The Freedom that’s Not Free

If we are free to choose our thoughts, we have the responsibility to choose helpful thoughts.

If we have the ability to choose our actions, we must choose compassionate ones.

If we can choose our words, we have no excuse but to choose healing words.

What a world we could choose!

Alas, we are not always so free to choose.
That freedom is hard won.

We have all experienced many things in our lives. We have all gained much knowledge. We may have worked very hard to learn about reality, about spirit, about healing and about living joyfully. Perhaps we have even gained a bit of wisdom. One might think that our life experience would help us to choose wisely.

Yet, there are many things that hinder our freedom to choose.

To be free to choose, we must first free ourselves from who we think we are,
our identity as defined by our past. How we view the world is largely based on our culture’s imprinting, our parents’ influence, our teachers, our religious origins, our heritage.

All these things and much more, create within us our definition of who we are, what we call our “beliefs”. Our beliefs about ourselves, our world, each other. These beliefs go very deep, you might not even know they are there. But they are, and they are taking away our freedom.

There may be much of value in our beliefs. They keep us oriented, they help us navigate the world. They can even help us heal ourselves and others. Yet they carry great danger.

A belief has Power. And as with any power, it can be abused.
A belief is a tool, and as with any tool, it can be misused.

There is nothing is more limiting to freedom than our beliefs.
To be truly free to choose, is to be free of the bondage to our own beliefs.

This freedom requires hard work. This freedom requires sacrifice and effort. This freedom requires that belief is not confused with reality.

This is indeed the freedom that is not free.

This is the freedom that raises us above the level of instinct, of the fight for survival.

This is the freedom that can, if we are truly free, save the world (if we so choose!)

(Just for perspective, the original definition of “heretic” was “able to choose”.)

Blessings and Good Choosing,
David & Nan