You always have a choice. When you withdraw and isolate yourself from others and from the world, for whatever reason, you give to yourself and you take from yourself as well. Withdrawal is often an opportunity to turn inward and shift, to change a behavior by withdrawing from that which is associated with that behavior. But withdrawal can also be an act of denial, a refusal to change, to push the self out into the world and confront the fears that cause you to withdraw.

There are always two sides to every choice. You must decide the real reason you seek withdrawal, face the truth, and then deal with it head on and decide if it is truly right to withdraw inwardly now or is it better to expand outwardly. Only one answer will be appropriate. One answer will bring you the opportunity to change, the other will bring you only stagnation. The choice is yours.

-From the Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne