happy 4th!

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” – Viktor E. Frankl 
 
My 13-year-old) would say freedom is being allowed to consume all the contents of the Apple Store in one bite.
 
This may sound funny, but you may not be that different if you think about it.
 
When we think of freedom, we tend to think about everything we could “have.”
 
I’ll be happy…
 
“When I get the life partner (or when I get rid of this life partner),”
“When I hit this income level,”
“If I can just make it to my vacation,”
“Once we get through this hump in the office,”
“After I heal from this injury,”
“As long as this or that candidate doesn’t win,”
 
Or, if you’re from Florida in July…
 
“As soon as I get into the air conditioning…”(But you know, you’ll be cold).
 
We’re constantly looking to external events to feel okay, but freedom is an emotion that occurs inside.
 

How can you cultivate true freedom regardless of circumstance? 
 
This is shocking, but fairy dust does not fall from my bedroom ceiling when I open my eyes each morning, engulfing me in a liberty halo all day. (You can ask my 21-year-old).
 
Shit happens; I hear myself nagging. More shit happens; My inner Saboteurs tell me I suck. More shit happens; I’m disappointed or irritated with people in my life. Et Ceterra Et Ceterra Et Cettera. Yawn.
 
But there is a difference between observing what happens inside you and taking a mud bath in it.
 
This is the first step to freedom. Becoming aware of what’s happening inside you and deciding to watch it rather than become it.
 
You are more than the circumstances of your life and the voices in your head.
 
Life’s hardships won’t disappear by adopting this law into your constitution, but freedom will ensue when you stop letting those hardships drag you around this trip on Earth.

What's your best trick to drag you out of the mind's prison and into freedom? I'd love to know!