Tied to things that bind us 

we yearn to be free.

We tell ourselves to change,

we feel guilty,

we suffer,

& yet we continue our patterns,

again & again.

Wait a minute, say ones who have walked the path,

who have climbed arduously up the mountain & reached the summit of freedom--

wait a sweet minute, they say--

Stop!

Stop feeling guilty, stop endlessly shaming yourself, 

stop trying to force yourself to change--

start somewhere else,

somewhere deep inside,

where your soul resides.

Give yourself permission to be a failed, weak human being,

embrace that failed, weak human being,

& then, slowly, 

stone by stone, 

build a bridge to self-love.

Eventually, with patience & time, 

watch the shackles fall away,

& then--

descend the mountain & rest

in the valley of freedom.