1. Think Your Own Thoughts
Every day we hear politicians, the media, religious leaders and others telling us what they think is good for us. And too often we go along with there their opinions, with what everyone is thinking, without stopping to ask ourselves, "Is this what I think or believe as well?" The Buddha offered some great advice about this when he said, Don't believe what I say. Find out what is real or true for you.
Every day we hear politicians, the media, religious leaders and others telling us what they think is good for us. And too often we go along with there their opinions, with what everyone is thinking, without stopping to ask ourselves, "Is this what I think or believe as well?" The Buddha offered some great advice about this when he said, Don't believe what I say. Find out what is real or true for you.
2. Say What You Believe
How often do we come from our heart when we express ourselves? So often we are stuck in our heads and think one thing but say the opposite, because it is what everyone else is saying. We may have a great desire to fit in, but this can be at the expense of our real feelings and what is truly meaningful to us. It can be challenging to speak our own truth, but when we do it is ultimately very liberating.
How often do we come from our heart when we express ourselves? So often we are stuck in our heads and think one thing but say the opposite, because it is what everyone else is saying. We may have a great desire to fit in, but this can be at the expense of our real feelings and what is truly meaningful to us. It can be challenging to speak our own truth, but when we do it is ultimately very liberating.
3. Do What You Want To
As long as what we do does not harm anyone else, then freedom is doing just what we feel. This can include dancing in the rain, wearing a red hat, or walking barefoot through wet grass. It especially means feeling free to do all those things we were told we should not do, like singing or smiling for no reason at all.
As long as what we do does not harm anyone else, then freedom is doing just what we feel. This can include dancing in the rain, wearing a red hat, or walking barefoot through wet grass. It especially means feeling free to do all those things we were told we should not do, like singing or smiling for no reason at all.
4. Give Your Heart Away
Do we have things or do they have us? Does having more mean we are less free as we are concerned with protecting what we have or getting more? Some of the freest and happiest people we know have nothing. When we were in India the poorest people we saw living on the streets were smiling and playing and laughing. This especially applies to our heart. The more we love, the freer and happier we will be. And the more we give our heart away by caring and sharing with others, the freer we will feel in ourselves.
Do we have things or do they have us? Does having more mean we are less free as we are concerned with protecting what we have or getting more? Some of the freest and happiest people we know have nothing. When we were in India the poorest people we saw living on the streets were smiling and playing and laughing. This especially applies to our heart. The more we love, the freer and happier we will be. And the more we give our heart away by caring and sharing with others, the freer we will feel in ourselves.
5. Be Still
Sitting still and being quiet may seem like the most limited of activities, but this is how we can enter into an inner spaciousness that is the most free place to be. So when the dancing is over, and the celebrating begins to wane, find a way to have time to yourself and enjoy the true freedom within you. Sit quietly, breathe into your heart, and have a smile on your face.
Sitting still and being quiet may seem like the most limited of activities, but this is how we can enter into an inner spaciousness that is the most free place to be. So when the dancing is over, and the celebrating begins to wane, find a way to have time to yourself and enjoy the true freedom within you. Sit quietly, breathe into your heart, and have a smile on your face.
In our book: BE THE CHANGE - How Meditation Can Transform You and the World,
with contributors such as the Dalai Lama, Marianne Williamson, Robert
Thurman, Jane Fonda, Michael Beckwith, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Ellen
Burstyn, Russell Bishop, and others. These luminous people share how
meditation has brought them greater inner freedom.
What does the 4th of July mean
to you? Do you have any good stories of freedom to share? Do let us
know as we would love to hear from you!
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