Six Inches to Freedom
Imagine you’re at an unfamiliar home for an event or holiday. Say a distant relative’s home, for a cookout on the 4th of July.
You’ve just mowed through a half a dozen deviled eggs, after the 4 course meal that began with a “simple” hot dog.
Then it starts to happen. A ‘grumble’ in your tummy. A grumble followed by some internal pressure, and it hits you… Ut oh…I gotta go.
You noticed a half bath near the hallway, but man…that thing’s getting a lot of action. And the door nearly faces the kitchen where everyone is congregated.
So you summon up the nerve to ask Aunt Betty if you can use another restroom. You make that bloated look with your face, and you place your fist, thumb first to your belly. She understands.
“Why don’t you just use the master bath dear”, she says with a nodding and motherly look.
You’re thrilled. Privacy!
She directs you around the corner to the first floor master. You walk through the door, and you shut it. It’s a wonderful safe haven of lavender potpourri smells and Aunt Betty’s prized stuffed elephant collection. Comfortable, soft, warm and safe.
You walk into the master bath and close another door. Two doors, stuffed elephants and a pleasing aroma…all insulating you from the masses. This…is perfect. You can ‘take a seat’, and let go of any anxiety or embarrassment.
Now for the rest of the journey…you can use your imagination. But allow me to give you another viewpoint.
If you could suddenly rise above the house, and rip off the roof…you’d see the internal wall structure of the home. A blueprint of sorts.
And what you would notice further…is that Aunt Betty’s bedroom is directly adjacent to the Kitchen and Dining area. You see…you may have gone ‘around the corner’ and closed two doors behind you, but your path took you to a room that is literally next to the room housing the dining room table.
So what you’d see from this birds eye view, is that the only thing separating you and your deviled eggs from the 20 or so family members discussing last night’s episode of American Pickers, is 6″ worth of drywall and lumber.
A couple sheets of drywall, and some 2×4’s….and you feel isolated and safe. Even though Uncle Tony is leaning back so far on his chair, that he’s nearly got his head on your shoulder as you remain perched on your porcelain pedestal.
I think there are all kinds of barriers in our life, that are just like this.
Some are walls we’ve constructed ourselves. And as thin as they may be, we simply cannot see past them. We cannot seem to visualize all that lies in front of us, and how close it really is.
Some are walls that others have placed in front of us…and it’s difficult for us to see just how thin they are. It’s difficult for us to imagine that we have the power to reach out and destroy those barriers with our own decisions.
And some…are walls that we need to build. These are boundaries and barriers that we need to utilize, to compartmentalize our world and keep our thoughts on track…but we don’t.
We don’t realize that freedom, is just six inches away. Instead, we choose to let the noise of that dinner table conversation prevent us from all that we wish to achieve.
Which right now, is just a good old fashioned potty break.
