It really doesn't matter what it is made of. Gold, silver, iron. Or if or how it is decorated. Woven into patterns, studded with gems, carved with who cares what. a chain is a chain. It was designed to hold or bind or leash something. Some do their job better than others. Not all chains are made of matter.
I feel many chains binding me, holding me. Most of those I placed there myself. I willingly chained myself to a job. I agreed to do my part and they agreed to do theirs. That chain binds both ways. Some do that. Mostly I am ok with those chains, the ones I put onto myself. As long as I know they are there, and I know how to take them off quickly, I tolerate them. These societies we live in require a certain number of chains. So I tolerate them.
The chains I didn't agree to I fight, violently. I do not know, but I imagine I would kill to keep those chains off me. I need to be careful not to over react when someone tried to put that kind of chain on me. Oddly enough, most of the time they wouldn't have tried if they knew before hand my reaction. I find that odd. That means some people accept those chains. The idea disturbs me.
Then there are the chains that tighten. I'm not fully sure how to react to these. The conditions under which these chains were initially placed change. For various reasons, usually just the duration of time. Some chains are assumed to tighten and constrict over time. This I do not like. I do not want to accept. If a tighter binding is wanted, I feel that the terms must be redone. A new chain must be agreed upon and placed, replacing the older chain. This is not how others usually work. They just assume and expect that some chains tighten their grip over time. This I do not like.
Normally, if a chain were tightened, I would react to that same as an unwanted chain. Which in affect it is. New conditions, new chains. But not all of those on the other ends of tolerated chains deserve that. And that is the problem. Some of these chains are expected to tighten, and I do not like nor wish to accept this. Those that I have agreed to chains with do expect this, and the assumption of the tighten apparently was part of there agreeing to the chain to begin with. I do not want chains tightened, removed and replace, even with a tighter chain, but not tightened.
How do I deal with this? How do I explain this to others in a way that would be clear? For as often as I try they always seem to take it in the wrong way. I wonder if they knew me well enough at the first binding, if they would have agreed. Am I this different from others? Or do I just seem to be around those who are the most different from me?