Independence

Independent: adjective; free from outside control; not depending on another's authority.

I saw a quote today that inspired this post, it said "we celebrate independence but many of us are still slaves to ourselves." Seeing as Independence Day just passed, I thought this was appropriate to touch on. There are multiple ways to use the word and look at the definition of the word, here are a few.

1. Independent as a person, this is a healthy form of the word because this is the only way to truly have inner peace and reach happiness, as I constantly speak of in my posts. This type of independence gives you confidence to handle situations that otherwise might seem scary. It allows strength and growth, and develops who you are as a person. Being independent in your ways is not a bad thing, in fact, this is how most of us "grow up."

2. Independence in the form of separation, is not always healthy. There is a time in some of our lives when isolation is necessary (as I have spoken on in other posts) but this doesn't mean to separate ourselves completely from being involved in the basic human needs like love, affection, and other human interaction/experiences. If we completely shut our selves off from others and become separate from all others, this then takes us away from being whole. We are all just a part of one big Whole and if we separate ourselves from this Whole it can take us out of being in Spirit. Being in Spirit and living up to our true potential actually means that we become closer to being UNIFIED or One with others. We are not supposed to be separate or independent from others as a way of life, because this does not help us grow. Temporary isolation for growth purposes is different from isolating oneself as a way of life.

3. Independent of our inner problems, fears, and other emotions that hold us back, this is something necessary for human happiness as well. "Not depending on another's authority," INCLUDING YOUR OWN. This type of independence is what the quote it referring to, we need to be able to let go of the negative thoughts that are holding us back from living our fullest potential. If we cannot become independent from our own judgement, free from our own doubts, we will never succeed. As we celebrate independence as a country, I urge you to think about all of the unhealthy things that you are not independent from, the unhealthy things that you cling to or struggle to get rid of. Look at these things as challenges, one by one, work yourself to become independent of your own inner issues. The more we can work on our own independence (in the healthy way) the more we can ACTUALLY truly have freedom as a Whole nation and then as a Whole world. Working on ourselves is the ONLY thing we can do to maintain this independence that we celebrate once a year. In fact, well we are at it, let's celebrate independence every single day.

My father posted a status on his Facebook yesterday that also hit me and is relevant to this post, he wrote "thank God that every day in America is Independence Day." We are blessed to have free will to make choices daily, we are blessed to be independent, now let's stop being slaves to ourselves and others and TRULY become the most authentic form of the word independent

.