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| FREE OR BOUND? |
December
last year, I witnessed an occurrence that caused a partial volte-face in my
definition for the word freedom. I observed that perhaps the concept of freedom
was entwined grossly with man’s psychology. In fact, I inferred that freedom is
a state of mind and two days ago, while visiting the zoological gardens of the
prestigious Obafemi
Awolowo University,
along side my irreplaceable friend of over a decade, I modified my observation
into a hypothesis. The incident of the previous year, augmented with my discovery
at the zoo led me there.
Amidst the numerous activities that characterizes the yuletide is featured a unique act of benevolence and exchange of gifts pioneered by the legendary Santa Claus and mimicked by the millions of mortals occupying the planet earth and so, in the spirit of Christmas, gifts are given and received.
We received a turkey for Christmas though it has long gone down the sewer via appropriate channels beginning with the mouth, I would love to tell a little tale about our Christmas turkey that was not bound but at the same time not free.
Our Christmas turkey was delivered to us late in the day and so we could not perform the traditional beheading rites immediately. Hence, our Christmas turkey had to spend a cold long night outside exposed to the dangers of the dark. Delivered to us with both feet bound, a unanimous decision was made to untie the turkey in order to give it leverage for self defense just in case!
Here is the baffling thing, we arrived the next morning to take our Christmas turkey on a trip to the slaughter but we realized that it was lying on the same spot we left it the previous night, untied! All through the drive to the slaughter, my mind was ravaged by the thought. I pondered over and over it until I saw the light. Our Christmas turkey had been tied up for so long that it didn’t even realize the ropes had being cut off. It had been held bound for so long it had no idea what to do with its freedom. I was consumed by a heart wrenching empathy for the poor bird.
I felt its pain, for how long did it struggle for its freedom before it finally succumbed I wondered? A tiny rope kept a huge bird bound almost all its life and a night before its demise, the rope was physically untied but our Christmas turkey remained bound subconsciously and didn’t even try to move from the spot!
Freedom is defined as the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to without being controlled or limited. My emphasis lies on the second part of the definition, “sans control, limitation, restriction, impediment, obstacles” which could be physical (substantial) like in the case of our Christmas turkey or mental (insubstantial) like in this other instance I am about render.
I met an hyena two days ago while visiting the zoo; of course it was being confined but trust me, it wasn’t some kind of “level A” confinement. I was thinking that the hyena could break out and so I became petrified and perturbed. I guess my buddy read me like a book, like he always does, and assured me the hyena wouldn’t even move and it didn’t!
I looked closely into the carnivore’s eyes and I recognized a mental exhaustion. It had acclaimed mentally to being bound and nothing could probably ever change that.
You may wonder why I am narrating the story of our Christmas turkey and the hyena at the zoo, don’t you? I believe both stories are didactic.
We were all born free, thank Heavens and we all walk free except for people confined in facilities but how free is that freedom?
It not the presence of shackles and fetters that suggests that a man is bound but his state of mind determines how much liberty he possesses.
FEAR, REGRET, HESITATION, INDECISION are all mental fetters and shackles that limits a man.
The FEAR of what the future holds, REGRET for things that happened in the past, HESITATION to break new grounds and INDECISION over significant matters at auspicious times makes a man crawl where he should have been flying.
What is holding you back? I can very well define it as an impediment, a limitation, or an inhibition but what I cannot do is identifying it for you.
To soar high beyond where the eagles tread, lies the obligation to break out with exigency but break out you can only after you have identified what it is that holds you bound and only you can do that. A wise man once said “the only limitations that will keep us bound are the ones we place on ourselves”
How free is your freedom?
You will never know how far you would go until you let that fetter off and stride on.
Amidst the numerous activities that characterizes the yuletide is featured a unique act of benevolence and exchange of gifts pioneered by the legendary Santa Claus and mimicked by the millions of mortals occupying the planet earth and so, in the spirit of Christmas, gifts are given and received.
We received a turkey for Christmas though it has long gone down the sewer via appropriate channels beginning with the mouth, I would love to tell a little tale about our Christmas turkey that was not bound but at the same time not free.
Our Christmas turkey was delivered to us late in the day and so we could not perform the traditional beheading rites immediately. Hence, our Christmas turkey had to spend a cold long night outside exposed to the dangers of the dark. Delivered to us with both feet bound, a unanimous decision was made to untie the turkey in order to give it leverage for self defense just in case!
Here is the baffling thing, we arrived the next morning to take our Christmas turkey on a trip to the slaughter but we realized that it was lying on the same spot we left it the previous night, untied! All through the drive to the slaughter, my mind was ravaged by the thought. I pondered over and over it until I saw the light. Our Christmas turkey had been tied up for so long that it didn’t even realize the ropes had being cut off. It had been held bound for so long it had no idea what to do with its freedom. I was consumed by a heart wrenching empathy for the poor bird.
I felt its pain, for how long did it struggle for its freedom before it finally succumbed I wondered? A tiny rope kept a huge bird bound almost all its life and a night before its demise, the rope was physically untied but our Christmas turkey remained bound subconsciously and didn’t even try to move from the spot!
Freedom is defined as the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to without being controlled or limited. My emphasis lies on the second part of the definition, “sans control, limitation, restriction, impediment, obstacles” which could be physical (substantial) like in the case of our Christmas turkey or mental (insubstantial) like in this other instance I am about render.
I met an hyena two days ago while visiting the zoo; of course it was being confined but trust me, it wasn’t some kind of “level A” confinement. I was thinking that the hyena could break out and so I became petrified and perturbed. I guess my buddy read me like a book, like he always does, and assured me the hyena wouldn’t even move and it didn’t!
I looked closely into the carnivore’s eyes and I recognized a mental exhaustion. It had acclaimed mentally to being bound and nothing could probably ever change that.
You may wonder why I am narrating the story of our Christmas turkey and the hyena at the zoo, don’t you? I believe both stories are didactic.
We were all born free, thank Heavens and we all walk free except for people confined in facilities but how free is that freedom?
It not the presence of shackles and fetters that suggests that a man is bound but his state of mind determines how much liberty he possesses.
FEAR, REGRET, HESITATION, INDECISION are all mental fetters and shackles that limits a man.
The FEAR of what the future holds, REGRET for things that happened in the past, HESITATION to break new grounds and INDECISION over significant matters at auspicious times makes a man crawl where he should have been flying.
What is holding you back? I can very well define it as an impediment, a limitation, or an inhibition but what I cannot do is identifying it for you.
To soar high beyond where the eagles tread, lies the obligation to break out with exigency but break out you can only after you have identified what it is that holds you bound and only you can do that. A wise man once said “the only limitations that will keep us bound are the ones we place on ourselves”
How free is your freedom?
You will never know how far you would go until you let that fetter off and stride on.
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