Have you sentenced yourself to Alcatraz?
Last fall, Lenny and Kathy traveled to San Francisco for a speaking engagement. While taking a tour of the legendary Alcatraz Island Penitentiary, Kathy stood in one of the cold, damp 9' x 5' cells and peered out the prison bars. "WOW! Look at the spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay. How incredible! The prisoners had the best view. There were so lucky," she exclaimed!
"Not really," replied the guide standing beside Kathy in the cell. "Actually the prisoners felt tortured by the beauty of the bay. Through the fog, they could often glimpse a view, and yet they knew that the prison bars prevented them from actually experiencing life."
Can you imagine yourself cold and shivering on a damp and thickly fogged-in morning? Heavy steel shackles squeeze your wrists and ankles, and the constricting metal seems to amplify the cold. Your movements are constrained, which makes it difficult to maintain your balance. You get off the boat. Someone tells you, "Welcome to your new home - Alcatraz!"
Lenny has observed humans and, as absurd as it sounds, has noticed that some people have sentenced themselves to a mental prison. You can see them physically walking around every day, but inside they feel isolated and incarcerated in their own mental penitentiary. If people are honest with themselves, they often discover that it's self-imposed prison bars that prevent them from experiencing success and true happiness. Some people grip the bars so hard and for so long that they never realize how constraining their life has become and what a shackling price they've paid. Great news! It's not too late to be paroled!
Lenny's Challenge: Take 60 seconds and ask yourself, "What opportunities do I see in front of me now? Am I truly experiencing life? What self-imposed prison bars have I installed?" Fear? What happens if you try and fail? Worry? What if you are rejected? Anxiety? What about your need to control? Self-doubt? Can you really do this? Security? What if you feel safe and comfortable where you are now?
What is something you can do today to break out of the mental prison that is holding you back?
Breaking out of your mental prison is 100% your choice! Shed or You’re Dead™!