You Don’t Have to Be in Prison to Do Time

We all have known individuals who freely walk the streets, yet are in their own prison, doing time.  

Some are doing time with a job they can’t stand. They wake up every morning full of dread, hoping they can make it through the day. They wonder what they have done with their lives.

Others are doing time in a relationship they gave up on years ago. Dreading to go home and interact with “their cellmate.”

Some are doing time dealing with depression and anxiety, wading through life carrying this heavy weight.

Others are doing time serving with a constant companion of loneliness, wondering if they will ever have someone to share their lives with or even a friend who cares enough to call and invite them to a movie on Friday night.

Some of us may have created the very prison cells we live in, while others were thrust into prison, doing time by life events they were unable to control. Either way, doing time can leave us without joy, connection, and the ability to feel we can “break out!”

Take thirty seconds today and examine your mind. What self-imposed prisons have you created, only to realize that the key was hanging on the wall next to you? You have a choice! So what will you choose?

Choose to become great at your job and dig in so you can stand out. 

Choose to treat your significant other like you did when you were dating. Become their girlfriend or boyfriend instead of their cellmate.

Choose to find someone who is lonely and be a friend.

Life is full of choices, and you have more power to create your life than you have let yourself believe. Some individuals like doing time because they don’t have to choose, don’t have to act, don’t have to show courage or face failure.

Remember, your happiness and joy have little to do with your circumstance and a lot to do with the focus and choices of your life.

Now go break out of jail…..but don’t get caught.