"All religions, arts, and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom."
- Albert Einstein
"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
- John F Kennedy
"I want freedom for the full expression of my personality."
– Mahatma Gandhi
"He who is brave is free."
- Seneca
What is our nature? What is the nature of every person born? Our nature defines what is "natural law." Natural law is the underpinning philosophical basis of the founding of the United States. It is a body of unchanging moral principles that govern our lives. According to natural law theory, all people have inherent rights, conferred not by an act of legislation but by "God, nature, or reason." Its roots can be found in the teachings of Aristotle as interpreted by Saint Thomas Aquinas and refined by John Locke.
Natural law posits that we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Liberty is freedom.
The polar opposite of freedom is fear; fear of judgment, fear of oppression, fear of ridicule, fear of loss, fear of process, fear of outcome. Another way to look at this philosophical "dipole" is to consider that freedom is Ascension and fear is Aversion.
Human nature is such that the world advances efficiently, with speed and righteousness, when we all are free to pursue our separate interests. The significant accomplishments of humanity were never the result of a top-down dictate but by individual curiosity, motivation, Courage, and persistence driven by crystalline clarity.
What limits our freedoms? In essence, we do. Fear is mostly the unattended management of our thoughts. Even in the most oppressive of situations, we have one fundamental freedom. As Viktor Frankl, psychologist and Holocaust survivor said,
"The last of the human freedoms: to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way. And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you become the plaything to circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity…"
Fear is born from our need to survive physical harm. It is the emotional force that drives our fight or flight response. As we have developed, it has transmogrified into something that we use to protect our ego. Fear keeps us alive and keeps us tethered. It is both necessary and deleterious.
There are those in our lives who worry, are weak, or worse, wicked. Each of these voices pours vinegar in our ear and keep us tied to our present state. "That's too risky!" "Nothing you do is going to last or mean anything or make a difference anyway." "You are unworthy, stupid, inadequate, unskilled." Belittlement is a tyrant's most vicious weapon.
When we project the pains of loss, process, and outcome on our behavior, we limit ourselves. To overcome these mental projections, we must declare daily to demonstrate Courage.
One place to start to overcome fear and drive toward freedom is to determine what you value. If you would like a free exercise in how to determine your values in the arenas of your life, drop me a note to [email protected] with the subject "Values Exercise."
Be well, dear reader.
