Imagine being tethered to a 40-pound boulder. The weight is secured with a complicated knot — one that would take hours to untangle.

Luckily, you can still move. Dragging the boulder is laborious, but you can do it. Effortful, but possible.

This is a good thing, because you have things to do. You don’t have time to be delayed. You certainly don’t have hours to mess around with a troublesome knot.

And if you were on a timeline measured in hours, this might make sense.

But we’re often on a timeline measured in weeks, months, and seasons. All the while, dragging our boulders in service of the short game, the pending deadline, the urgency of now.

Those who have the patience to pause, however, are honoring the long view. Those who have the courage to hold space for unknotting — they purchase their freedom to run.