Freedom

I realized the intensity of the concept of freedom while I was trying to quit a habit. I realized that freedom differs from one person to the next and from one situation to the next. I looked at it from these two ways, the freedom of being addicted and the freedom of living my life free from the habit. It is a very difficult call to make, but what is freedom if you are not free to live your life your own way? But at the same time what is living your life your own way if it becomes impossible to change it when you want to? Addiction is definitely not freedom.

I then turned to my dictionary, looked for the exact meaning of the word ‘freedom’ and this is what I found: Freedom is “the right to do what you want, make your own decisions, and express your own opinions”. (English Dictionary (for advanced learners) viewed on the 22/09/2012)

“Freedom” is a very important term to us (South Africans) because of our political history. We have fought for freedom for a very long time, but do we really have it? Or maybe the oppressor has changed? Maybe the oppressor is now the mindset that a black man can never take criticism from a white man, irrespective of its constructiveness, without thinking of racism. The white man (as well as everybody else) has to watch his mouth to not step on anybody’s toes, because we are all still living on the edge.

We look at freedom and oppression as external factors by external forces and we overlook that they may also come from within (they can only be granted by a different individual from the one experiencing it). If you can read very carefully from this point onwards you might be surprised to realize that you might be oppressing yourself and in dire need of freedom from yourself. For you to be free you need to know what it is that you are not free from, it is yourself.

To take pride in yourself because of what you have achieved is freedom, but being too proud to ask for help when you most need it is the opposite. It is important to be confident, it allows you to conduct yourself in an impressive way in the society, that does not only help you to belong but it also earns you some respect. You are free to be confident but do not oppress it with arrogance, because as much as you have freedom to think that you are important but do not think that you are more important than other people (because they also have freedom to celebrate their importance). You need to free yourself from your past, understand that it is a life you once lived and not a burden you need to carry with you for the rest of your life.

The most important thing to do with your life is to live it, and do not allow anything to take that away from you. If you would live your life freely, you’d also be free to die because you would have done all that you could do with your life. You need to try, but if you make succeeding a responsibility (than a luxury) you carry a burden of failure if you do not succeed. You are free to fail and try again. Give yourself freedom to be wrong, it is a right thing to do.

Life is a game that is played to win, but give yourself freedom to loose and attempt again because there is no rule that says you should get it right the first time.

I am free to be free or not be free, depending on how I see freedom.

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