A man, falsely accused and convicted despite his innocence, was sentenced to walk the earth with a large boulder strapped onto his shoulders. Forced to carry this burden with every breath, the man toiled through life with the weight of his burden pushing him down with every step. Fighting many sleepless nights, shedding solitary tears hidden behind the façade of a jester’s smile, he walked the earth carrying his burden everywhere, a shell of his former self.
Finally, years later, he was found to be innocent and his sentence was vacated. The boulder was lifted and he was free to continue his life without the boulder and the weight it brought upon him. A funny thing happened to the man once his burden was lifted. Maybe it was his body’s constant conditioning to walk with the burden, or perhaps his fear that he would, once again, find himself unjustly accused and punished, but even with the boulder gone, the man simply refused to stand upright again, instead choosing to walk hunched over as if he still carried his unjust punishment.
His family begged him to move on and to rise up, his friends urged him to stand strong and put his past behind him, but the man simply did not have the strength or courage to move on. He was conditioned to carry a phantom burden in his mind’s eye, walking the earth as if he were responsible for something he had no control over.
Finally, one day as the man walked out away from his house, he looked towards a new path he hadn’t noticed. This path was different than anything he had ever seen — it led to a place of untold adventure, satisfaction and peace. But the path was perilous, steep and was no place for a man who could not stand upright or carry himself through the snares and unstable footing.
Desperate for peace and a new start, he looked back at his house, then down at the path — which was blocked by a large boulder, reminiscent of the very same boulder he had carried all those years. In despair, he finally looked upwards towards the heavens. As he stretched his neck back to look to the skies, he straightened his back — slowly but with confidence — as he peered at the clouds in the bright, blue beautiful sky. Suddenly, as if through a Divine hand, he straightened out as tall as he had ever stood
Surprised, but with a new set of eyes and a new perspective, the man looked across the land. He saw his home behind him, the new path in front of him and the boulder standing in his way. Upright and finally at peace with a newfound posture, the man rose from the ashes that had become his phantom burden — looking back to wave goodbye to his home before lifting the boulder with ease, pushing it far off into the brush.
Finally able to see the high-water mark of his life clearly visible in the distance, the man threw aside his cares and — standing tall in peace for the first time in years — he took his first steps towards a new life, one of perpetual joy, peace and a sense that his burden would no longer be anything but a memory.
He was renewed.
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