"Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves."
When you are obligated to serve others before you serve yourself, you'll feel trapped. But what if serving others was how you defined freedom?
I often feel trapped. As if my life exists simply to serve others.
What if freedom was defined as the opportunity to serve others?
The more you serve others, the more freedom you have. It's not about what you get, it's what you give.
Your computer is a tool for freedom because it allows you to produce value for others. Use it for that!
Seth Godin also talks about freedom. Here's an excerpt from his book It's Your Turn, which I highly recommend:
The freedom to connect, to reach out to just about anyone in the world.
The freedom to create, to sing and write and invent and share widely.
The freedom to lead, to stand up and say, “follow me.”
The freedom to learn, to take almost any course on any topic and to put that learning to work.
The freedom to choose your next project, the information you consume, and the people you associate with.
We live in a world that’s still filled with barriers and limits, a culture where too often people are judged, stripped of their dignity, and denied true freedoms.
Now, more than ever, more of us have the freedom to care, the freedom to connect, the freedom to choose, the freedom to initiate, the freedom to do what matters.
If we choose.
The problem is freedom
Freedom is our problem, and freedom is our opportunity.
Not that we don’t have enough freedom but that we can’t handle the freedom we have. Or more accurately, we believe we can’t handle it.
Freedom brings the appearance of risk, freedom brings responsibility, freedom means we must make a choice.