During spring break I had the opportunity to hike through the mountains and valleys of Zion National Park, including the chance to see the Grand Canyon. Needless to say, it was gorgeous and I would drop everything just to go back and see some of those epic sights.
Are you jealous of my spring break? I guess that just depends on what you did, but you should be. On our way back from Zion we popped by the Grand Canyon to see the sights. Well, it’s hard to just pop by the Grand Canyon. It has this subtle way of just pulling you in with its majesty as your brain tries to comprehend the depth and distance of the canyon itself.
I’m not afraid of heights. I don’t flaunt that in any way because I definitely have other things that I am not fond of and would cringe at, but as I was sitting on the rim of the cliff I just couldn’t get my mind off of the idea of “What if I fell? Also, what if I fell with one of those squirrel suits and just flew away?” Regrettably, the only thing I actually had in my bag to slow my descent was a Walmart sack, so gliding like a flying squirrel would be out of the question.
On our way back from the cliff and back to the car there was an older couple walking to the rim we just came from at rather a slow pace. The man was helping his wife as she drug an oxygen tank behind her that was connected to a breathing apparatus. At first I thought, “That sure sucks to have to be on an oxygen tank in a place like the Grand Canyon especially when it’s not exactly handicapped accessible.” A wave of thoughts passed through my mind about age, and how interesting it is of the cyclical nature of life. How we often times return to a newborn dependent state when get close to the end of our time of earth that is similar to the way we enter this world. The main thought that kept nagging at me was that she is leashed to that oxygen tank without any chance of independence, and I thought, “In what ways do we live our lives strapped and leashed?”
Inner Leashes
Inner leashes are a tricky subject. They are wholly dependent on a person’s experiences, hurts, joys, and personality. Just like the woman I saw, many have some sort of physical ailment that prohibits them from seeing things like the Grand Canyon or at least appreciating it in its completeness but there is an inner freedom that is even greater that transcends the physical.
We can often let others dictate the way that we live our lives, and let me just say, there’s a difference between someone speaking into your life and speaking for your life. We can subconsciously become enslaved to the opinions and wishes of others which can cause us to lose some of the things that make us individually us. We can feel burdened by the responsibilities that come at us, either with our jobs or with our school load or a plethora or other day to day situations.
These leashes are anything that could be potentially stifling your growth as an individual. Key word there is growth, challenging things can be extremely growing. Freeing yourself isn’t about shirking responsibilities but it’s directly linked to your potential, which works in conjunction with your responsibility.
Potential 
Erwin McManus touched upon potential in his book Artisan Soul, “Potential is talent that has not yet been harnessed; it is what talent looks when it is undisciplined. Potential is how we describe your extraordinary nature before you have gained mastery over your potential.” We all have potential in many differing areas. Some are talented at the arts, to paint, dance, write, sing, and others in areas of Math or science to quantify, calculate, and discover the intricate processes that make up this world.
Unfortunately, potential does not magically manifest itself into some sort of craft after a goods night sleep, but potential will remain dormant and that talent potentially be great becomes rather ethereal in nature. It’s when we do things that scare us and challenge us that can start turning our potential into talent which eventually turns into a craft.
This goes hand and hand with severing leashes in our life. Potential in all of its nagging ways can feel like a burden, leaving us to feel as though we have no choice but to follow a path dictated by others or a path of “comfortable enough”. If we decide to sever these inner leashes imagine how your life might change, and the change you might see emerge all around you from your choice to live with your potential unleashed.
In the real world…
It all sounds great to talk about potential but what about for the individual who feels discouraged because they physically can’t engage their life in the way they wish to and feel leashed, or for some they might have tried to unleash their inner potential and sever those leashes but they failed to do so and feel defeated. In a world that seems like it picks favorites. In a world that seems cruel. In a world that seems hopeless, even when we look inside ourselves and we might see hopelessness.
The answer must not lie within us but somewhere beyond the physical and into the spiritual. There are many names and religions that look to various gods and methods to satisfy this longing for freedom we have. I know in my very soul that my life’s unleashed potential is directly linked to a relationship with God that frees me from the leashes that so easily trap and cause us to stumble through this life. I am realizing every day that my sense of freedom comes from an intimate place buried deep in the essence of my soul and not founded in this temporary life. This life spent on a leash is a life wasted, so recognize the areas you live trapped in and walk forward in freedom; who knows, maybe even in this journey you’ll find the same source of freedom I did.
