You’ve probably heard about how people in the jungle trap monkeys. They drill a hole in a coconut that’s big enough for the monkey to reach through if he flattens his hand. Then they mount that coconut down somehow to a tree. Inside they put peanuts. And therein lies the problem. The monkey smells what’s inside and figures out how to get his hand in. By then he knows he has his hands on a “treasure” and he’s determined to keep hold of it. But he can’t get his hand out of the coconut until he lets go. Whether minutes or hours later, the hunters know just where to find these monkeys. Because they can’t leave. They can’t let go of their treasure, even though it leads to their death.
Oh man, am I like this. I hold onto peanuts all the time instead of freedom.