What did you understand or perceive of freedom in your childhood? It might be having ice cream anytime you want or going anywhere you want with your friends.
In a nutshell, freedom often meant having the liberty to do anything you want, anywhere you want. But as you grow up, the realisation dawns upon us that freedom is a much wider term than just having the permission to do whatever we want.
What is freedom? What is liberty?
Precisely, freedom is a paradoxical concept with respect to society. Although it means that you can do whatever you like, it also means that in the way of doing so, you cannot harm someone else or step into the freedom or liberty of others. Thus, the degree of freedom is hidden under the ‘shoulds’ and not the ‘wants’. Freedom is not the desires but the moralities of life.
The True Sense of Freedom – Morality
As has been quoted by Pope John Paul II that freedom is not just bound and butted by our desires but our duty or right to do the things we should, the same concept had been enumerated by Immanuel Kant as well. He said freedom is not merely having a sense of desire.
When we are driven by desires or the ‘wants’ in our life, we might feel free but we are not. If we are driven by our desires, we are controlled and caged. Choices made on the basis of our ‘wants’, how can that be called freedom?
Freedom is the right to choose what is right; what we should do. The true sense of freedom lies in the choices we make, not based on our mere desires but our own logical thinking. And that is called the ethics or morality of our life.
Even though morality and freedom are often shown as contradictory, in reality, they complement each other.
The Degree of Freedom – 3 Daily Approaches To Use Your Sense of Freedom Into Better Decision Making
We are creatures of desire. We are driven by our ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. We do whatever our inner desires ask us to do. And even when we are extremely controlled and blindsided by our desires of everyday life, we scream for freedom and liberty.
But if you introspect closely, that is not what freedom is. Freedom is the choices we make, despite contradicting our desires and just not to please our desires.
How can you achieve this true sense of freedom? Let’s have a look.
1. Challenge Yourself. Question Yourself – Don’t Fear the Consequences!
One of the ways to achieve the true sense of freedom in your life is to challenge your steps and question whether you are doing something out of your desire or out of your duty towards the morality of what’s right.
This shall also provide you techniques to relive your stress.
2. Make the Choice on Your Own – Be independent of others and make better decision!
It is a very common saying that ‘listen to your guts’. Wrong! Listen to your mind. Your mind and its reasoning are everything you have. And the feelings of butterflies in your stomach are just how your mind reacts to sudden change and nothing else.
So, do not listen to your guts. Listen to your minds and their logical reasoning and use cost-benefit analysis to keep your decision and your choice more independent of any influence. The real choice comes from there.
3. Improve Yourself Everyday – Be decisive and practice the method of being decisive!
Our body is a cage. Our mental health is a trap. For the well-being of both and to achieve the true sense and degree of freedom, you need to be constantly on the move. You cannot stop and do whatever your immature mental health asks of you.
Be decisive and take time for the same. Practice composing your mind for 30 seconds or more before speaking up and this shall be a good example of being decisive. Also, take decisions steadily yet promptly to make better effect on others.
Conclusion
While living in a civilised human society where everything is controlled by the desires of our heart, achieving the true sense of freedom can be hard. More than often, you will find yourself follow your desires than the freedom to choose ethics.
The freedom of our mind essentially affects our decision-making skill and hence, the decision-making power substantially depends on how freely your mind can roam.
However, once you practice the above-mentioned approaches and include the same in your daily life, you will understand the true sense of freedom lies in the choices we make and not the choices we are given.
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