Obligation

Obligation

It seems to be written in stone.

Sometimes and to someone
we feel a weighty obligation.

Grabbing hold of this sensation
we can trace the source
to a thick and twisting vine,
finding it buried deep within
our culture and our family history,
and so close to our foundation
it makes any new understanding
seem dangerous or outright impossible.

These burdensome obligations
with their binding words;
should, must, need and ought,
grow thicker and heavier
in darkness and the passing years.
Slowly they suffocate, then drain
the blood out of a loving heart.
With cunning and our acquiescence
they take root in each generation.

Finding the source of our obligations
may require us to suffer
over a long period of time,
and perhaps also a skilled gardener
who can help us to begin
separating all those things
obligation compels us to do,
from the gifts we hold in our soul
and so deeply want to share.

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If you are living out of a sense of obligation
you are slave.
~ Wayne Dyer