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Start planning your escape
Friday, 6 October 2006
The film The Shawshank Redemption is a very good fable about the human condition. If you haven't seen it, I recommend going down to the local video store and grabbing a copy. It's based on the short novel Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King.
The lead character, Andy Dufresne, is thrown in prison at the start of the film after being falsely convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. His situation turns out to be even worse than expected, as he's subjected to ongoing abuse by guards and other prisoners over a long period.
Before being convicted, Andy worked as a banker and you soon discover he's a very resourceful man indeed. He begins organizing to do income taxes for the guards and warden in order to gain special favors.
Over what appears to be decades, Andy manages to make the best of his situation, helping the warden to enrich himself through money-laundering and other schemes. The climax of the film involves a carefully planned escape which Andy has been taking years to execute by chipping away at his cell wall. He manages to steal the money he's made for the warden and escape to Mexico.
While, obviously, very few of us will ever face a situation as desperate as Andy's, it's easy for anyone to see reflections of their own situation in his on-screen life. It can sometimes help to view the problems you face as a kind of prison into which you've been thrown.
Perhaps your financial situation is desperate, or your love-life sucks, or your health is poor. Whatever the circumstances, you can feel as if you're being held in them against your will. And much like being in prison, there's often no easy opportunity for escape.
Most people, like most prisoners, simply give up and come to feel helpless and impotent. But the resourceful start scheming and working from day one to chip away at improving things. They realize there are few fast and easy solutions to their problems, but that answers do exist - even if they're unpalatable ones. They're willing to patiently plan, work towards and execute their escape from the situation that binds them.
So the bankrupt starts the long, slow process of getting back on top of her finances. The loveless overcome the hurdle of shyness to meet people. And the unhealthy make day-to-day efforts to exercise and eat better.
Like a desperate prisoner chipping away at the cell-wall, they can see an opportunity for escape and are willing to work at it no matter how long it takes.
If you find yourself imprisoned in a situation you would prefer to be rid of, start taking steps to break out. Realize that the path to freedom may be long and difficult - but also is almost certainly worthwhile. Like Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, draw on your own inner-resourcefulness to overcome your negative circumstances, no matter how hopeless they may appear.
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