My Ebenezer

“Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.” – Richard Lovelace

The physical. The material. The outer layer. As if someone says to another, ‘I can’t see the challenge you’re facing, so what’s the problem? It’s not like….’. In other words, seeing the ‘stone walls’ tells me that I must be in ‘prison’ or if I see ‘iron bars’, I am in a ‘cage’. Likewise, if you see those indicators, then it be known to you as well as I. But as Richard Lovelace says here, it’s not the ‘stone walls’ or ‘iron bars’ that make the prison or the cage.

Just because we aren’t in jail doesn’t mean we aren’t imprisoned. Our walls or iron bars may and most likely will look and be different from one another. And that is totally to be expected for we are all individuals. And some may be the same, which can also be expected for we are all human. One of mine is ‘Catastrophizing’. These can be ‘stone walls’ or ‘iron bars’ in my life but doesn’t mean they are real or tangible and no one can see them. But when it happens, it can feel real. ‘Prisons’ or ‘cages’ that we may find ourselves in, no one may know but for us it can be as if they are real. And it may be that most the time others can’t tell unless it gets bad enough we share it with a loved one or confidant. Or it may be that some one else may see that we are wrestling with something. In my experience it seems the scenarios are often not accurate, helpful or necessary. And I have found that they aren’t anything more but material for the ‘stone walls’ or ‘iron bars’ to use. In my experience, these types of walls and bars don’t protect as much as they inhibit personal growth and well being. It seems that they keep us bound from becoming who we are meant to be. When I find myself ‘catastrophizing’, I have found it helpful and freeing by simply telling myself, ‘stop it’! And Saying that aloud to myself when I feel myself doing one of those things that is adding material to my personal prison or cage. Seeing that be helpful in my own life, I feel that it may be helpful for both you and I as we strive to stop the negative cycles or patterns, whatever they may be. To keep our personal prisons and cages at bay, shrink or possibly be taken down altogether. Afterall, those things only keep us from being free and becoming who we are meant to be. We can rewrite our personal direction and the trajectory of our future. Some stone walls or iron bars may be things that may be small, some may be a bit bigger. But the power is ours to turn on or off our actions or reactions to that material! Unless we give it our time and attention, it is of no worth and no value! So the power to change who we are or where we are going is within ourselves. We hold the key to rewrite our personal futures, now!