It was a dark and stormy night. (All proper thrillers must begin on a dark and stormy night.) Lightning outlined a grim, dismal prison set in a lonely place, far from any comforts of civilization. This was a place where hardened criminals were sent to spend the years of their confinement. It is here that our story begins.
Five prisoners huddled in a dark corner of the prison dining room where they could talk without being overheard. Secrecy was paramount because one of the five had discovered an incomplete escape tunnel that had been dug by other prisoners many years earlier but had never been used. Over time, it had been forgotten. Now, a little exploration had shown that a few hours of work would complete the tunnel. Then, they could escape from this terrible prison and, with the help of some trusted accomplices, hurriedly cross the border to safety and freedom. (Hardened criminals know how to do these things.)
This night, the five prisoners were meeting clandestinely to choose the date for their final effort. Their leader, Prisoner 27355, said, “It’s all set. Our friends are waiting in a small village just a short distance from the prison. As soon as we arrive at the village, they will immediately provide us with new identity papers and drive us across the border. We can reach the village in only a few hours after we break out. All we have to do is finish the tunnel and get out of here. Our new lives are very close. Nothing can go wrong.”
“But,” Prisoner 97986 whispered, “we cannot break out this week. I can’t leave now. I am taking an online course and must prepare for a big exam next Friday. I have no time for digging. We will have to stage our escape for after that exam.”
“Also,” added Prisoner 55098 in a whisper. “I feel like I am getting a cold. I don’t want to escape until I feel well.”
Prisoner 11789 glanced over his shoulder to be sure no one was listening. He added, “My grandmother is coming on the next visitor’s day and I don’t want to miss her. We should escape after that.”
Then Prisoner 33778 said furtively, “Plus, it is so rainy this time of year. We should wait until the weather is better before making preparations to break out.”
To all these reasons, the leader, Prisoner 27355, replied, “Well, I am certainly eager to get out of here but I would hate to miss the special dinner we will be served to celebrate the upcoming holiday. Maybe we should wait until after the holiday before we escape.”
So, the secret meeting concluded with a decision to delay the breakout until everyone agreed that conditions were conducive to a proper prison break.
THE END
Wait a minute! What kind of story is this? Do I really expect readers to believe that hardened criminals would not break out of their horrible prison when it was so simple – and because of these flimsy excuses? This story is beyond weak and silly; it is unbelievable. This would be unacceptable to people expecting a story with some realistic behaviors. Who would write such a stupid story? And who would believe it was about real people?
Yet, look around you. Don’t you see many such stories every day? And they are stories about real people. Don’t you see many people leading lives they dislike or even hate? Aren’t they in their own prisons? If you listen to them, they will tell you that they know what would make them happy, would bring them to a healthier, more fulfilling life. They want to break out of their present-life prison. Often, they even have an escape plan but, just like the prisoners of this short story, they never take action. Why not? There are many reasons why people remain in their own prisons of discontent. (Don’t ask how I know.)
As the Eagles sang many years ago in Already Gone,
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key.
Yes, we have the key. Indeed, people often know exactly what their ideal life would be. They even know the path to get there. It might be a new job, a new house in a different neighborhood, maybe even moving to a new city. Sometimes, that might mean giving up toxic relationships which are dragging them down when they try to make upward progress. Maybe it means giving up a personal behavior or addiction that provides temporary, numbing comfort but is really a downward spiral. Maybe, as in the case of an expat, the key involves moving to a new country.
There is always some reason why they cannot break out of their prison this week – and people always offer them most sincerely, even bitterly. Part of the reason the excuses sound so plausible and reasonable is that the person has had much practice in honing and perfecting their stories. Maybe the person has peddled their excuse so many times that they have begun to believe their own stories. Through their inaction, they are choosing not to break out of their own prison – and they are renewing that choice every day. Does any of this sound familiar?
Can you see how this prison break scenario leads to an expat life for some? Scratch an expat and you may find a former prisoner underneath. Part of the expat mindset involves being flexible in our thinking as well as being flexible in our geographical setting. Usually, if you clearly know what you want, the path to achieving it is also clear - like our five prisoners’ escape tunnel. Note that I did not say the path would be easy. Most of the time, becoming an expat is definitely not easy but the path itself is clear. Prison breaks often involve some hard work. Breaking out of your old life and into a new and chosen lifestyle is not without effort and uncertainty. But it is attainable.
Another reason for hesitation about breaking out of their prison is because these escape plans do not come with a guarantee of success. Indeed, there may be much uncertainty, even risk, in many of the steps. Then, even if they reach their objective and become an expat, no one can promise that achieving their goal will make them happy. But it might.
And what about those prisoners from the lame story? It’s always a dark and stormy night for them. They’re still in their prison, still plotting to escape – and still making flimsy excuses why the breakout must be postponed until later before they take action. You have the key to your own prison cell. You know what you want and you know what you should be doing to achieve it. Why aren’t you? What excuses are you making for not breaking out of your own prison?
Well written! Sometimes you remind me of Henry David Thoreau! "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to face the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." In his book "Walden; or, Life in the Woods" (1854), he wrote about daring to leave the prison: Take control of your own life, become the one who really makes the choices - don't just let yourself be pushed forward and forward by other people's expectations.