The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within. ~Gandhi

1. If you can immediately say you are free, i.e. if you can say so without having to think about it.
2. If you are not waiting for a situation, person or amount of money to change or manifest to feel it.
3. If you’ve liberated yourself from believing your circumstances determine your sense of it.

What is freedom?

Good question.

In this moment, I think of it as an unrestrained expression of my true self regardless of who I’m around and what is going on and complete ownership of the reality I am creating. It’s feeling contentment with what is and realizing that regardless of what is transpiring, I am at choice. It is residing in the BEingness of my true essence, that which is unwaveringly solid in the greater truth.

What gets in the way of your freedom?

1. Dependence on Other People
2. Dependence on Circumstances
3. Attachment to Mind

1. Dependence on Other People
You may not think this applies to you…but I’m sure it does. Even if you consider yourself a pretty independent person, I BET you still look to someone in some manner to help you feel free. How could this be? Let’s take a closer relationship, perhaps a parent (that’s a universal “trigger”) or partner (always great material there).

Reflect for a moment on whomever comes to mind and how you feel about that relationship relevant to freedom. Do you feel completely free? Consider what you want from them, what you expect, how you communicate with them, what you have wanted from them. Do you think any of it has come from the natural desire to be free? Do you think that some of it could be echoes of your seeking?

See, part of freedom is knowing your wholeness. Many people go to relationship wanting wholeness and believe that the other person has something for them that will help them know it.

==>REALITY CHECK: You are whole. You do not need someone else to “complete” you.

Not only that, you do not need to buy into the belief that once so and so changes or “gets it”, you will be happy. You will always have your sense of reality and quality of life bound to someone else’s behavior and action if you do not let this go and take charge of creating your own freedom.

Tell everyone you know: ‘My happiness depends on me, so you’re off the hook.’ “~Abraham-Hicks

Nobody, absolutely nobody, can determine your freedom for you!

2. Dependence on Circumstances
What do you think needs to happen for you to be free? Commonly, people think that some external shift needs to occur…. and then everything will be OK.

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Your external life is a reflection of your internal life!
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You cannot count on an external reality to create your internal reality.

Don’t get me wrong, you can do things in life-activities, career, hobbies-that reinforce your freedom, that bring you joy.

But ultimately you can’t experience freedom through the external. It is an inside job.

Stop looking to the external to create your freedom. It’s not in finding the right career, the right partner, and it CERTAINLY is not in that lottery or huge amount of money you desire. Once you feel freedom within, your outer reality will naturally reflect it.

==>REALITY CHECK: You are complete. You don’t need outer circumstances to validate you. All you need is within.

3. Attachment to Mind
This is a biggie. I’ll put another entry together for you someday to go into this further. For now, I’ll say that you give too much power to your mind. In a world where we have revered the intellect, we have lost balance and disconnected from spirit, heart and soul. One of the results is that we believe our minds to be THE go to place for our sense of self and reality. This puts you in a fragmented world. You cannot live freely by identifying with your mind.

When you identify with your mind, you regard your thoughts as the “truth” and feel and act accordingly. Because many of your thoughts are unconscious and limited, you are not free to feel and express the higher and larger truth of who you are.

When you gain perspective about the totality of who you are, you will be free.

==>REALITY CHECK: You are not your mind. You are a soul with a mind.

Love, joy and peace cannot flourish until you have freed yourself from mind dominance. ~Eckhart Tolle

Listen, your true nature is freedom. Decide to claim it. Take the time to unattach yourself from the 3 aspects I’ve named above that get in the way of your freedom and====>>> BE FREE!