What if you could have personal freedom every single day?
To discover that, follow the steps below:
Start Small
When working to create personal freedom, start with the moments where you already enjoy freedom.
What is the first thing you do when you have an afternoon to yourself? What activities do you seek out? If you’re not sure, think about the last time you felt truly free. What were you doing?
Once you have an idea of what kinds of experiences make you feel truly free, experiment with them. For example, if you enjoy viewing art at a museum, how do you feel about trying to create art of your own? Embracing new ideas and experiences will help you build up to more considerable freedoms and a greater understanding of who you are.
Build it into your Routine
Take the freedoms you’ve discovered and find a way to work them into your daily schedule.
Building on the example above, if you enjoyed the art projects, how about taking a class every week in painting? Or planning a regular date with yourself to experiment with creating art of your own.
Let your Mind Wander
The greatest freedom any of us has is within our heads. Where do you go when your mind wanders? What are the things you like to think about? Which things excite you or send you off into pleasant daydreams? Are there common themes to these thoughts? What do those themes say about the personal freedom you desire? This process is not scrolling on your phone, put the phone down and reconnect with you mind. Have a cuppa no phone, no tv, no music allow about 20 minutes.
Ask What Would You Miss?
Sometimes it’s hard for us to appreciate the freedoms we already have until they’re taken from us.
Ask anyone who’s ever had their dominant arm in a cast, and they’ll tell you all about the things they missed doing. The type of things that they never thought about before the accident.
Imagine your life changed, perhaps you are imprisoned, or without the abilities you have now. What would you miss the most? The list you create from this exercise will help you to determine which freedoms you treasure the most.
Focus on the Details
By staying in the moment, you will discover things about yourself you might not have realized.
Stop worrying about what comes after this moment.
Practice mindfulness. Breathe deeply and focus on the now. Explore the moment with each of your senses. How does this feel? Do you find the sensory world freeing? What about it do you enjoy most? The sights? Smells? Tastes?
How can you incorporate pleasing sensory experience into your definition of personal freedom?
Let’s go back to the earlier example of art. If you discover you love bright colors or strange textures in objects, this knowledge might give you some insight into the kinds of art you wish to create or learn about.
Gain a New Appreciation
When you can find respect and admiration for the things around you, it’s hard to feel negative emotions. Personal freedom hooks into the positive aspects of yourself. By changing your mindset to one of appreciation, you’ll explore aspects of freedom you might otherwise have missed.
So, what is the definition of your personal freedom?
If you have taken the time to explore these ideas seriously, you will have a clearer idea of your definition of personal freedom than you’ve ever had before.
You’ve discovered some things you already like to do when you have time to do as you wish. Maybe you’ve found some new subject you’d like to explore and some old ideas you’d half-forgotten.
You’re learning the kinds of things you love best about the world, and you’re embracing the sensory experiences they can bring.
In short, you’ve created an image of what personal freedom looks like to the current you.
Keep this critical point in the front of your mind: Your definition of personal freedom is not going to be the same as anyone else’s. Nor should it be. We are all unique individuals so what feels freeing to you might seem constricting to others.
Do what’s best for you – what brings you freedom – and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
What use is this understanding of your personal definition of freedom if you don’t?
Personal freedom seems like a great concept to indulge in on a free afternoon or a weekend, but what makes it so important that you should make this simple idea your way of life?
[Picture – Nitich Kadam – Unsplash]
No responses yet