Due to a strong flow of inspiration lately I want to alter this series in a way yet to be determined. The goal is to awaken; the outcome is personal freedom. Over the past 10 parts of this series on pathways to Awakening there has been a growing realization that personal freedom is the ultimate outcome of awakening. This freedom is made possible because we have discovered who we are and what is possible within us.
Freedom is such a wonderful idea because it is what every person longs for in his or her own unique way. We all want freedom: to live the life we desire; to love and be loved; to be engaged in what has meaning and purpose for us; to find happiness, to wish for a better life for our children; to enjoy some matter of success and whatever else we define as expressing our personal freedom.
This new series on personal freedom will lay the groundwork for my new emphasis, which is, “how do we free ourselves to be the person we want to be?” This series will take the practical wisdom presented about awakening and relate it directly to how you and I can live a life of amazing and rewarding freedom.
The only block to our freedom lies within. Yes there are political systems, family dramas, past traumas etc that may have influenced who we are but ultimately it is you and I that limit us or set us free. We don’t have to dig very deep to understand how we block our freedom, just listen inward to our thoughts, our internal dialogue and our heart. Are we open and receptive or closed and protective?
As we awaken to who we are, we discover the limitlessness of our own nature. Awakening sets us free because we can see how we get in our own way and what we can do to expand our minds and hearts.
Here is a basic freedom enhancing exercise: take time each day to explore how the workings of your mind and heart hold you back, limit you from being all you can be. The best way to do this is to commit to being mindful throughout your day, listening to your thoughts and feeling your heart. This technique will be explored more fully in the next post.