Achieving Ultimate Personal Freedom

“The greatest enemy of individual freedom is the individual himself.”

– Saul Alinsky

A conditioned response

My guess is that eight out ten people would answer this with something along these lines: “Winning the lottery” or “A good few millions in my savings account”.

We have become conditioned to associate personal freedom with being financially well off, so this type of response is to be expected. 

Far from a guarantee

Money is, of course, the chosen currency of exchange on earth and having plenty of it can certainly make life easier and facilitate the kind of material possessions and experiences that one might never have without it.

And yet, as the wealthy will confirm, having a large amount of money is far from being a guarantee of ultimate personal freedom. Spend a few minutes of research on the Internet and you’ll find endless stories of wealthy people who lead lives that are downright miserable! 

The outside world

You see, money is simply what we use to transact with the outside world.

The more we have of it the more we are in a position to procure those things that the outside world tells us we need to bring about success, happiness and freedom – living in an upmarket area, driving a flashy car, having a better looking body, travelling to exotic places, wining and dining in style … the list goes on. 

The inner world

But true success and happiness is all about what\’s happening within.

It is the very nature of your relationship with yourself that really determines the level of personal freedom you experience. 

External world dependency

Thanks to our conditioning, most people will spend their entire lives seeking acceptance, recognition, respect and love from others.

Some do this by chasing wealth or possessions, some do it by constantly putting the interests of others before their own. Some by playing ‘victim’ and some by trying to control others or put them down.

The common denominator for such people is that their lives are externally dependent. In other words, they believe their happiness is dependent on how others see them, treat them or act towards them.

However, the enlightened few know that living an externally dependent life is a trap that inevitably leads to frustration, resentment, lack of fulfilment, or worse. 

Self love

Such people channel their efforts into self acceptance, self respect and self love, in the knowledge that their happiness is a product of how good they – not others – feel about themselves.

Self love (note – not selfish love) promotes inner strength, balance, resilience, tolerance and acceptance – all qualities that are essential ingredients for developing harmonious, loving and productive relationships with others and the outside world. 

A wonderful irony

There is a wonderful irony here.

The more self loving, self reliant and less dependent on others that you become, the more authentic, unconditional love you will have to offer others and the world at large. 

Break the chains

Through learning to understand, accept and love yourself, you can break the chains that tether dependency on others to your perception of what it takes to be successful, happy and fulfilled.

With that dependency gone, you are ready to achieve and enjoy ultimate personal freedom!