Sunday Story...Independence Day

Sunday Story…Independence Day

As a group of people we consider ourselves fiercely independent. We think ourselves free to do and be, to become, independent of what our ancestors did, or who our parents were. But are we really free? Are we really?

What is independence? Most of us would define this as freedom from something. Freedom from money worries, from tyranny, from food addiction, from any addiction, from oppression, from suffering, from fear, from illness or medical issues, from pain, from ????

The problem is when we define something by saying what it is not we haven’t really said what it is. So maybe we should say it like this. Freedom to make my own decisions, to eat what I wish, to choose, to be who I want to be, to create art, to create a life, to create a legacy, to ????

You get to decide what your definition of freedom or independence looks like. And I get to decide what mine might look like. Like success or wealth or abundance the definitions are as prevalent as there are people. So how are you going to decide?

Far too many people have given up their independence, their freedom for some sort of security or some sort of idea of what security might look like. I will work at a job I dislike (intensely) because the pay is good or the benefits are great, or the job market is just too scary. I get comfortable in this narrow little space. Then I start feeling like all those other things I thought of, the other things I thought were important just aren’t anymore. Little things like having enough money to do what I want when I want. Or the ability to pick up and go when I want to go without the constraints of work put upon me.

Others have locked themselves in a prison of addiction and desire. Drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, food, and drama come to mind but they are not the only ones. After a while the desire for the thing becomes greater than the desire to be free from the thing. The thing owns you and your life, your life revolves around that thing…getting more of it, not running out, making sure the cupboard is always full of it. This is certainly not how any of us imagined our lives would go. I don’t think any child grows up thinking …”Gee, I want to be a heroin addict when I grow up,” or “Wow, the life of an alcoholic looks like the way for me.” No one does that, I think.

So what happened? What did I do to give up my independence? Because I really don’t think any of us do that on purpose, by design. Gee, let me give up the ability to choose my destiny for a weekly pay check. Let me give up my god given creativity to “fit in” so I can be like all the rest of the people around me (which is really not possible). Let me give up my real purpose on earth so I can scrabble around looking for my next fix of whatever I have become addicted to.

All of these things, all of these “give ups” keep us mediocre, average, like macaroni and cheese in a white box. You know the one…no brand name, barely any instructions and a taste that is well, bland and boring. Are you living in that white box? When I look at your life have you crawled inside your comfortable little white box trying to get through the day with no real bumps or boo boos on your knee? Are you mac-n-cheese in a white box?

Why? What happened to you? What made you decide that was OK? Because it really isn’t OK. You deserve to be free. You deserve a rich independent life. You should have a life full of choices and the ability to make them comfortably. And you are the only person who is going to go out and get that freedom and independence for yourself.

But how is that possible. You have locked yourself in your little white box. And it really does not look like there is any way out. You have created this little prison that is masquerading like a life of choice and freedom. So what are you going to do about?

First realize what you have done. Second decide it is time for a prison break. Third start plotting and planning. Remember any successful prison break takes a certain amount of planning and requires a certain amount of time. The time required will be dependent upon how good the prison is that you have built for yourself and how deep your resolve is to get out of that white box.

The world needs your creativity. The world needs your voice, your presence your contribution. You are an integral piece of the puzzle that your community is. When you decide to remain mediocre, staying mac-n-cheese in a white box we all suffer from the lack of you. I need the excellent you, the one that is striving toward something greater, something amazing and special. And you need the me that is doing the same thing.

The New Hampshire state motto is “Live Free or Die”. Most people think it is a reference to the Revolutionary War and the struggle for American Independence and that is where it arose. But it is just as important and poignant today for many other reasons. Think about what your life would look like if you were to live free. Free from the prison you locked your life in, your creativity, your self-expression into. Free from mediocrity, free from a life of Mac-N-Cheese in a white box.

Live Free. Don’t Die.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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