I am realizing, that by it's definition, freedom cannot be something you get from another, because if someone is giving you freedom, they can also take it away.
Getting freedom from somebody is like living in the Matrix. You think you're free, but it is not real. So I guess the question is what kind of freedom are we really wanting? To be free, or just live the appearance of freedom? I cannot even write this and claim that one choice is better than the other (there are those in the movie that deliberately choose to live in the Matrix), because that choice is the absoluteness of our freedom.
As I follow this concept to it's depths I see how we are all free . . . all of the time. We are free because we are choosing the upward or downward spiral in every second. I know many may perceive that statement as 'blaming the victim' kind of mentality, but I promise you, I speak it from a place of wanting us to know our power and to have true control in our lives. I am familiar with the ease with which we end up feeling a lack of freedom in so many of our moments as I have witnessed myself making choices unconsciously, accidentally, or habitually. As much as, somedays, I would like it not to be so, I have come to know that the only freedom that will ever satisfy me comes when I manage my focus, find the solidity of WIRA, and trust what is real for me.
I am not saying for one minute that I remember my innate freedom all of the time. I am not saying that I haven't at times wallowed on the downward spiral of victimhood for days, weeks or months. I am not saying that moving beyond the habit of the downward spiral is necessarily easy, because it does require being conscious and making new choices. I am just saying that I have come to realize that the only way for me to truly feel free is to realize my ability to respond, make choices, and move in the direction of the upward spiral.
I know there are things going on in the world that some will say, "Come on Sandi, these people have definitely had their freedom taken away." I understand that, and I wish it not for them. But neither does it feel good, to me, to look upon them as victims and strip them of their power, hope, potential, and innate beauty -- their true freedom. When I was depressed it was bad enough that I felt I was a loser, but it was even worse when others joined me and believed I was unable too. What I needed was others who would assist me from a place of believing in who I really was and trusted in my able-ness.
Fortunately, most of us will never experience the extreme situations that some experience, but we still have our own circumstances where we feel we are out of control and have lost our freedom, (i.e. the death of a loved one, loss of employment, poverty, illness, family issues, societal changes). But because there have been those who have experienced extreme situations and found their freedom it inspires me to know that it is possible for me too -- their examples show me the way. A couple of these examples that have always stood out are Vicktor Frankl and his story of surviving a concentration camp in his book "Man's Search for Meaning", and Nelson Mandela who seemed to transform during his imprisonment and returned to life not bitter and resentful, but ready to lead his people to freedom. The movie "Invictus" used William Ernest Henley's poem, by the same title, to encapsulate his realization.
Is knowing our innate freedom our usual perspective? No.
Is it what most are doing? No.
Is it possible? Yes.
Is it what our world is ready for? . . . I think, perhaps, we are witnessing all over the world, the yearning of people to know their real freedom.
LOP is the journey of following the wiffs of freedom to the power and beauty of WWRA.