Me No Ransom

Metaphorical Narrative

A note is slipped under the door.
Big black letters: “Be the good boy, or you will never live happily.”

It feels like the handwriting of a captor. The demand is simple — polish, serve, obey — and in exchange, maybe you’ll be allowed a smile, a breath, a moment of peace.

But one day, you see the trick. Happiness isn’t locked in his safe. It was never in his hands. The ransom note is just paper, the ink a bluff.

You burn the note. And in the smoke, you breathe free.

Core Insight

The ego tries to hold happiness hostage. It whispers that joy is conditional — only granted if you obey.

But joy doesn’t come from the ego’s approval. It comes from you living in your own skin, without ransom payments.

The counter-command: “Me no ransom.”
It severs the deal. Happiness is not borrowed — it is owned.

Saturday Experiment

• Catch the moment when you think, “If I don’t do X, I can’t feel okay.”
• Pause. Recognize the ransom note in disguise.
• Say: “Me no ransom.” Then go do something small that feels good without permission — a walk, music, laughter.

Sunday Reflection

Write in third person:

• How does he look holding the ransom note before burning it?
• What shifts in his body once he realizes the note was fake?
• Where in his life can he claim happiness without paying for it?