We are all caged in an identity of who we are. The biggest risk therefore lay in making an attempt to change that belief, to break that prison, to fly free.

Why do I say so?

Over a period of time we realise we have limitations, some we grew up with and others that we have embraced as an inferiority complex. Eg: if we’re repeatedly told we are special, as a child, that becomes our inner dialogue or story. As opposed to, you are stupid. And then that becomes our inner dialogue or story. Similarly, we give in to weaknesses. Again an example, when things do not go our way, some of us choose food for fulfilment. Others choose alcohol. Some turn to sex and some others to work or spirituality. We turn these addictions into our defence mechanisms. Or self limiting ideologies.

When we tell others, “I am a foodie”, all we are doing is announcing it out loud that I am not willing to change my addiction because I do not wish to deal with the underlying problem. Because I feel safe in my own jail of identity. If I change and am free from that cage, I will feel insecure. Because freedom is freeing. It does not clip your wings. But it makes you feel lost. Because you do not belong to any confines.

Now that is the kind of risk I have started to take. Because when you truly accept yourself the way you are, with the good, the bad and most importantly the ugly, transformation begins. And when you understand that you are the reflection of what you have been through, it then becomes your first step to freedom.

P.S. It takes a good deal of awareness and courage to accept yourself and choose to love yourself despite who you are. As humans, we are designed to put our own bad parts under the rug while moving around like a judge to every other person. But once you muster the courage to accept, your bad parts were either your reactions or your defence mechanics, they come across as more forgivable. And then you are ready to take the risk to be in the present moment and understand your true evolution.