“You’re not in prison…”
Illustration by Stefan Gasic
My fourth book, Mental Prisons, is a book about self-limiting beliefs and the idea that we are in a prison of our own making. This comic illustrates the point with a visual metaphor of a person holding prison bars that aren’t attached to an actual prison.
In this comic, a man is standing in a room holding free-standing prison bars. The bars aren’t attached to any walls, nor is the man in an actual prison. He says to his nearby friend, “I hate being in prison all the time.”
The friend replies, “You’re not in prison. Just turn around. You’re free.”
The man with the bars turns around, still holding the bars in front of his face, and says, “Still looks like a prison to me.”
I spent so much of my life as the guy holding those bars. Self-doubt, self-sabotage, actively denying or evading compliments, and constantly believing that I just needed to try harder. Unnecessary and careless amounts of energy were spent maintaining this unhealthy mindset. And yet I did it!
What’s even crazier to me is how many other people waste their own time in this same way. I’ve shared my story with so many people and they all laugh because they see this problem in themselves.
FYI, this comic is one of several from my book Mental Prisons.
