Tap the Real Meaning of Freedom, Experience a Meaningful Life
“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!” – Bob Marley
I keep hearing complaints about government infringing upon our freedoms. The truth is our individual freedoms would be constrained even more severely in an environment where “might would make right.” Many people would be deprived of basic freedoms we enjoy today. In this country I think most of the discussion about freedom is a red herring. The idiom "red herring" is used to refer to something that misleads or distracts from the relevant or important issue.
The real discussion, in my humble opinion, should be about what constitutes “good government” and the “common good” rather than why “government is the problem.” With that said, I would add that government also needs to be accountable for its actions.
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.” – Bob Dylan
But this essay is not about government laws, regulations and enforcement. It is about how free we really are (and the opportunities this creates for us as executive leaders), issues related to freedom that we tend not to discuss and why we have developed red herrings.
Here are a few things that could be limiting our individual freedom:
- Being addicted to drugs and alcohol and making decisions while we are under the influence
- Repeating the same behavior over and over again without a meaningful purpose
- Doing the same thing that we have always done when circumstances have changed
- Steadfast adherence to limiting beliefs
- Not allowing ourselves to learn and grow
- Arrogance, ignorance and immaturity
- Compulsive and obsessive behavior
These behaviors are part of a collective that we can label “automatic pilot.” Each one can influence our thoughts, choices and decisions, and this creates a reinforcing cycle that yields negative outcomes. We have the right to engage in these things but the question is: Do these actions and behaviors make us free or do they imprison us in a cell of our own making? I wrote another essay on accountability. In that essay, and repeated here, is a relevant quote:
"My belief is that personal freedom cannot grow beyond personal responsibility. The more people that learn to be fully accountable for their lives, the more freedom each of us can enjoy and the more fulfilling all of our lives will be." – Reed Konsler
There are no rights without responsibility.
Most of us are guided by habits and routine. We know the brain works most efficiently when it does not have to deliberate and ponder every single thing that we do in the course of the day. However, there are many things that we do or think that should be examined – not every minute but at least once per month or more often if we think we are in a rut. To be sure, we are in a rut when we have a great sense of dissatisfaction with our current state. That dissatisfaction is a gift and can be the start of appropriate self-examination. Rather than quickly coming to a solution which can put us in a different rut, we can take appropriate time to ask probing questions or find a buddy who can help us with our inquiry. Pondering the right question can really stimulate thinking. Having friends challenge our thinking and help us with self-examination gives us another set of eyes and ears for solving our dilemmas.
“Very often, human beings are living like on autopilot, reacting automatically with what happens. What interests me about the life of an explorer is you are in the unknown; you are out of your habits.” – Bertrand Piccard
Our “autopilot” thoughts and behaviors are the primary features about ourselves that deserve examination. They are substitutes for those things we really want in our lives but have yet to clearly identify and pursue. Take the subject of meaningful relationships. Some people may say they never really care about having meaningful relationships in their lives but I don’t think this is common. The same is true for joy. We want to be joyful and enjoy the emotional high that goes along with it. Don’t we feel more connected when we have meaningful relationships and joy in our lives? However, many times we sublimate these desires and substitute autopilot behavior and thinking to avoid facing the fact that we are missing something or we are covering up the pain we experience in our lives.
The problem with modern day society is that we have so many distractions that keep us from finding what nourishes us and enriches our lives. We fall into patterns of behavior and thinking that keep us both from the pain and the pleasure of full engagement. And, as I understand it, you can’t have one (pleasure) without the other (pain). The true human condition consists of both. We develop red herrings about such things as freedom instead of striving to be fully human. It’s easy to do this because the media and politicians are encouraging us to believe that our rights are being constrained. As a result, we may allow ourselves to drive our lives from the outside in rather than from the inside out. In effect, we are being played. We pursue false gods instead of a connection with our source of real power that lies within.
“All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” – Blaise Pascal
We are capable of leading infinitely more rewarding lives if we can focus on what is important rather than what is at the periphery or the fringe. To accomplish a life of meaning requires introspection and self-reflection. This is not always easy to do. For example, I refer you to a podcast from NPR Science Friday. In this podcast you will learn of controlled studies where 2 out of 3 men chose to self-administer a shock rather than spend 15 minutes alone with themselves. One individual shocked himself 190 times in a 15-minute time frame. The women did significantly better than men (only 25% self-administered a shock), but this outcome warrants a separate discussion on the differences between men and women.
What I like about the human development movement is the ability to question oneself, with compassion, not for the purpose of analysis and paralysis but for the objective of finding what is true so that you can grow. The movement encourages people to be present to themselves – their thoughts, their feelings and their behavior so they can live a more conscious life based on positive intention. The tenets of this movement and related ideas inspire individuals to fully develop their potential as human beings who truly know what freedom means. To be free in the fullest sense means to not be attached to the superficial aspects of one’s life and to seek genuineness and authenticity by living a life driven by purpose.
“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” – Voltaire
One surefire way to begin to live a purpose-driven life is to think twice before saying yes to your favorite junk food and parking yourself in front of your preferred electronic device (TV, gaming device, computer and/or tablet) for a few hours. Instead, use the time to think about how you can tap into your freedom and make choices that allow you to build a more meaningful life highlighted by fulfilling relationships and joy.
“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." – Pope John Paul II
And, there is more, there always is.
Be genuine.
Copyright 2014 © John J. Trakselis, Chicago CEO Coaching
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