Freedom, Liberty, and Independence

What does it mean to have your independence as an individual? What do you personally believe that freedom means to you and for you?

I notice the difference in what one perceives as freedom vs the intention of the enforcer of rules or boundaries the most when I observe my daughter. Often when my intention is to set her up for the most freedom and ability to negotiate a happy and prosperous future, she feels in the moment that I am mean and controlling her whole life.

It made me wonder how often our perception in the moment is lacking wider perspective. It also reminds me that the constraints I deal with make it easier for me to make decisions most of the time even if only through limiting my options.

I also observe that we feel the most free when we have control over how we move through our days. If we can decide what order we’ll tackle our chores, we feel better than simply being forced to do them, whether they were going to happen anyway or not.

Giving ourselves a framework that keeps us on track towards our own goals with enough space to make mistakes and adjust is the goal.

Without guidelines we get overwhelmed and everything seems like too much. We get lost and can’t make decisions because there is too much possibility.

And when there are too few options for personalization and choice, we get cranky and feel trapped, and this is also undesirable.