Getting Your Freedom at Last
Have you ever been through one of those life changing events when suddenly something happens that stops you dead in your tracks, and make you wonder what the hell you are doing!
Well I think that most of us have had a similar experience, but I wonder how many of us actually do something about it, or do we just ignore it and move on.
You might be wondering why I am writing this – well let me ask you to have a guess!
If you think that something has happened to me, then … YES you are absolutely correct!
After two years of illness, unemployment, no funds and going past sixty, the continual worrying about how long it would take me to get well (if ever), to find employment (if any) and start generating an income once again (hmmm), suddenly I was confronted by one of those light bulb moments when someone I met said – almost as a passing comment,
“Jim, you need to become free!”
That moment quickly lapsed into days of thought, research and … well a number of sleepless nights. Was it worth it? Well I think it was because it not only made me think – it made me consider in real truth – exactly what my situation was, the realistic future and most importantly, that I had to do something to move forward.
I don’t wish to harp on about my situation any more but wanted to talk about the issues which became apparent to me after I had finished that process.
When it was suggested to me that I needed to become free, as I walked away I started to ask myself what she really meant. After all – we are all free aren’t we? Well, as I thought about it I started to realised that actually I was not very free. I did not have the freedom that I think she was referring to. In fact from the day I was born I have been a slave and never had the freedom that I now want.
From the moment I was born until I left school I had to do what my parents said. I left home and spent twelve years in the Royal Air Force doing exactly as I was told. Eventually I got married and had to do what my wife wanted, and the kids demanded. Pay the rent, pay the bills, fund the holiday, buy the food … you all know exactly what I mean.
The truth is that I had to work from dawn to dusk to provide for my wife and two children and subsequently after my marriage failed, I still had to provide for them as well as myself. In time there came the second wife and two more children and as happened with the first wife, my second marriage did not work either. Now I had to support two wives and four children as well as myself. This is getting boring, but eventually I met my third wife, married her and had to support her and two more children. That time I had a father-in-law as well.
When I look back I realized that my marriages failed because I was so busy providing for everyone that I had no time for the family and especially the children. That changed with my third (and final) family and we transformed our lifestyle, moving to a country farm and although we struggled to make a living, our lives seemed much better.
Was I free … no of course not!
The point I’m getting at is that we are all slaves to life. It has been said that you can’t buy happiness. That I believe is quite true, but money can, and does, buy freedom. Freedom in turn brings happiness. If you are free to do as you wish, within the bounds of the law and what is morally correct, you can do all those things that make you happy and contented whatever they may be. You CAN have that freedom!
So the morale to this story is, get loads of money and make yourself free, and then you will be happy!
Ops! That’s what I have been trying to do for the last forty years isn’t it?
That’s the problem … striving for money. Of course the truth is we will have our freedom and be happy when we win the lottery, or we discover we have a great aunt that has left us a fortune! May be it will be our latest business idea that will make us rich and free? Just may be …
Well ‘may be’ nothing!
The chance of winning the Euro Lottery first prize is apparently 116,531,800 to 1. Do you have a rich Aunt somewhere – I don’t think so! So your only real chance is to start a new business, make loads of money and the problem is resolved. I’ll say no more on that subject other than I am, like most people, always very optimistic!!
I spent some considerable time over the last few days looking back through loads of books, video’s, cd’s and tapes that I have accumulated over the years from which it appears I have not learnt many of the lessons they teach. I spent time talking to others and the result was that I discovered a formula that I believe might just be the answer to the problem, or at least the route to solving the problem.
What I leant was that first you need to have a DREAM! You need to know what it is that you really want. Is it money, a new car, a new house or is it just the freedom to do exactly as you wish to do. Defining your dreams is not easy, they must be achievable somehow, they must be realistic but other than that it is down to you to put them on your list.
Secondly, having decided what your dreams are and what you want to achieve you need to set all the necessary GOALS that will allow you to achieve those dreams. This is the hard bit, but it can be done if you apply yourself to it. We have all heard about setting goals, about how they are the things you will need to do to achieve your dreams. In most cases they represent the steps you will go through to get you from where you are now, to where you want to be in the future.
Thirdly, having set yourself a set of goals you now need to BELIEVE in those goals. If you don’t, you are already on a losing game. If you cannot believe that you can achieve your goals and subsequently your dreams, then give up now and remain a member the National Federation of Voluntary Slaves because that is the only option open to you.
Fourthly, once you believe that you can achieve your beliefs, you need to TAKE ACTION otherwise how can you achieve those goals that you now believe in? Taking action is hard because often other people and things stand in your way. Do not allow you beliefs to be weakened under any circumstances. Stick to them … they will win in the end. Be obstinate, it might be a fault in many cases, but when it involves your beliefs, it is god!
Lastly, you will never succeed alone. You need to have other people working with you or helping you to achieve your goals. This means that you need to LEAD, that is to insight others around you to want to participate and benefit from their efforts as well. Your success must lead to their success, and if it does, then you all succeed. If you do not take the lead, no one else will.
Finally on Sunday I went to a meeting at ExCel in London and one of those light bulb moments happened again when the following words flashed up on the screen:-
Dream – Set Goals – Believe – Take Action – Lead!
Have a happy day … and become free!
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