfan.ru/) kindly stop by the web-site. When the warrior attempted to remove the parrot, he fought back, pecking the warrior’s hands all the while shouting “Freedom! Freedom!” Determined, the warrior pulled him out and threw him skyward. He felt relieved, thinking he had set the creature free, and so went to sleep.
In the morning when he awoke he heard “Freedom! Freedom!” He went to look expecting to see the bird up in a tree. Alas the bird was sitting in the cage. The door was open. So in what way are we like the parrot mentioned above? Often we limit ourselves in order to stay in our “safe zone,” ignoring the boundless possibilities of the world around us. The world beckons us to step out of our cage that keeps us secure and comfortable.
Freedom is an inside job. People say they want more freedom; but in order to have more freedom, responsibility must be accepted for everything in your life. When you arrive at this point you can be free, even if your external situation is such that you are imprisoned. Any condition can be a vehicle for freedom, or bondage, depending on your outlook and expectations. Years ago I taught a Sociology Class at a State prison for male offenders. There were twelve students in my class, all with their various stories of why they were unjustly imprisoned.
Most of them refused to take responsibility for their plight.