Fictional Restraints

 Men suffer more often in imagination than in reality. -Seneca

We are bounded in imaginary chains. We find security in our properties, status or organizations but do they really provide lasting satisfaction? Do they really give us freedom or do they make us servants trapped in a cycle of pursuit? For anyone who have thought about these same concerns, I would say that they would also come to the same conclusion: we're forgetting that much of the things we chase are  means, not ends in themselves, and we become willing slaves if we don't know the difference. 

This is why it is important that we become careful stewards of our minds. As we become chained externally to material things, false ideologies, or social pressures-things that conditions us to mindlessly pursue them-we can regain our sense of control by taking responsibility of our judgments. This implies that we educate ourselves liberally: acquainting ourselves with diverse perspectives, thinking independently, and staying open-minded until the truth of a situation or event becomes evident. Doing so will make us more than followers, we will become independent agents with the independent capacity to be prudent. We will be able to decide what's worth pursuing or not. We won't be able to allow ourselves to be victims of systems and ways of thinking that are built upon unquestioned flawed foundations.

Much of what makes us restrained lies in our inaccurate interpretations. In our beliefs, ignorance, and conditionings. And we need not look any further or do any change, than within ourselves. We must, as always, look inside. For the key to our imprisonment is always at hand. 

We will finally have our satisfaction-our true satisfaction-the day we finally break ourselves free of the fictional restraints that binds us.