Freedom is an attitude

I used to think that freedom is something to be achieved, worked for. That true freedom comes from having everything set in order — your finances, your health, relationships, body, — that freedom is synonymous with “being finished” as a person.

Now I see that true freedom is an attitude.

There are people who don’t have it all figured out and are free. There are people who don’t have a lot of money who feel free. There are teachers, doctors, volunteers. People who have meaning in their lives. People who dedicate themselves to something larger than just themselves. People who help. People who don’t have big ambitions know how to enjoy themselves because they allow themselves to enjoy what they enjoy. There are people who don’t care about being liked or how they’ll be perceived by others. There are people who find meaning — and freedom — in the most dangerous or unorthodox places.

Freedom is not contingent on what you have or what you will have. In fact, it’s not contingent on “having” at all.

Freedom is a lifestyle.

Freedom is the daily little choices.

Freedom is a mindset.

Freedom is trusting yourself.

Freedom is saying NO.

Ultimately, freedom is the acceptance that you won’t ever be “finished” as a human being (and that that’s the beauty of being human).

As George Orwell quipped, “If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor […] You just got to say to yourself, “I’m a free man in here’” — he tapped his forehead — ‘and you’re alright.’”

I think that’s pretty much sums it up.