Today we ask that you know you are never trapped.

Entrapment is a terrible feeling, and it is a very common one.  People feel trapped.

They are trapped in lives they do not want.  They are trapped in jobs they do not want.  They are trapped in relationships they do not want.  They are trapped in bodies they do not want.  They are trapped by their past, and they are trapped by their future.

Only this is not really true.

You are not trapped.  There is always a doorway you can walk through.  There is always a way out.

This is true even if you are literally trapped in a prison.  For the prisoner in jail, there is a way out.  And that way exists in his mind.

It is perception that makes people feel like prisoners.  The truth is, most people do not live in jail.  And yet they feel as though they do.  On some level, they believe they are in jail.

But there is a way out.  You are not a victim of your reality.

Chances are, you are not truly trapped in that job.  You could leave, if you wanted to.  It is the same with your relationships.  You could leave, if you really wanted to.

That means you stay in these situations by choice.  And that is okay.  It is okay to stay in that job or relationship.  Just be clear with yourself.  Know that you are staying in that job or relationship because you choose to.  You may have very good reasons for staying.  If so, you are not a prisoner.  You are not trapped.  You are doing what you do very deliberately.

In situations where the entrapment is more literal — as in an unhealthy body, or in a prison — there are still paths to freedom.  What makes the experience of a sick body or imprisonment particularly excruciating is the sense that you are a victim of a terrible injustice.  What is happening isn’t fair.  It is wrong.  It is a mistake.  It should not be.

You can change so much of your experience of reality simply by choosing to drop the story of: “This should not be happening.”

Whatever is happening, is happening.  So: work with it.  Work with it.  You have all seen individuals who deal with serious physical handicaps, who choose to work with their situation rather than collapse into victimhood and despair.  Such people are not prisoners of their conditions.  Neither are you.

Within prisons, some prisoners are transformed and liberated by their experience.  Others sink into deeper states of darkness and misery.  But even in such places, there is a choice.

If even the prisoner has free will, so do you.  Chances are, you have a great deal of freedom compared to someone in jail.  You are not trapped.

Please know that you are not meant to be miserable in life.  Truly, experiencing suffering, misery, despair, and a sense of entrapment does not make you into a more virtuous human being.

You are free.  And your life is meant to be enjoyed.  Truly.  You are not trapped.  You have a choice.