Stuck in the Mud

Just before the conclusion of the maggid section of the seder, we said that whoever does not say the following 3 things has not fulfilled his obligation: pesach, matzah and marror. The order is a little strange. We explained the idea behind the pesach is that Hashem saved the Jews during the plague of the firstborn. The matzah reminds us of the speed with which the Jewish people left Egypt and the maror reminds us of the bitterness of the enslavery in Egypt. Therefore the maror should be mentioned before the pesach and matzah as it came first chronologically!

Before the Jewish people experienced the sweetness of freedom, they did not really appreciate the bitterness of their situation. Sometimes a person can be so mired in the mud, that he is not even aware that he is in the mud as he has become so used to his present lifestyle. He only fully comprehends how in the mud he was, once he has been released. (R’ Shlomo Levenstein)

All of us have are own "mud" that we are stuck in, be it bad habits or maybe associates that are not appropriate – yet we are often oblivious to it. Pesach is an opportunity to free ourselves and expose ourselves to the mud that traps us and gives us a chance to watch our steps next time.