At the junkyard today I saw an old safe. The box looked as if it had not been opened in decades. Whatever was once kept safe inside had been removed long ago and now the safe was being pushed aside and left for scrap. At one time I’m sure this was a state of the art piece of equipment. It kept things secure and prevented anyone from getting inside unless they knew the combination. 

I’m sure I could spend time pontificating about keeping up with technology or staying on top of change, but that is not what came to mind when I saw this combination lock. What it made me think about were all the secrets we keep locked inside far from where anyone can see our real self. It might not look like we have ourselves protected, and there may be no visible sign of a lock system protecting our inner being. Yet we all have some safety mechanism protecting what we hold most dear. We only let certain people know the true us. The rest of the world only knows the portion of our self that we want them to know. None of us are completely transparent. 

The challenge endures when the things we hide away in our private safe tear into the public spaces in which we live. The memories we can’t forgive or let go, the tapes of things people have said in the past that wear us to the core. The evil we have experienced or had thrust upon us that we have not had the courage to forgive. The more we leave them alone the more they have the potential to take over like a cancer in our soul. Peace comes when we face the darkness, when we choose to unlock the power of the dark things and shine in tons and tons of light. The alternative is to protect with more locks, and chains, and walls and continue to live with internal black holes. 

What will it take for you to unlock your internal safe and let in the light? What or who do you need to forgive to clean out the cobwebs and move forward in confidence? Or maybe you need to help someone else unlock their heart and head into a future full of joy and peace. The most fulfilling life is the one where we can be our true self, no matter who knows it.