For a lot of us, one day is not much different from the day that preceded it which is an exact replica of the day that went before that and on and on. It’s very easy to think that somehow, someway you live in a world where you really don’t have much of an impact.
Regardless of what you do, what you try, and how hard you try, at the end of the day, it feels like you’re living in a world that you did not create. You’re some sort of passenger in this moving vehicle, which you cannot control, called your life.
Part of that is this idea that you’re stuck. You really can’t change things. Things are what happened to you, instead of you making things happen.
Unfortunately, a lot of people live this kind of life and fail to realize that they’re in some sort of mental prison. This is a prison of their own making.
You have to understand that unlike a physical prison, where you are physically restrained by four walls and some iron bars, a mental prison is a place that you can easily walk out of. Often times, you have the key to the prison door lock in your very palms.
However, very few people bother to put the key in the lock and walk away a free person. Here are five signs that you’re living in a mental prison.
Sign #1: You feel trapped in your life.
I hope you don’t need me to explain how ridiculous the concept of being trapped in your life is. I don’t want to sound harsh. I definitely don’t mean to sound judgemental, but let’s face it.
How can you be trapped in your life when you can always walk away? How can you be trapped in your life when you can make a decision today, right here, right now to go away, to go someplace, to do something different, to try new patterns, to think a different way, to feel a different range of emotions?
The problem with this mental prison is one of definition. The moment we think we define ourselves as trapped in our lives is the moment the prison walls get thicker and thicker, until it becomes a reality.
The only person trapping you in your life is yourself. I know that sounds harsh. You’re probably thinking, “Well, look at these other situations that I’m in Look at what happened in my past.”
Well, I’m telling you you’re always in control of how you respond to the past and the things that are happening right now. The moment you change how you respond and how you interpret that stimuli is the moment you start walking out of that mental prison. You are not trapped. Instead, you chose to be there.
Sign #2: You can’t help but react to certain situations.
Has this ever happened to you? You’re having a great day, and then for some weird reason, you start thinking about your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. From that point on, your day is ruined.
You start thinking about how you were abused, how you were tricked, manipulated, lied to, or humiliated. Whatever the case may be, this rush of negative emotions come in.
It’s not like something that you can see a mile away. You can’t choose to walk around it. It just washes over you like a sudden rainstorm. Now, it hits you like a ton of bricks.
You become very negative. It’s very hard for you to trust. It’s very hard for you to reach out to people. It’s very hard for you to open-up. Sometimes it even infuriates you.
Well, this is a classic sign of a mental prison because the way you react is a choice. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head saying, “If you start thinking these things, you must be miserable.”
Nobody’s putting you in that situation. You chose to be there. You chose to react in the most negative way possible because you get something out of it. You get a guilty pleasure.
Believe it or not, a lot of people who feel depressed actually have a reward when they feel depressed. I know that sounds perverse, but it’s true.
Otherwise, they won’t be repeating that same process over and over again, unless of course, they’re suffering from a serious chemical imbalance. Outside of biochemical hardwired reasons, most people who feel depressed all the time get a reward.
Let go of that reward. Understand that there are other rewards out there. Also, understand that you can look at the past in a different way. You can look at it at least in a way that doesn’t hold you back and drag you down.
Sign #3: You constantly compare yourself to others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG5bnr7bUrY
http://syndlab.tudothatsu.com/five-signs-you-are-living-in-a-mental-prison/
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