TT p. 195, #1

"Our agency is both constrained and enabled by the contexts in which we find ourselves". This is obvious in one glaring example--parents v. children. Children always feel that parents are stifling and "constraining" them, when in reality parents are acting in their children's best interests and "enabling" them to be the best that they can be. Also--by "constraining" their children and keeping them from things that would endanger them, they allow them to have more agencies and make more decisions and act more for themselves. A son may feel like his parents are stifling him and constraining him by not allowing him to be out all night, but in reality, without his parents' strict rules, he could have gotten into a lot of trouble, ending up in a place where he had zeros choices and options and hardly any opportunities to use his agency.
Power can create an escape in contrast to the imprisonment that it implies by forcing people to either act or be submissive. While the vast majority of people will be submissive and allow a power to imprison them, those very few will rise up and challenge that power, creating an amazing opportunity to use agency and produce change. By being stuck in a terrible relationship--you now have the opportunity to move on, to learn from the experience, to remember to watch for the warning signs so you don't get stuck again, and to hopefully learn something about your true self, as well. So while it may seem like a stifling situation, your agency and the choices you make are freeing and a learning experience for the future.