I have a question: What is freedom?
This has been a splinter in my brain for a while, something I’m pondering quite a bit as I flesh out the ideas for my “author” projects. You may not like the answer I keep coming back to.
Wait! Don’t go! I bet some of you are thinking “I have so many responsibilities, I have no freedom.” That may or may not be true. Perhaps you only think you have some of the obligations you actually do.
I find it interesting to see the synonyms on my favorite online (or on iPhone, in this case) thesaurus. Albatross. Constraint. Liability. Instead of giving the word that kind of weight, take a look at it from another perspective…
Responsibility allows you to know what is and is not your job, what you can and cannot control. It is what I’ve heard called–and often repeat as gospel–your sphere of influence. In the scope of things, your actions have a finite range. Though the effect will be infinite in its ripples, directly you are only able to affect what is nearby…your thoughts and beliefs, then finally the actions arising from them.
To be free is to know that range, to understand the boundaries (which I will contend are likely further than you’ve gone) and run right out to the edge, fulfilling all your potential in that space.
Being all you can is simply a matter of knowing what you have to do. As a parent, you must raise a child that can contribute to society. As a leader, you are charged with helping others perform to their capability for a common goal.
There is power and liberation in knowing your responsibilities. How great is it to say “THIS is what I do, this is what you do?”
What do you think?
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