A prisoner who forgot he was free.
Once upon a time, there was a prisoner who had spent so many years in prison that he had slowly forgotten what it was like to live free.
Every day he saw the same walls, the same door behind which freedom could have awaited him – but he no longer thought of it. He had become accustomed to being confined.
One day the cell door opened. The prison guard approached him and said: "You are free. You may go."
But the prisoner just sat there and did not move. He did not understand how he could be free. He had been a prisoner for so long that the thought of freedom seemed terrifying to him. Finally, a wise man entered the cell and said quietly:
"The door is open, but you must step through it. Freedom does not just begin beyond the door – it begins within you. If you believe that you are free, then you will be."
"And the prisoner slowly stood up, stepped out the door, and felt the first breath of fresh air. The smell of the wind, the warmth of the sunlight – it was all familiar, yet new to him. In that moment, he understood: often it is not walls that hold us back, but fear.
