Journal Journeys Route 4-What is Holding You Back?

This is the final week of the "Outside the Box Journal Journeys."  I have copied the challenge posed by Altered Amanda:

I can't think of any time in my life when I felt bound up that I wasn't asked to let go of something to embrace freedom. I couldn't hold onto what was familiar, comfortable and "safe" and still grasp freedom. It is a paradox.
 

As a teenager I read a prayer that has stuck with me all my life. The poignant phrase was: "Help us to open the doors of the prisons that have kept us bound; even the ones that have come to feel safe and familiar while truly being life-stealers. "  

That has been repeated by me countless times. It always feels a bit risky to let go of something you have been holding onto tightly.  Kinda like a hand cramp-you know?, when it has been there so long that your hand takes awhile to relax? But oh, when it finally does, it feels GOOD! And then you are able to grasp "the new"!!!

What is holding you back? The breezes of freedom are blowing, and you can ride the wind just as much as anyone else if you will take the risk and let go of whatever prison bars you may have.  Share that with your page. 

Now for my take on it:

Three years ago, I left a career that was comfortable and familiar.  I felt I was quite skilled in my chosen profession when I walked away from it.  The idea that it was a "life-stealer" is so pertinent.  I did it because I was seeking freedom to explore what made me happy.  I wanted to define myself in my own terms, not those that were imposed upon me by others.  It's never easy to shed something that is comfortable and familiar and expose yourself to the unknown.  

This prompt helped me realize two things.  The first is that only I am holding me back.  The second is that I must continue to venture into the unknown to seek that which I am looking for.  I stepped off the curb and I need to keep moving.  It's not such a bad thing!

View the gallery here.

Credits for Image Components:
Outside the Box Studios-Antiquities & Oddities, Journal Pack 1, Beautiful Souls Mini, and Disasterpiece Studios Flings.