What is enslaving you?

Everyone is a slave to something. Some people are slaves to their jobs, others coffee or drugs. I even know some people who are slaves situations and circumstances.

The one thing that I know is that I am not a slave to my past. I have friends that ask me about my ex wife (whom I will refer to as X going forward)... honestly, I tell stories about the good times and about the bad times.

But none of those stories have a hold on who I am now. Not emotionally. Not with her.

I am bound by a fathers love to our sons. I am not a slave to it, but a willing servant who desires to serve them in the best capacity possible.

It's interesting. This morning I had an epiphany of sorts. To a lot of people, divorce is like ending a chapter in a book. The book continues adding new chapters. The truth is... if that's the case then that wrinkle in the plot has lasting effects on the rest of the book... doesn't it?

I choose a different freedom. (Notice the subtle change from being in bondage to being free?) For me, divorce was the end of a book. What's next is a brand new story. Unless I choose to bring drama into my story from another book... and that's at my discretion.

I choose... to move forward.

I choose to be enslaved to my love for our sons and their well being, both emotionally and physically to the best of my ability, but I refuse to be enslaved by an emotional hold on a character that plays no significant role in the book I am currently writing.

In this new book, I do not currently have a co-author. My previous co-writer cannot suggest or even imply plot twists or wrinkles in my story.

I do hope that she understands that the words that she writes in the story of the lives of our children will have a lasting impact on their own lives... but that, sadly, is not something that I can control.

I can write in strength of character and unconditional love to their stories... but ultimately, as they look back and begin to write their own story I can only hope that the good in their lives has outweighed the bad and that their epic story ends well.

Well, that's enough mixed metaphors for the day...