DECLARATION OF FREEDOM.

Once upon a time, there was a girl.  Not much else can be said concerning her, other than she was present, here on this earth, "there" if you will. She had accomplished a few memorable things, such as graduating from high school and learning to ride a bike, but doesn't everyone at some point in their life?

One day, this girl woke up.  It could have been in the morning or the mid afternoon.  Perhaps she wasn't even sleeping at all, but that's not important, the point is, she realized something.  Something huge.

Standing right in front of her was a giant wall.  It hadn't always been this high and that's what made this situation so surprising.  She had known about it all along, in a fairly subconscious manner, because she was the mason laying each brick.  As she stood examining it, the shadow it cast slowly swallowed her.  The pale light made her shiver and it was then that she decided.

Is there such a thing as taking yourself hostage?  Or voluntary imprisonment? How about a quarter-life crisis?


Don't think I'm crazy, but I feel like a captive.  I hand cuffed myself, walked down a long hallway, and into a comfortable looking jail cell.  Why? Because it was easy.  


Easy: not hard or difficult; requiring no great labor or effort.


I'm sure we all do it.  Why not?  We let ourselves slip into a lazy routine of easy comfort, but it's not always for the same reason.  For one it might be because "everybody's doing it", for another it might be because it's all they've ever known.  So how did I get here all of the sudden?


I've always loved to make things.  Tree forts, cakes, lists, you name it. What I didn't realize until recently is that what I make the best is excuses, limits, and boundaries for myself.  Upon further speculation, I even narrowed it down to three magnificent weaknesses, "The F-words".


Facebook, Food, and Feelings.  They're always getting in the way.  They're best friends too.  If things are tough and I'm feeling down, food likes to come along for the ride.  If I'm eating all by myself, Facebook likes to sit down and make a meal last a long time.  I'm brave enough to admit that these three F-words have more control of my life than I'm happy with.  So things are going to change.


Starting now, I'm done.  My relationship with the F-words is over.  Sure, they're still going to be a part of my life, but not in the crutch-like way they have been.  It's time to begin my near-life experience.  And it's going to be awesome.


Here goes nothing.


I, Kristen Gibb, hereby declare freedom.

• Freedom from the confines and treacherous strangles of the boundaries I create for myself.  

• Freedom from the "F-words".

• Freedom to expand, stretch, grow, bloom, conquer, create, and innovate.

And by such freedom, I will win my life.