By: Frank James
Imagine a person who has been in prison for twenty years being released. This person is free. Their debt to society has been paid. Imagine this person going back into the prison and locking themselves into their former cell without having committed a new crime. This makes no sense to any sane person. Yet, this is what many people in the world do daily. They lock themselves into the past and refuse the freedom a new day brings.
We all have done the following. Wake up in the morning and recall something that took place the previous day. You grasp this event, right or wrong, and rehash it all during the day. You allow the event to influence your physical actions, or your thoughts. You go through the entire day being influenced by something that took place in your past that probably doesn’t have anything to do with your current reality. Everyone has done this before. Be honest. Tell the truth and shame the devil.
Let’s take this to another level. How many of you have allowed previous interactions with others shape how you interact them later in life? You all know what I am talking about. A person said, or did something to you, in the past and you treat them accordingly in the present. You are treating them in such a fashion, not because they are doing the same act to you now, but because of how they did you in the past. You have carried a burden, labeled as a memory, for some time and allowed this past memory to control your actions in the present. You are doing the same thing the freed prisoner who goes back into his cell does. You are locking yourself into the past and not enjoying the freedom you have been granted.
Many people complain about wanting to be free, but refuse to take the steps necessary to be free. These people carry old slights, and even victories from days long gone, and try to live from these memories. You see this every day, but this act is so commonplace you fail to recognize this. Think about the friend who still has a grudge towards someone they haven’t seen in years because of an incident that took place years ago. How many of you distance from people you used to be friends with because of how the person acted when you hung out “back in the day?” In many instances the person you are distancing from has changed and you never find out because of a contaminated view. You are locking your mind up in a past that you should be free of, but are still prisoner to.
No one is suggesting you continue to make the same mistakes that you did years ago. What is being said is that you are free of the mistakes and the views you held years ago. You can free your mind and grasp a new reality that enables you to breathe easy. You can see people from a new perspective while creating a new image of them based on now, and not back then. If the person is still acting like they did years ago, fine. You have a new perspective. Instead of possibly feeling disgust, or anger, you can feel compassion for them because you understand they are locked in a prison of their own making.
If you want true freedom, then free your mind. Allow yourself to grow and become new while enjoying the gift of life. Release yourself from the prison that memories and negative people have created for you. Don’t be your own gaoler. Open the doors of your mind and be free. This is better than gritting your teeth and reliving past memories that keep you popping TUMS.
Frank James IV © 2026
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or HT Group, LLC, its staff or management. “Child Watch” is a weekly column available at https://www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch-columns.
