The tyranny of obligation

Often, I feel the weight of an obligation, decide not to fulfill it… then end up doing it anyway.

I don’t know what this is called, but I’ve noticed that when I release myself from the pressure of “I must,” a different energy emerges. Space opens for my sense of purpose to decide if it actually wants this.

Maybe the mind resists not the task itself, but the tyranny of obligation — that feeling of being cornered. Perhaps it wants to keep the power of choosing. Maybe the real trick was to let myself say: “It’s okay if I don’t do this.” Because once the “have to” dissolves, I can see if I truly want to.

Of course, there are moments where duty must come above all else, when the consequences are too high to gamble on desire. But for several other situations, this little sense freedom has helped me move further. It’s a paradox and maybe I’m missing another reason it works for me but the self permission not to act has many times become the very reason I act.

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