Freedom =
1)The state of not being a slave, prisoner, etc.
2)The state of not having or being affected by something unpleasant, painful, or unwanted
(Merriam Webster)
The freedom that most people talk about is the physical concept that goes something like, "I should be able to do or say whatever I want, whenever I want". That sounds more like anarchy, if you ask me.
But we can be restricted by a prison of our own making and live an entire life that way without even knowing it. We can create our own walls between captivity and freedom.
Being free is just as much a mental concept as it is a physical one.
The mental aspect of being free is when our own thoughts, ideals and beliefs don't chain us down any more.
We all have our physical and mental limits - I know. But if we just accept our current physical or mental states, if we never challenge our own thoughts or our own abilities, how do we know if we are really free?
We want to be certain of things, it gives us a sense of comfort and security. Being certain also causes us to stop looking for answers, it would have us cling to certain familiar ways of thinking that don't serve us anymore. That is not freedom, that stifles freedom.
We're always a prisoner to SOMETHING, but…
If fear keeps us from doing something that we are capable of doing and have a desire to do then that fear has control of us. Is that freedom?
If our mood is based on a situation or what other people say or do then that controls our emotions and we don't control them ourselves. That's not freedom.
If our decisions are always based on what we have to lose, as opposed to what we have to gain, we will fear losing and we will cling to that which we don't want to lose. That's not freedom.
If we never face our fears we will never know what we are capable of. Is that freedom?
If we never question our own beliefs we will never know if they are really our own. Is that freedom?
If we are imprisoned, enslaved, controlled, or limited by our own thoughts, is that really freedom?
You get the picture. We are all prisoners and our comforts and our beliefs are the cage. The walls that we built to protect ourselves have become the same walls that now imprison us. We have become our own prisoner, caged in comfort, caged by our own thoughts and beliefs.
How can we be free if we haven't removed the chains of which we are unaware?
Freedom is when all possibilities are open.
Freedom is to be at ease with uncertainty.
Freedom is when we can find the mistakes in our own thinking.
If we believe those negative voices in our head then we'll use anything and everything as evidence to prove them right. We'll end up clinging to the one thing that we believe proves that we are right, while ignoring the ten things that suggest otherwise.
But freedom starts when we begin to question that voice in our head because only then can we begin to see our own blind spots.
Real freedom starts when we begin to question OURSELVES, and that freedom can feel overwhelming when we are used to being imprisoned.
The first step on the road to freedom is being aware. It can't be fixed or changed if we aren't aware of it.
"In the truest sense, freedom can not be bestowed; it must be achieved." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Pic - Betty Shivers