Glass jars. Spandex. Dark tunnels. Seat belts. Tupperware containers. Lines. Alleys. Closed doors. Subway cars. High rises. Cubicles. Traffic.

Rules. Laws. Curfews. The Bible. Government. Expectations. Peer pressure.

Confinement. Imprisonment.

We are incarcerated by a host of societal norms that transform us into robots. We are moving mechanical devices that imitate human beings. We “just do it,” mindlessly completing each task on our daily “to do list.”

In my opinion, members of the Western culture are given a prescribed life plan, whereby we are expected to fulfill certain responsibilities within a certain time frame.

First, we go to school. Sometimes college, too. We should find a life partner there. After graduation, we get a job. Some of us go back to more school. We get married, have kids, have grandkids, retire. By then, our mission is complete; we have checked off the boxes on the to do list that society provides us with.

Perhaps too many of us are “doing” life’s routine on autopilot. We do what everybody else is doing. Nothing more. We complain and stress out and pretend like we are forced to live the life that we are living.

But now, really. Ask yourself. Who is forcing us to follow this prescription? Although it is simple to jump on the bandwagon and follow Doctor Society’s prescription, it is not necessary. Not a single entity is stopping us from creating an invigorating life for ourselves.

The concept of a prescribed life is silly, really. People's imaginations are stifled by boundaries that we mindlessly accept. We don’t question or fight back. We simply “follow the rules.”

So why do so many people inhabit lives and occupations that they are unhappy with when nobody is forcing this mediocrity upon them?

I willingly set my alarm in the morning. I go to class and I am educated. I voluntarily do things that I could technically stop doing... whenever I want to. Yet, I continue “going with the flow.” Most of us do.

We are physically, emotionally, and mentally swept up by conformity’s arms. Conformity captures the masses. We are persuaded into following its customs.

Nobody is stopping anybody from rejecting conformity and materialism in order to identify the authentic. It is rare that people attempt to live without a safety net. And because of this, life is no longer raw.

Stop saying, “I have to do it.” Because guess what? You don’t.

Rosa Park sat on the front of the bus. Jackie Robinson played in the White League. Mother Theresa lived among the Untouchables. Chris McCandless burned his college graduation checks and headed into the Alaskan Wilderness.

Powerful people push away the arms of confinement. They do not pressure themselves to obey rules and patterns set by society.

That would be far too overrated.

So, I challenge you to break free. If you do not want to go to school, leave. If you hate your job, quit. If you feel confined by society, don’t. If there is a bridge, climb it.

If you want to escape, run.