In each and every generation a person must view himself as though he personally left Egypt. - Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 116b
I constantly get out of my comfort zone. Once you push yourself into something new, a whole new world of opportunities opens up. But you might get hurt. But amazingly when you heal, you are somewhere you've never been. - Terry Crews
At least in the past 20 years or so I've always asked myself every year before the Passover what bondage I'd like to be liberated from. In some years it was internal, and in others it was external.
I also asked myself for the first time this year what other types of bondage, whether internal and external, I made a resolution to escape from in these 20 years. I could identify at least three internal and four external types of bondage. And to my surprise and joy, I've escapted from all of them except for the current one.
The past ones include freedom from being unmarried to getting married, from being a part-time lecturer to getting a tenure-track position and then getting tenured, to name just a few.
In the past few years I prepared myself for escape from the rat race in academia. This successful personal exodus has brought me into new internal bondage, and it's this new internal bondage from which I'd like to be liberated this coming year. It's financial instability and uncertainty as a newly self-employed life coach.
I try to encourage myself by saying that I had to struggle with more formidable challenges but eventually got over all of them though I felt like giving up these challenges many times when I was in their midst.
But on the other hand, it's against my nature to remain stuck in the comfort zone for a long time, which for me can even mean intellectual and spiritual necrosis. Not only when things get unbearable but also when they get too comfortable, I have to initiate an exodus.