What are you holding on to?

Do you know how people in Indonesia used to catch monkeys? They would make a small hole in a pumpkin, just big enough for an orange, and place the orange inside. Then they would wait.

A monkey would come along and reach into the pumpkin to grab the orange. But once it had the orange in its hand, it couldn’t pull its hand back out through the small opening. It couldn’t get the orange out—but it also wouldn’t let go, because it wanted the fruit so badly. And so, the people were able to approach and catch the monkey.

The orange is a symbol of the things we hold onto in our own lives—things we don’t want to let go of, even when holding on keeps our hands from being free for something new.

What’s your orange? What are you holding on to?

And what if you had your hands free for something else? What would you do with your freedom?