Is it a prison if you hold the keys in your hand?

She stood there on the threshold ready to take flight, frozen in time. She had big dreams and aspirations, but her fears robbed the wind from under her wings. So she stood there, just ready to take flight yet, her feet remained cemented to the floor. 'What happens if I fail? Worse, if my dreams are not worth achieving? What of the sacrifices required?' The doubts and the questions were ceaseless.

One could say it was the comfort that kept her locked within. She had roof over her head and food on her table. The basic comforts of life were guaranteed. Was that enough though? The everyday life grated off her essence, day by day, layer by layer. She felt that one day there would be nothing of her left, just an empty shell, existing.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. The fresh, cool air brought in confidence and hope. She flapped her wings and took flight. As she soared into the vastness above, the weight of her uncertainties began to dissolve, replaced by the exhilarating realization that true freedom lay not in the absence of fear but in the courage to confront it head-on. With each beat of her new found wings she got closer to what she could be and further away from an abusive husband.