The Price we Pay for Freedom
Everyone seeks freedom. Or, so I think. The question is if freedom is really free. Is there a price to pay for freedom & then the ultimate question, does it really set you free?
I have been pondering about these questions for a while now and here is what I think.
Firstly, there is a need to know what we call freedom. Does being free mean that you no longer have to get up on time every day, get ready to leave your loved one's behind, and head over to the prison of office? Extend it a bit further and you get the choice to be undisciplined. Is indiscipline a form of freedom?
I have read a lot of self-help books over the years & most of them swear that discipline is the key pillar to success. If you have to be disciplined, then you have to follow a set pattern, abide by rules. You don't get to do new stuff every day. Is that freedom? I guess not.
Or is it.
It's a point of view. Discipline is the price we pay today to reap the benefits tomorrow. It's the price for freedom.
Is it going to be interesting every day? Will you get to do new stuff day after day? Of course not. If you think this is going to happen, think again.
I have heard a lot of successful sportspeople say that their lives are boring. They have routines for everything. From getting up all the way to the time that they get to rest. They also claim that boredom is the pathway to success. Yet... there they are in the gym every day, at 5 AM, sweating it out, have the same food every day, follow the same training routines day after day. That perhaps is why they are successful.
Well, boredom & routine are essential to success.
I don't recollect, (credits due), but someone once said that today, in the internet age, there is no time for boredom. In the pre-internet era, people had times when they had nothing to do at all. There was nothing on the television, there were no friends & family around. You were by yourselves, albeit for a while, but surely every day, you had times like this. This was boring. They could sit and just observe themselves, their surroundings.
That's what sparked new thoughts and ideas.
Do we get to do it now? Hardly so. At times, I spend my entire weekend on my couch on my mobile phone. following the endless feeds of Facebook, Twitter & YouTube. You get bored with one platform and you have another one to your rescue. When do you get time to think without any clutter?
What we think in such times is what gives our lives the direction we need. It guides you towards your life's calling. Facebook and Instagram will never be able to replace such times.
An alternative to this is meditation, or what we today call mindfulness. Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that he meditated for 10 mins every day for just a year. He attributed all the success in his life to those 3650 minutes of his life.
In a nutshell. There is a price for freedom. Discipline, routines, boredom, and many more. As someone once said, there are no free lunches. Freedom isn't free my friends.
Let's for a moment assume that you have put in the hard work and laboured hours to finally be free. Guess what, you are still not free. Successful people have to carry additional responsibilities which bind them further. That's for another blog for another day.
Till then, enjoy yourselves!!! Or ... should you?
Sudhindra
Recent Comments
3
I think we all want freedom until we get it and then suddenly we realise we need ties and demands on us to survive.
Hey
Life's indeed calling.
Thank you for a great blog post.
Wishing you well and a terrific day.
While there are routines and rules to abide by I believe that you can still build in times to do different things. You don't have to labour in my mind to be free some distant time into the future. Learn something new, eat food from another culture, listen to something outside your usual genre, engage with people outside your typical set, visit a space completely outside your usual travel spots, learn a foreign language and so much more.