Transformational Leadership Blog

Our society is obsessed with independence and personal freedom. We don’t want anybody telling us what to do. We don’t want poverty, we don’t want to have shackles in us, and we don’t want any kind of appearance that we depend on someone else. There’s nothing wrong in that except that appearances are very different from reality.

“Man is free, but everywhere he goes, he is in chains.”

Freedom is an abstract concept. Dictionaries have different definition of freedom. What’s your definition of freedom? How is freedom different from independence?

Independence simply means that you are FREE FROM something that could give you some sort of struggle or difficulty. Independence Day came to mean that finally, the conquerors are gone. Independence may also mean that you are free from the control and clutches of others. You are free from addiction and any other bad habits.

Freedom from control means that no other people are dictating how you live your life and how you react to your circumstances in life. It also means that you are by yourself. Freedom from control is essentially negative because it simply means that there are no outside forces controlling you.

Freedom from control, however, does not necessarily mean that you are completely free!

Let’s explore the other side of the coin. FREEDOM TO…

Are you free to pursue your dreams? Are you free to do what you really want in life? These are the kinds of questions that we deal with when we talk about the other side of freedom.

Freedom to laugh, freedom to love and express your emotions, freedom to be yourself, freedom to pursue your dreams and freedom to simply be yourself.

“FREEDOM TO…” is a deeper kind of freedom.It means that you have mastered yourself and that you are willing to challenge yourself to go the extra mile. You now have initiative. You can actually assert yourself and start telling people that you are in control of who you are and what you do. If you are free from any kind of habit that may bring you down, it does not necessarily mean that you free to pursue what you want it life.

“FREEDOM TO…” is a completely different kind of freedom. It is a challenge to your heart and to your will to assert itself. When you do so, you can say that you are strong and that you are standing up for what you think is right!

Being free from negative influences; being free from outside control; being free from bad habits; being free from conquerors is simply not enough. You need to cultivate inner strength and character in order for you to become truly and completely free. It simply means that you are free to move, free to live, free to love, free to laugh, and free to pursue the things that you are truly passionate about!

image credit: rzouain via Flickr

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