6 Doorways to Freedom

Photo by Pablo-Heimplatz Unsplash

7/7/24

“A person’s last freedom is the freedom to choose how they will react in any given situation.” - Victor Frankl

While watching vibrant sparks of rainbow light beams explode throughout the sky at my father’s lake house over the 4th of July, I thought about the United States and how much it has changed in my lifetime. Since 9/11, many of our freedoms have been curtailed, starting with the US Patriot Act. What is freedom, after all? Is it dependent on our external environment or government, tied to what we can and cannot do? Or do each of us have access to a more profound inner freedom, free from needing the external world to be a certain way?

Regardless of what is happening in the world outside, we all have much greater freedom available to us than anything the world can give or take away.

We have the freedom to:

1. Choose what to believe and not to believe:

We can choose to believe the negative, critical narrative of the voice in our heads or not. We can choose to believe everything the media tells us or not. How does a particular belief make you feel—emotionally and physically? How does that particular belief strike a chord in you?

2. Choose how to respond to ourselves:

We all experience times of great joy and success as well as great sorrow and loss. Many of us tend to be harder on ourselves than others. One thing I have been asking myself lately is, can I treat myself as kindly as I would a dear friend?

3. Choose how to respond to a person, place, or situation (rather than automatically reacting): For example, one person burns their hand, panics, and screams. Another person burns their hand, calmly puts it under cold running water, and says in their mind, “I’m so glad my hand is healing so quickly and easily,” while breathing deeply and visualizing healing light penetrating the area.

4. Decide where to put our attention:

Here are some contemplations:

• Am I focusing on what doesn’t change, or am I focusing on everything that does change?

• Am I seeing the glass as half full or half empty?

Another contemplation on this subject relates to one of my favorite stories, “Which wolf am I feeding?” Here is an all-encompassing, unifying twist on the classic story: Which Wolf Am I Feeding? https://lonerwolf.com/two-wolves-story/

5. Determine how we perceive:

Many of us constantly interpret our experience based on a very narrow lens of perception. Expanding perception requires letting go of rigidly held beliefs about ourselves, others, and life, and being humble enough to acknowledge that there is a whole lot we don’t know. A question I have been asking lately is, “Am I perceiving from a unifying and empowering point of view or from a separating and disempowering point of view?”

6. Let go of our attachments:

This includes attachments to situations, people, places, beliefs, outcomes, thoughts, feelings, (identity? as well?) and circumstances. It requires attuning to the present moment and trusting the information, situations, lessons, and gifts it reveals.

As we continue to witness the deterioration of democracy in the United States and across the globe, perhaps we can experience a greater intimacy with the kind of freedom that can’t be taken away. Wouldn't that be a liberating way to live?

Freedom contemplations:

-What does freedom mean to you?

-How do you experience freedom?

-What would allow you to experience more freedom today?

I would love to hear your experience!