Posts Tagged ‘freedom’
Freedom to Succeed
Monday, July 4th, 2011
Happy 4th of July! As a kid, this was my all time favorite holiday with its requisite BBQ’s, ball games and fireworks (not necessarily in that order). As an adult it’s still my favorite, more so now because of what it represents, individual freedom —something far too many of us take for granted.
Very real blood, sweat and tears were shed in untold quantities for us to enjoy freedoms that those in many other countries can only dream about. Yet slowly, insidiously we are letting our freedoms be exchanged for “security”.
Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.
~ Benjamin Franklin
One doesn’t have to look to hard to see signs of this in nearly every aspect of our daily lives. The mere fact that our esteemed lawmakers seem fit to pass thousands of new laws each year under the guise of “protecting” us, the citizens is evidence enough. And I see so many in our industry that willingly give up their freedom to innovate and stand out in exchange for the comfort and protection of group, company or franchise with whom they have chosen to align.
In the end it really boils down to just one simple thing: individual responsibility. Unfortunately far too many people are will to exchange their freedoms (of any kind) in exchange for relinquishing their responsibility. Power hungry political leaders understand this as do organizations…
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Freedom is the most precious thing we have and it requires personal responsibility to sustain its life and vibrance. It also means not blaming others or situations for our lack of achieving the results we hoped for. Each and every one of us has the freedom to attempt success and risk failure —as long as we take responsibility for our own actions.
A truly free man or women much prefers to try and fail repeatedly, than to not really try at all because they have given up their responsibility (i.e. ability-to-respond) to someone or something else. We are hard-wired for freedom and to accept anything less will only result in frustration and misery.
Freedom From Fear and Worry
Friday, May 29th, 2009
Remember the old Janis Joplin lyrics “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…”. Man, if there was ever a time where this applied, this would be it. (Historical Anecdote: while in high school I lived 110 miles from Woodstock and was invited to go –I said “Nah, I’ll go to the next one.”)
Think about this for a moment. As you read this 77 year old GM just filed for bankruptcy, the US economy recorded its steepest rate of contraction in five decades, some of our best economic prognosticators say we will see hyperinflation at the same level as Zimbabwe (currently at 231 million %/yr), North Korea is getting really good at growing mushroom clouds, the Taliban is about to join the nuclear club and invite all their terrorist buddies, Israel is just itching to turn Iran into a glass parking lot, California is so indebt it has to close most of its state parks and oh yes, let’s not forget about swine flu predicted to come roaring back with a vengeance. Did I miss anything?
Now, you have a choice. You can choose to focus on “what may happen” and go out of your mind with worry and concern. Or choose to realize that everyone one of us really have “nothing to lose” and are already quite free …
Imagine being free from worry. Imagine being free from the grip of fear. Think of all that you could accomplish. Think of how much more energy and enthusiasm and creativity you would have.
In fact, you can be free from the worries and fears. You can be free from them in an instant if you choose. For worry is your own creation. Fear is nothing more than a response you have chosen. Freedom is sweet, and energizing and powerful.
Ralph Marston
We can’t control what happens around (or to) us. We have total control however, of how we respond. Constant worry and fear is just our primitive brain’s way of “preparing us” for the worst. It causes us to constantly be on guard and brace for impact. Whew! That’s an exhausting way to go through life, and completely unnecessary. No one can predict what is going to happen in the next few years. We can say with absolute certainty however, that every person has inside them the ability to chose to cope and adapt to just about anything life can throw at us. And that is the one thing we can never lose.
